Japan Preparing EU-Style Law to Force Apple to Allow App Sideloading and More

Japan is preparing antitrust legislation to force Apple to allow app sideloading and alternative payment methods for in-app purchases, Nikkei Asia reports.

iOS App Store General Feature Desaturated
The plans by Japan's Fair Trade Commission focus on combating Apple and Google's dominance in app stores and payments, search, browsers, and operating systems. The regulation could encompass a wide range of changes to Apple's practices, such as an obligation to allow users to utilize alternative app stores, effectively allowing sideloading on iPhones and iPads in Japan.

The regulation also looks to impose fines for violations of the rules amounting to around six percent of revenue earned from "problematic activities." The Fair Trade Commission's work on the legislation is ongoing, with plans to finalize it in the spring. The legislation will have to be approved by parliament in 2024 before coming into effect.

Japan's proposed regulation bears a strong resemblance to the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is set to force Apple to enable app sideloading in the EU by March 2024 among other significant changes.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Here's When Tesla is Expected to Add Support for Apple CarPlay

Sunday November 16, 2025 6:49 am PST by
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated that Tesla plans to add Apple CarPlay support to its vehicles "in the coming months." This is easily the biggest news for the regular version of CarPlay in years, should Tesla actually follow through with offering the system in its vehicles. As noted by Gurman, this would be a stunning reversal for Tesla and its CEO Elon ...

Top Rated Comments

Skyscraperfan Avatar
25 months ago

So the EU and Japan will also force their manufacturing companies to share their tech to enable anyone to do whatever they want to their products and maintain warranty over it?
Yes, because warranty is a right of the customer. In the past some parties even denied warranty if you attached a third party Ethernet cable to their devices. Notebook manufactures denied warranty if someone opened the notebook to add more RAM. I am glad those days are over.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Skyscraperfan Avatar
25 months ago

Once again governments thinking that they can tell people and companies what to do, this will not end well, and will not benefit anybody in the long-run.

If you don't like Apple's business model, quite simply - go else where...

As soon as people realize that the government is there to represent the people, not control the people - the world will become a better place...
Governments have to act in the interest of the customers. How can it be in the interest of the customers that Apple decides which apps they can install and gets a 30% share of every purchase? In the US consumer rights are pretty much non-existent, but that might change.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gpat Avatar
25 months ago
As a lifetime Android user, I'm somewhat baffled by these mandates.
I've always voted with my wallet, but never thought that Apple had to be forced to add missing features to iOS.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
steve09090 Avatar
25 months ago
No problem with side loading but it should void any reliance of Apple to fix it when something goes wrong. And it will.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
steve09090 Avatar
25 months ago

Yes, because warranty is a right of the customer. In the past some parties even denied warranty if you attached a third party Ethernet cable to their devices. Notebook manufactures denied warranty if someone opened the notebook to add more RAM. I am glad those days are over.
So, for example, you buy a Honda. You replace the operating system with one you 'prefer' and Honda should honour the warranty. Right…
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Skyscraperfan Avatar
25 months ago

So, for example, you buy a Honda. You replace the operating system with one you 'prefer' and Honda should honour the warranty. Right…
Yes, unless they can prove that your changes caused the problems.

No, not customers - they have to represent the people...

It's in the interest of the customers, as this will enable a business to be able to fully provide a service to the end users - providing support for a product - who knows what will happen if anonymous apps are allowed to be deployed - this opens up so many security concerns, such as the ability to eavesdrop (something we see constantly on Android).

I suspect that this is the real reason behind why the EU and Japan are looking at this, as it would allow them the ability to load in an app that would allow them to track and monitor anybody using the device - we know how the EU are already trying to block end-to-end encryption, and also iCloud Relay - they hate not knowing what people are doing.
Strange that sideloading has never been a problem with a Mac. Shouldn't Macs be full of viruses, if your theory is true?

And Apple of course will still allow you to block any app from getting any information you do not want it to get. Your location, your images, microphone access and so on.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)