Epic Games is making some noise about how Apple's been handling app installs outside of its official App Store in Europe. It seems those "scare screens" and a convoluted installation process were really doing a number on user adoption.

Before, when you tried to install the Epic Games Store, a whopping 65% of people would drop off during the process. I can only imagine how frustrating that must've been for both users and Epic. But here's the kicker: after the European Commission stepped in and Apple streamlined the process in iOS 18.6, cutting the steps from 15 to just six and ditching those warning messages, the drop-off rate plummeted to 25%. That's a massive improvement!

Epic is pretty clear on what they think was going on. They suggest that Apple was deliberately making it difficult to install alternative app stores to protect its own turf. It's hard to argue with the numbers, though. When I think about it, if you are warned too many times about something, you start to give up.

"For the first time, we are starting to see iOS users install the Epic Games Store with a success rate approaching Windows users and Apple's own Mac users," Epic said.

However, Epic isn't just pointing fingers at Apple. They're also calling out Google for a similarly cumbersome 12-step installation process on Android. Epic claims this process is tanking their install rates by over 50%. It makes you wonder if these tech giants are playing fair when it comes to competition on their platforms. When you make something difficult for users, they will most likely prefer to use the easier way.

It seems like this is just another chapter in the ongoing saga of app store dominance and whether companies like Apple and Google should be able to control the flow of apps on their devices so tightly. What I take from this is, sometimes, less is more. A streamlined, transparent process can make all the difference.