Is iOS 17.4 available for your iPhone? Please know that this is not a small update.
Apple has rolled out the iOS 17.4 update, which brings significant changes for iPhone users in Europe. These changes are the result of Apple’s compliance with the Digital Markets Act, a European law that aims to promote competition in the digital market.
In the European Union, iPhone owners are no longer required to download apps from the App Store. Apple now allows developers who want it to create their own app stores, to be retrieved from their websites. These stores then allow applications to be downloaded, with each store being able to determine its own rules. This opens up areas that are currently prohibited for the iPhone, such as emulators, P2P software or pornography.
In addition, Apple must open its App Store to new competition. Developers can now bypass the 30% tax by using alternative payment engines or linking to their own sites. However, this new system requires developers to pay €0.50 per download to Apple beyond 1 million downloads.
With iOS 17.4, Apple allows banks in the European Union to launch their own payment applications. Users can use the double tap to launch Apple Pay and the iPhone’s NFC chip. Ultimately, some banks could therefore leave Apple Pay.
Apple also offers Europeans the choice of 12 web browsers, displayed randomly. Web browsers may also use different rendering engines in Europe, while they must use Apple WebKit in the rest of the world.
Although iOS 17.4 brings major changes for iPhone users in Europe, it is important to note that these changes will not be immediately visible. Indeed, everything now depends on the application developers and publishers.
Furthermore, despite the concessions made by Apple regarding third-party App Stores and PWAs, the European Union does not intend to stop there. From Thursday, European authorities will closely examine the changes made by the firm to Apple to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the Digital Market Act.
Other improvements and bug fixes
Apart from the major changes mentioned above, iOS 17.4 also includes improvements and bug fixes. Music recognition now lets you add songs you’ve identified to your Apple Music playlists and library, as well as Apple Music Classical.
iOS 17.4 includes a new selection of emojis. As for CarPlay in iOS 17.4, it includes a new way to present Apple Maps data on cars with secondary instrument cluster screens. You will therefore be able to view additional information such as speed, speed limit and ETA on the secondary instrument cluster screen.
Siri now has a new option to announce messages you receive in any supported language. Protection for stolen devices has been strengthened with the option of increased security in all locations. iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro users can now view battery cycle count, manufacturing date, and first use in Battery Settings.
Finally, iOS 17.4 fixes several issues, including an issue where contact images are blank in Find My and an issue for users Dual SIM where the phone number changes from primary to secondary and is visible to a group they have messaged.
Before launching the iOS 17.4 update, Don’t forget to charge your iPhone and back up your important data. You never know what might happen during an update, so it’s better to be safe than sorry! It only takes a few minutes and can save you a lot of hassle later.
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