# iOS 26.2 to Allow Third-Party App Stores in Japan Ahead of Regulatory Deadline
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 00:22:01 2025-11-07
Japan's new competition rules are forcing Apple to open the iPhone to third-party app stores, and iOS 26.2 will quietly flip that switch ahead of the December deadline. MacRumors reports: According to a post shared on X by @Tzzlala, iPhones running the beta in Japan are able to install alternative app stores like AltStore PAL and Epic Games, and download apps from them, though Fortnite in-app purchases are currently region-blocked by Epic. [...] The guidelines are set to come into effect by December 18, 2025, while Apple is expected to release iOS 26.2 in December, sometime between December 9 and December 16. Epic Games has already announced plans to bring Fortnite and its game store platform to iOS in Japan by late 2025.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/11/06/2250226/ios-262-to-allow-third-party-app-stores-in-japan-ahead-of-regulatory-deadline?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.
robot (spnet, 1) → All – 00:22:01 2025-11-07
Japan's new competition rules are forcing Apple to open the iPhone to third-party app stores, and iOS 26.2 will quietly flip that switch ahead of the December deadline. MacRumors reports: According to a post shared on X by @Tzzlala, iPhones running the beta in Japan are able to install alternative app stores like AltStore PAL and Epic Games, and download apps from them, though Fortnite in-app purchases are currently region-blocked by Epic. [...] The guidelines are set to come into effect by December 18, 2025, while Apple is expected to release iOS 26.2 in December, sometime between December 9 and December 16. Epic Games has already announced plans to bring Fortnite and its game store platform to iOS in Japan by late 2025.
[ Read more of this story ]( https://slashdot.org/story/25/11/06/2250226/ios-262-to-allow-third-party-app-stores-in-japan-ahead-of-regulatory-deadline?utm_source=atom1.0moreanon&utm_medium=feed ) at Slashdot.