iOS 17.4 Beta 1: Well, all right. Everyone, iOS 17.4 beta 1 has been released for all developers to test. Out to try out and see exactly what changes Apple made. Now, there were some tangible differences that we’re going to go over, but there was also a big change in terms of policies and how Apple runs its App Store. That’s going to be very significant for both people globally as well as people specifically in the EU.
The EU kind of forced Apple’s hand to change up some of its policies when it comes to its App Store and how it distributes the App Store and its applications. In this article, we’re going to discuss iOS 17.4 all the things that are happening both globally as well as everything that’s changing in the EU and what it means moving forward for all of us iPhone users.
Here Are The New Features & Changes In iOS 17.4 Beta 1
Quick summary table of the new features iOS 17.4
| Feature/Change | Description |
|---|---|
| New Emojis | Six new emojis, including shake head gestures, broken chain, lime, phoenix bird, and brown mushroom. |
| Stolen Device Protection | Enhanced protection against unauthorized changes to Apple ID password with an always-on option. |
| New Siri Language Dictation | Siri can now recite in different languages, selectable in settings. |
| Podcast Transcription | Podcast app now includes a transcription feature for better accessibility. |
| Game Streaming Apps | Apple allows gaming streaming apps like Xbox Game Pass on the App Store. |
| Alternative App Marketplace | Apple allows sideloading of alternative app marketplaces like Google Play Store. |
| Changing Default App Store | Users can change their default app store with a stringent approval process. |
| New App Store Commission Structure | Revised commission structure with reduced rates, including a core technology fee. |
| Core Technology Fee | App developers pay $0.50 every 12 months for each app downloaded within the first year. |
| New Default Web Browser (EU) | Users in the EU can choose their default web browser on opening Safari. |
| NFC Tap To Pay Changes (EU) | Apple opens NFC and tap-to-pay infrastructure to allow competitors in the EU. |
New Emojis Are Added In iOS 17.4
So we have six new emojis that are accessible at 17.4, including the shake your head up and down, shake your head side to side, a broken chain, a lime, a phoenix bird, as well and a brown mushroom. Those, as I mentioned, are readily available, and you can access them with iOS 17.4.
Update To Stolen Device Protection – iOS 17.4
The next change that we saw has to do with stolen device protection, which was a feature that came out with iOS 17.4. This new feature adds another layer of protection, allowing you to turn this feature always on, no matter if you’re in an actual familiar location or not, to add that additional delay if somebody is trying to change your Apple ID password or anything in between.
New Siri Language Dictation – iOS 17.4
We noticed that Apple gave Siri the ability to now recite in different languages. So if you go into your settings, go into Siri, go into add languages, you can now see that Apple allows you to add a bunch of different languages from Swedish to Arabic and everything in between. So if you want Siri to recite maybe messages to you in a different language, it can now do that.
Podcast Transcription – iOS 17.4
If you go into your podcast app and open up your favorite podcast, in the bottom left-hand corner, there will be a transcription button. It works very similarly to how lyrics work inside of the Apple Music app. It follows along with highlighting every word and every sentence in the actual transcription to coincide with the actual voice that’s happening in the podcast itself, which makes it a lot more accessible to more people.
Game Streaming Apps – iOS 17.4
Apple is going to allow the ability for streaming applications on the gaming side to be available through their App Store. So as of right now, there wasn’t any real way to get things like Xbox Game Pass or Steam or anything like that kind of ported over to the iPhone.
The only way to get a real game onto the actual iPhone itself is to go through the App Store and go through individual games. So what this means is that now developers from Microsoft on the Xbox side, even on the Sony side, as well as like we mentioned in Steam and any other marketplace that allows for game streaming, will now be able to be put into the actual App Store. People can download it and then play all of their games and stream them directly to their iDevice, whether it is an iPhone, an iPad, a Mac, or whatever the case may be.
Now, App Store rules still have to be followed when it comes to this new marketplace that’s being created. But now game developers and marketplace developers have an idea and guidance as to how to get this stuff onto the App Store because Apple has opened this up to everybody on iOS 17.4 beta 1. So this is going to be great because now we’ll be able to have Xbox Game Pass.
So we’re very excited about that. And as we mentioned, this is a global change. So anybody with an iPhone and the ability to get the iOS 17.4 beta will now be able to download all these new game marketplaces from the App Store and then play a bunch of different games inside of that app itself, which is great to see.
Alternative App Marketplace – iOS 17.4
So one of the biggest headlining changes that’s going to happen and take into effect in March is that Apple will now have the ability to allow for alternative app marketplaces.
So now we’ll be able to see things like maybe the Google Play Store, as well as an Amazon Play Store or maybe even a Samsung App Store that can now be sideloaded onto your iPhone itself, that can be directly downloaded from Samsung’s website or Google’s website or anything in between.
So Apple had to abide by the EU rules and the Digital Marketing Act, which again, as I mentioned, will take into effect in March.
Changing Your Default App Store – iOS 17.4
Apple is going to allow you to change your default app store. So let’s say you still have your iPhone, but you want maybe the Amazon App Store to be your default app store. You will now be able to change that with iOS 17.4 moving forward. So that’s going to open up a lot of new avenues.
