Apple will let iPad users in the European Union download apps from alternative app marketplaces starting next week, coinciding with the release of iPadOS 18 on September 16th. The change comes after the iPad operating system was designated a "core platform service" in April under the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) -- the same rules that forced the company to allow third-party app stores on iPhones earlier this year.

Apple had six months to ensure iPadOS was compliant with DMA obligations, which include allowing users in the EU to download apps from outside the Apple App Store, uninstall preloaded iPad apps, and choose their own default apps like browsers. It also opens up iPadOS, like iOS, to apps that use alternative browser engines other than WebKit, but we're still waiting on this.

The iPhone maker initially argued that iPadOS didn't meet the required user threshold for DMA, but it was nonetheless determined to be an "important gateway on which many companies rely to reach their customers," according to EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager.