2025-10-01 14:01:31
Epic Games says recent changes by Apple to iOS 18.6 prove that the company’s old installation flow was actively deterring users from installing alternative app stores.
Following Apple’s latest update to comply with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Epic reports that drop-off rates for installing its Epic Games Store on iOS fell from 65 per cent to around 25 per cent, with an overall reduction of roughly 60 per cent.
According to the Fortnite studio, the revamped process shrank a 15-step installation path down to just six steps, while removing formerly intimidating “scare screens” and confusing dead-ends in the iOS Settings app.
Epic claims these elements had discouraged many users from completing installations.
The company argues that this data offers rare empirical proof of how Apple’s prior interface design hurt competition.
The firm says that even after the update, Apple’s approach still falls short of full compliance with EU regulations – and that many developers remain reluctant to distribute games via the Epic Games Store on iOS compared to Android.
Interestingly, Epic also singled out Google’s process, stating that Android’s multi-step install workflow includes a “deceptive user interface” that sabotages over half of its install attempts.
Epic conclided: “Despite their significant strides to improve the store installation process, Apple’s policy towards competing stores continues to violate the Digital Markets Act.
“They are thwarting competition through anticompetitive junk fees such as their Core Technology Fee, discriminatory policies retaliating against developers who support competing stores by making their terms on the iOS App Store worse, and by imposing an approval and notarization process in order to dictate product design decisions to competing app developers and store developers.
“These Apple policies are unlawful and stand in stark contrast to the operation of Apple’s own Mac platform, which does none of these things.
“As a result of these anticompetitive acts, developers have been willing to distribute far fewer mobile games through the Epic Games Store on iOS than the Epic Games Store on Android.”
While Apple’s changes have seemingly improved conversion rates, the fight over platform openness is far from over – and Epic continues to press regulators, using its own metrics as ammunition in the debate over fair competition on mobile.
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