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EU's latest push could make iOS and Android besties
- The EU is pressing Apple to open up its ecosystem by letting third parties access APIs and technologies currently exclusive to the iPhone.
- If the tech giant complies, features like AirDrop, AirPlay, and automatic audio switching could debut on Android.
- The EU also wants iOS to offer rivaling smartwatches the same set of privileges currently limited to the Apple Watch.
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) has been gradually dismantling Apple’s tight grip in the European Union. Earlier this year, the company was forced to support third-party app marketplaces and payment methods on EU-based iPhones. It similarly switched to USB-C on the iPhone 16 and 15 series due to the same pressure. Nevertheless, the EU still finds the Apple ecosystem in its current form anticompetitive, and it’s pushing for an iOS that works better with Android phones.
The European Commission has published a document (via Bloomberg) highlighting the steps Apple should take to make its ecosystem interoperable with third-party rivals in the EU. Some of the proposed changes include bringing exclusive iOS features like AirDrop, AirPlay, and automatic device switching when streaming audio to other operating systems, which could include Android. This would theoretically enable iPhone and Android phone users to seamlessly perform actions like exchanging files and casting media without relying on third-party apps.
Beyond that, the document explains how iOS should make exclusive Apple Watch and AirPods privileges available to third-party smartwatches and headphones. For example, users should be able to fully access the iPhone’s notification data on non-Apple accessories and interact with the alerts. By doing so, the Apple ecosystem in the EU would start treating devices from third parties as equals.
Apple responded by publishing its own paper, explaining how opening up its ecosystem in the EU would compromise user data. It also exposes special API requests from Meta and the associated consequences if it were to grant them.
If Apple were to have to grant all of these requests, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could enable Meta to read on a user’s device all of their messages and emails, see every phone call they make or receive, track every app that they use, scan all of their photos, look at their files and calendar events, log all of their passwords, and more. This is data that Apple itself has chosen not to access in order to provide the strongest possible protection to users.
If Apple doesn’t comply and open up its ecosystem, the EU may launch a formal probe in early 2025. This could result in hefty fines of up to 10% of Apple’s global annual sales.