Yesterday, the European Commission drew up an impressive list of features that Apple must implement in iOS to ensure better interoperability with competitors, under the DMA. The requirements are sometimes very specific: the manufacturer must allow users to switch between devices (between the iPhone and a Mac, for example) with compatible headphones, not just AirPods.
Brussels also requires that third-party products be able to display and react to notifications from an iPhone and allow apps to continue certain tasks in the background (which, oddly enough, is already possible). Apple will also have to allow fast wireless connections for file sharing or streaming to VR glasses, which is an ultra-niche market.
Developers will be able to create alternatives to AirPlay, the wireless streaming system, while Apple will have to support alternatives to AirDrop. The iPhone will also be able to communicate with connected objects via NFC in read and write mode, for example with connected rings.
That's not all: the roadmap includes simplifying the Bluetooth pairing of a device with an iPhone; these same devices will have to have access to the information of the Wi-Fi networks saved on the smartphone in order to connect to them automatically. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, with all the details available at this address.
The European Commission is also imposing a timetable on Apple for implementing all these measures: iOS notifications and proximity pairing will appear in beta before the end of the year for deployment on June 1, 2026. The rest will be spread out between iOS 19 (September 2026) and iOS 20 (September 2027).
Apple doesn't want to give the keys to iOS to the competition
As you can imagine, all of this isn't good for Apple. The manufacturer complained to 01net about the "administrative delays" of this decision, which slows down "its ability to innovate for users in Europe and forces us to offer our new features for free to companies that are not subject to the same rules." The Apple company believes that "this is bad for our products and for our European users."
The group, which cannot decently deprive itself of the European market, will continue to work with the Commission even though it says it is convinced that these interoperability measures will not achieve the Commission's objectives in terms of competition and innovation. One of Apple's lines of defense is to emphasize how unfair its treatment is: it will have to deliver its innovations to companies whose model is to copy Apple's technologies or whose poor practices in terms of confidentiality and security.
Last December, Apple published a report on DMA compliance that highlighted the interoperability demands coming from data-hungry companies. Giving the example of Meta, who requested access to AirPlay, CarPlay, Messages, Wi-Fi properties, Bluetooth, etc.
If Apple were to accept these requests, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp would give Meta the ability to read all of an iPhone user's messages and emails, the manufacturer lamented at the time.
Beyond that, Apple suggests that European users might not benefit from the new products at the same time as the rest of the world. In the company's mind, regulators now have the power to micromanage the design of future iPhones—notably, this hasn't been such a big problem for USB-C, which the whole world now enjoys without any insurmountable problems.
The European decision could complicate the launch of new products and technologies on the old continent: this has already been the case for Apple Intelligence, whose features will finally be available in Europe in April. Further delays are expected, despite the precise timetable provided by the EU.
0 Comments