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iOS 26.2 to Allow Third-Party App Stores in Japan Ahead of Regulatory Deadline

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Apple on Tuesday released the first beta of iOS 26.2 to developers, and it appears that the software will allow users in Japan to install alternative app marketplaces on their devices when it is released to the public in December.

iOS 26
According to a post shared on X by @Tzzlala, iPhones running the beta in Japan are able to install alternative app stores like AltStore PAL and Epic Games, and download apps from them, though Fortnite in-app purchases are currently region-blocked by Epic.

Apple only lets iPhone and iPad users based in the EU to install apps using alternative app marketplaces in addition to the App Store. The ability was introduced in iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 18 in order to comply with the Digital Markets Act, and Apple does not currently allow it in any regions outside the 27-member bloc. However, that's set to change.

In June 2024, the Japanese parliament approved and enacted legislation that requires Apple to allow third-party app stores and payment providers on the iPhone. The law seeks to curb the dominance of major tech firms like Apple in the smartphone market.

More recently, in August 2025, the Japan Fair Trade Commission established the Mobile Software Competition Act Guidelines. Under the new guidelines, platform operators like Apple and Google are banned from blocking or restricting the availability of alternative app stores and payment systems on their mobile operating systems.


The guidelines are set to come into effect by December 18, 2025, while Apple is expected to release iOS 26.2 in December, sometime between December 9 and December 16. Epic Games has already announced plans to bring Fortnite and its game store platform to iOS in Japan by late 2025.

Tags: App Store, Japan

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Top Rated Comments

WarmWinterHat Avatar
WarmWinterHat
8 months ago

Whatever. Still talking about this? No one is crazy enough to leave The Walled Garden and enter a neighborhood where all the bad guys are waiting for all your financials and everything else of yours. Yikes!
I am "crazy enough" to leave the walled garden. Actually I'm just not an idiot and can decide such things for myself, without Apple's help. Stop living in fear, friend.

Been doing fine with regular unwalled computers for 30 years.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
gvanvoor
8 months ago
Wouldn't it be easier to just allow this worldwide like google did for the play store?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
8 months ago

I'd love to see numbers on how many EU users are actually using alternative app stores. The numbers have to be minuscule. The average consumer doesn't give two ducks about what App Store they use.
Great! Then compliance shouldn't be an issue and nobody who's upset about it will even be impacted.

Let's get it rolled out worldwide and appease the regulators and move on with other issues Apple needs to address.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
DaveTheRave
8 months ago

The Walled Garden is one of the main reasons why 2b+ people buy iPhones in the first place! Duh!
The average iPhone buyer doesn’t know or care about the walled garden. But for the rest of us, we want to be treated like adults and be able to install whatever we want. Just like on a MacBook. Simple concept.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
8 months ago

Wouldn't it be easier to just allow this worldwide like google did for the play store?
If sensible forward looking decision making on this issue were being implemented at Apple, then yes, absolutely.

Unfortunately, their combination of extreme hubris and pettiness will more likely see Apple roll with weirdly different restrictions by geographical region, all the way it until becomes almost comical.

Tim needs to re-evaluate where the world is at on this topic and take a new approach.
This existing approach doesn't make sense moving forward.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WarmWinterHat Avatar
WarmWinterHat
8 months ago

To be honest, the average macrumors reader is not representative of the general population that might let their kids rack up tens of thousands in IAPs. It's way easier to do that stuff on a phone vs desktop apps.
It's plenty easy to do that in the walled garden, and has been for years.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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