EU authorities will tell Apple how it should open iPhone and iOS to competitors

The DMA, or Digital Markets Act, adopted by the European Union is intended to improve the competitive environment in the digital services sector. He threatens Apple with abandoning many of its software principles, and in particular, requires Apple to provide competitors with access to important elements of the company’s software ecosystem. On Thursday, EU antitrust regulators launched a probe to ensure Apple complies with the new rules.

Image Source: Apple

In what’s called a “specification procedure,” the European Commission will prescribe what Apple must do to comply with the DMA. “Today, for the first time, we use the specification procedure under the DMA to guide Apple to effectively meet its interoperability obligations through constructive dialogue,” EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

According to the EU competition authority, the first trial concerns the features and functions of connecting iOS to smart watches, headphones, virtual reality headsets and other devices connected to the Internet. The European Commission intends to clarify how Apple will ensure effective interaction with functions such as notifications, device pairing and connectivity.

The second trial concerns how Apple will address compatibility requests submitted by developers and third parties for iOS and iPadOS. According to European antitrust regulators, Apple’s competitors should have equal access rights to the operating systems of iPhone smartphones and iPad tablets. The EU authorities want to end the closed nature of Apple’s software platforms, which has left competitors in the field of software development for devices of this brand in a weaker position and also forced to pay the company high commissions for working with proprietary infrastructure.

According to Apple representatives, providing such access to third-party developers in the long term will reduce the level of information security offered to European users of the company’s devices. EU antitrust authorities, in particular, insist on granting third-party software developers access to the Siri voice interface and the Apple chip responsible for electronic payments.

In addition to the looming antitrust investigation into third-party developer access to the company’s app store, Apple may face a separate lawsuit on the above issues. The turnover fine imposed on a defendant under European law can be up to 10% of its annual worldwide revenue. In the case of Apple, this is tens of billions of dollars. Both “specification procedures” will be completed within six months.

Apple said in June of this year that it would not be able to offer Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay Screen Sharing features to European users precisely because of local legal requirements to allow third-party developers access to them as part of the new version of iOS. European Commission officials this week signaled to Apple that it must bring its business practices into line with European laws within six months. Specific recommendations were provided to the American company, and now it will have to consider the possibility of following them when doing business in the European Union.