Would you buy an iPhone instead of Android if it had EU perks like sideloading?

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) goes into effect in the European Union (EU) this week, forcing various big tech companies to adapt their platforms and services. Apple is one such company, and it’s been forced to make a number of changes to its iPhones in particular.

iPhones in the EU will need to offer alternative app stores, allow users to change their default web browser, and offer alternative billing solutions. These are the biggest tweaks to iOS we’ve seen in years. Unfortunately, these changes are limited to the EU.

Nevertheless, these changes make me wonder whether more Android phone users will now switch to an iPhone. After all, features like sideloading were and continue to be big selling points for Android, and a similar capability is now available on Apple devices. Would you make the switch? Let us know via the poll below.

Then again, Apple’s current implementation of DMA-related changes still leaves a lot to be desired. iPhone users in the EU can’t simply visit any old website offering iOS apps to download and install an app. Instead, third-party app stores have to go through a rather ridiculous vetting process. And we’ve already seen how Apple can control this process when it effectively barred Epic from creating an alternative app store of its own.

Furthermore, app developers wanting to use alternative app stores need to pay a frankly ludicrous “core technology fee” after reaching a certain threshold of downloads. So developers have to pay to not deal with Apple.

In other words, Apple’s EU changes are still a long way off Google’s comparatively hands-off approach and arguably veer into outright malicious compliance. In fact, it’s not a stretch to say that Apple’s shady execution might make iPhones less attractive for Android enthusiasts, long-time Android users, and small app developers.

So would you switch from Android to iOS if these EU tweaks came to global markets? Vote in the poll above.