iOS 17.2 hints at Apple moving towards letting users sideload apps from outside the App Store

Apple has been under pressure in the European Union as the Digital Markets Act antitrust legislation requires the company to allow users to sideload apps outside the App Store to increase competition. 9to5Mac has now found evidence in the iOS 17.2 beta code that the company is indeed moving towards enabling sideloading on iOS devices.

The meat of the story here is not that Apple is going to allow sideloading - they were always going to if they want to keep operating in the EU/EEA - but that apparently, they intend to region-lock it to countries in the European Union and European Economic Area. This would mean that consumers in the US would, once again, not be able to benefit from consumer protection laws enacted in the EU.