The iPhone 16's biggest competitor is the other version of itself

The changes Apple has to implement end up making the iPhone the platform many hoped it would be.

- JASON SNELL

One of Apple's greatest fears has come to pass: Fragmentation has come for the iPhone and iPad. By the end of the year, users in part of the world will be able to harness the power of Apple Intelligence for various tasks-while users in the European Union will be able to set default apps (fave.co/3BVMngZ), delete stock Apple apps, buy from alternative App Stores, play Fortnite, use a clipboard manager (fave.co/3BXAw1T), and more.

Get ready for the debates (fave.co/48hV5Ct) over which flavor of iOS is better-the EU version or the AI one. But that debate isn't what Apple should be concerned about. No, it's that after years of insisting on locked-down iOS policies, users will see what's going on in the EU, and rather than feeling grateful that Apple keeps a close watch on their iPhones, they will feel envy.

WHAT EU IOS LOOKS LIKE

In case you don't live in the EU, here's where iOS and iPadOS are headed. The App Store is already no longer a monopoly, with the arrival of AltStore (fave.co/3YNbOKR) and the Epic Games Store (fave.co/4eWAN3S).

This means Fortnite, which was removed from App Store after Epic Games pulled a fast one and hid nonApple in-app purchases inside the game, is now back on the platform for EU users. Apps in categories that Apple simply refuses to allow on the App Store are also available, such as a BitTorrent client and a clipboard manager.

Let that last one sink in for a second: On the Mac, clipboard managers are among the most useful third-party utilities users can add to their computers (fave.co/4eXsqFh). Apple should probably add it to its core operating systems, but it never has. The iPhone and iPad don't allow third-party apps to extend the user experience in the same way the Mac does-in part because apps that might do so are barred from the App Store. The existence of Clip shows that it's actually possible-but Apple doesn't want users to have the choice to use that feature.