Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, December 14 (Xinhua)-- Apple seems to be considering deep reforms to the iOS and App Store for the first time after a lot of pressure from the European Union and other governments around the world. According to Bloomberg, the company is planning to open up more iOS features to third-party applications, including the browser engine and NFC.

In recent years, Apple has greatly relaxed the restrictions in iOS when it comes to features that third-party developers can use. For example, applications can now interact with Siri, read NFC tags, provide alternative keyboards, and so on. However, there are still many other restrictions, but these restrictions may not last long.

Apple will open its private API to developers Bloomberg has learned from sources familiar with the matter that Apple has been trying to open its private API, also known as API, to third-party developers and apps. This will lead to a major change in the way iOS works.

One of the major restrictions that may soon be abolished is related to the browser engine. Currently, all iOS apps must use WebKit, which is Apple's engine for running Safari. But Apple is already trying to open up iOS to other browser engines in order to comply with the EU's new digital market law.

The report also mentions that other private iOS API will also be made public in the future, including access to more camera controls and iPhone's NFC chips. Although third-party apps can currently read NFC tags, Apple forbids them from working for Apple Pay's competitors. The European Union has criticized Apple for limiting NFC technology in iPhone to its own services.

In addition to these changes, Apple is said to be discussing further opening up its Find My network to third-party accessories. While third-party manufacturers have been able to make their accessories compatible with Find My networks, competitors like Tile claim that there are still many shortcomings compared with Apple's own accessories such as the AirTag.

Profound changes are about to take place in App Store. Bloomberg also reported that Apple is preparing for iPhone and iPad users to install apps through iOS's alternative app store. This will allow developers to officially release iOS applications outside of App Store for the first time.

At the same time, however, the report says Apple has no plans to make iMessage compatible with other platforms, or even to adopt the RCS standard.

CTOnews.com has learned that it is not clear when all of these changes will be made available to the public, but some of them could be released as soon as next year's iOS 17.

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