iOS Apps From Alternative Marketplaces Can Be Updated for 30 Days Outside of EU

Apple today clarified that iPhone users in the European Union can continue to update and use apps from alternative app marketplaces for a 30-day period when leaving the EU.

With the release of iOS 17.4, Apple published a number of support documents, and one of the pages outlined what happens when an iPhone user with apps installed through an alternative app marketplace leaves the EU. At the time, the document said that there would be an unspecified "grace period," but Apple has now updated it to provide exact timing.

EU iPhone users who travel outside of the area can expect to be able to update apps installed through alternative app marketplaces for a 30-day period, but after that, apps will not be able to be updated.

Installing alternative app marketplaces and the apps in those marketplaces is restricted to the European Union at all times, so travelers will not be able to install new apps through a marketplace while out of their home country or one of the 27 countries in the EU. Apps that have been downloaded can continue to be opened and used, even if they can't be updated.

If you leave the European Union, you can continue to open and use apps that you previously installed from alternative app marketplaces. Alternative app marketplaces can continue updating those apps for up to 30 days after you leave the European Union, and you can continue using alternative app marketplaces to manage previously installed apps. However, you must be in the European Union to install alternative app marketplaces and new apps from alternative app marketplaces.

Apple makes it clear that iPhone users who want to install apps outside of the App Store must be physically located in a country in the European Union and their Apple ID must also be set to a country or region in the EU. Apple uses privacy-focused on-device processing to determine whether a user is eligible to install an alternative app marketplace.