Following a ruling by Brazil’s competition watchdog last year, Apple is now preparing to allow sideloading of apps in the country. Here are the details.
Brazil set to get support for installing apps outside of Apple’s App Store
As spotted by iHelpBRThe iOS 26.5 release candidate rolled out earlier today lists Brazil among the regions where sideloading is supported, alongside Japan and the European Union.
Apple has not yet confirmed whether the feature will be enabled when iOS 26.5 is officially released in the coming days. Still, underlying code changes suggest a rollout could follow sooner rather than later.
Today’s news comes after Brazil’s competition watchdog Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (CADE) reached a deal with the company last year, requiring it to allow alternative app distribution and third-party payment options in the country.
The deal ended a years-long antitrust dispute over App Store rules in Brazil, including restrictions on alternative distribution of apps and mandatory use of Apple’s in-app payment system.
The case began in 2022, when Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre filed a lawsuit accusing Apple of abusing its control over the distribution and payments of iOS apps. It then went through a series of rulings and appeals before the two sides reached an agreement.
Following this agreement, Apple confirmed that it would allow alternative app distribution and third-party payment options in Brazil. At the time, the company sent the following statement to 9to5Mac:
To comply with CADE regulatory requirements, Apple is making changes that will impact iOS apps in Brazil. Although these changes will introduce new privacy and security risks for users, we have worked to maintain protections against certain threats, including implementing important safeguards for younger users. These protection measures will not eliminate all risks, but they will help ensure that iOS remains the best and most secure mobile platform available in Brazil and we will continue to defend the interests of users and developers.
Back to today’s news, although Brazil is among the countries where sideloading is supported, it is currently impossible to install applications outside of the App Store.
Apple will likely still need to flip a few more switches on its end, and we’ll be watching to see if that happens with the official iOS 26.5 release.
To read iHelpBRof the original report, follow this link.
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