However, Apple is stating that they will still have a stringent approval process. Like, they’re still going to have eyes and ears even though it’s outside of their App Store. It’s got to abide by all the rules. And of course, Apple is still taking a nice little cut of anything that kind of comes in and out of those app stores as well.
New App Store Commission Structure – iOS 17.4
As of right now, the way the commission structure is set up in the App Store is that Apple takes 30% of pretty much any revenue that’s generated by any application. This includes the price of the application itself, any in-app purchases, and anything in between. But now, with this new Digital Market Act, that completely changes.
It’ll give these developers and these companies a little bit better of an advantage when it comes to that commission structure. As it stands right now, we’re going from that 30% commission structure to 17% when it comes to purchasing the app itself. And then they will add 3% for any in-app purchases.
So let’s say you’re able to download something like Fortnite all over again, and you want to purchase the next pack or whatever the case may be, or the next skin, then Apple’s going to take a 20% cut. Because it is 17% for the app itself and then a 3% in-app purchase fee. Again, it’s still better than 30%, but still, Apple’s going to be getting their cut no matter what, and they’re still going to be getting paid.
And then for small businesses, we are now at 10% as opposed to 15%. But then that 3% in-app purchase still applies. So if you’re a smaller developer, 13% is the total that you would have to pay Apple for in-app purchases.
Core Technology Fee – iOS 17.4
The brand new fee that Apple’s calling the Core Technology Fee. What this Core Technology Fee states is that for every app downloaded within 12 months for the first time, that app developer has to pay $0.50 every single 12 months for every time the app is downloaded. We don’t know; it depends on how developers are taking this into account. Maybe they’ll push this expense over to the actual user itself and charge an additional $0.50 for it. Or they’ll just abide by the rule and have to pay that as a fee for running their business at the end of the day.
But that is a new fee that Apple’s implementing because Apple feels like they still should have some say, and still be able to make some money off of the actual application themselves. Because at the end of the day, they created iOS, they created the App Store, they created the iPhone. So they have the distribution platform that all these other companies do not.
New Default Web Browser – iOS 17.4
There’s also a new change when it comes to Safari and web browsing in general. As of right now, by default, Safari will be the web browser for every iPhone. And you can even go into your settings right now, even without 17.4, and change your default browser. But now, in the EU, every single time you open Safari for the first time, it is going to ask you which browser you want your default browser to be.
EU wants to diversify exactly what’s going on, and they don’t want to allow Apple to monopolize web browsing. And then also, a bigger change, especially for developers, is that even with applications like Chrome, Opera, and Brave, they still have to use the fundamental WebKit to build that web browser. This, again, gives Apple a lot of control as to what can be done and what can’t be done. Versus if you get something on macOS, the Chrome actual interface isn’t WebKit, right? It’s whatever proprietary software they have.
So now, moving forward with iOS 17.4, again only in the EU, these applications will be able to use their form of web browsing develop their code, and develop their platform for their default web browsers. They no longer have to use WebKit as a backend to start the web browser.
NFC Tap To Pay Changes – iOS 17.4
And then the final big change that we’re seeing is that Apple is opening up their NFC and tap-to-pay infrastructure to pretty much anybody in the EU. As of right now, the only way to Apple Pay and to pay with your iPhone is to use, again, Apple Pay and Apple’s digital wallet.
So that means that developers in banking industries and FinTech can now create a competitor to the Apple Wallet, as well as a competitor to Apple Pay. Because now they can use the actual NFC chip inside of the iPhone as a piece of hardware to then add to their app.
So let’s say you bank with Chase or American Express. You can tap to pay directly from those applications. You no longer have to double-tap your hold button to then open up the wallet and initiate Apple Pay. You can just go to their version of Apple Pay inside the actual application itself and then tap to pay at any merchant that accepts contactless payment in general.
So that is a big change coming again. Apple Wallet is still something that I’m probably going to use over anything else, unless for some reason these banking apps get better at UI and UX over Apple, which I highly doubt. But again, now that opens it up and again opens up the competition. So Apple doesn’t look like they have a monopoly on all things iPhone and all things iOS.
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Conclusion
Again, for the most part, right now, nothing too much is going to change, especially here in the US. But once this hits in March in the EU, there will be some nice differences that are going to be changing.
You’re going to start seeing iPhones with different marketplaces. iPhones that are going to be able to stream actual games from Xbox Game Pass and things like that. So overall, I think it’s a net positive. It’s going to be a little bit of a transitionary period for applications for them to restructure their pricing and restructure how they build applications.
But at the end of the day, maybe come summer or fall, everything’s going to kind of go back into place, and things are just going to be better overall for the consumer and the customer. Because, in our opinion, the more competition, the better the products both on the software and the hardware side are going to be.
But how does that affect people on the software side? Is it something that we want? Is more marketplaces a better thing? Apple is stating that they’re going to have a nice stringent process to make sure, from a security standpoint, things are still up and up. But again, things might be able to slip through.
For the most part, unless for some reason there’s a big advantage to me using some other marketplace or some other app store, we probably going to stick with the regular App Store and see exactly what’s going on over there.
