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EU Apple

The EU Will Force Apple To Open Up iPadOS (engadget.com) 132

Posted by BeauHD from the open-sesame dept.
As reported by Bloomberg (paywalled), Apple's iPadOS will need to abide by EU's DMA rules, as it is now designated as a gatekeeper alongside the Safari web browser, iOS operating system and the App Store. "Apple now has six months to ensure full compliance of iPadOS with the DMA obligations," reads the EU's blog post about the change. Engadget reports: What does Apple have to do to ensure iPadOS compliance? According to the DMA, gatekeepers are prohibited from favoring their own services over rivals and from locking users into the ecosystem. The software must also allow third parties to interoperate with internal services, which is why third-party app stores are becoming a thing on iPhones in Europe. The iPad, presumably, will soon follow suit. In other words, the DMA is lobbing some serious stink bombs into Apple's walled garden. In a statement published by Forbes, Apple said it "will continue to constructively engage with the European Commission" to ensure its designated services comply with the DMA, including iPadOS. "iPadOS constitutes an important gateway on which many companies rely to reach their customers," wrote Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy at the European Commission. "Today's decision will ensure that fairness and contestability are preserved also on this platform."
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The EU Will Force Apple To Open Up iPadOS More

The EU Will Force Apple To Open Up iPadOS

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  • "Open" how? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by sinkskinkshrieks ( 6952954 ) on Monday April 29, 2024 @09:04PM (#64434406)
    I'm perplexed. One can already change default browsers, email clients, and default handler for quite a few media types. If they mean being able to replace every Apple app with an alternative, that would be borderline extreme.

    • Re:"Open" how? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by dgatwood ( 11270 ) on Monday April 29, 2024 @09:22PM (#64434438) Homepage Journal

      I'm perplexed. One can already change default browsers, email clients, and default handler for quite a few media types. If they mean being able to replace every Apple app with an alternative, that would be borderline extreme.

      You can "change" web browsers, as long as they're all really just thin skins over WebKit.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by registrations_suck ( 1075251 )

        I bet 90% of years don't even know what WebKit is, let alone care, let alone care about using something in its place.

        • I bet 100% of your facts are bullshit.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by dgatwood ( 11270 )

          I bet 90% of years don't even know what WebKit is, let alone care, let alone care about using something in its place.

          I bet 90% of web developers know what WebKit is, and long for actual competition on iOS so that a single browser vendor can't effectively hold back progress arbitrarily for the entire world by not implementing new web technologies in a timely manner.

          • It holds back Google from total control over internet standards.

        • I'm one of the ones who cares.

    • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

      by vlad30 ( 44644 )

      I'm perplexed. One can already change default browsers, email clients, and default handler for quite a few media types. If they mean being able to replace every Apple app with an alternative, that would be borderline extreme.

      And if you don't like Apples ecosystem your quite welcome to the competition (android etc) however I found that most people like the walled garden that apple provides with minimal pests that can be easily eradicated when you have a walled garden and when they switch to apple they rarely go back. So this move by the EU sounds more like a shake down I wonder how many $B it will take for them to say they have a resolution

      Has anybody used another app store in Europe since Apple has allowed this over there?

      • Has anybody used another app store in Europe since Apple has allowed this over there?

        No wonder its to take apple idiots seriously

      • Re:"Open" how? (Score:4, Informative)

        by FictionPimp ( 712802 ) on Tuesday April 30, 2024 @08:55AM (#64435416) Homepage

        For years I was a OSS zealot. I believed in the dream and ran linux on everything and didn't even want an android phone with google on it. I built LFS on weekends and played with stage 1 gentoo, spending my nights crafting the perfect compiler flags to try for maximum "performance". Then I grew up. Now I want to get my work done and put the tools away. Everything is apple in my house now. MacBook Pro, AppleTV, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch. It works, it's nearly seamless and I do not need to work on my machines, I get my work done and I put them away.

        I use safari on OSX. That is not going to change because I like the battery life it provides and to be very honest, I have no desire to go download and install software. If there is a default apple option, I'm likely to use it. It would have to be majorly painful and get in the way of my work to make me consider installing another browser or App Store. Hell, I don't really even want to install apps in general. So from that perspective none of this bothers me.

        What bothers me is when my grandma or parents get tricked into installing malicious software or app stores and call their IT grandson to help. My support requirements went to near zero when I got them to switch off windows and android. So now I'm going to have to deal with that. Thanks I guess.

        • You know when I think about it my grandmother never got any virus except back in the 00's. Even then it was from email. There are allot of things you can say about AOL but in the 20 years she used it, she never did have a hosed system. Of course by this point it was imposable to teach her how to use a normal browser but then even getting her to figure out Word was a challenge.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mjwx ( 966435 )

          What bothers me is when my grandma or parents get tricked into installing malicious software or app stores and call their IT grandson to help. My support requirements went to near zero when I got them to switch off windows and android. So now I'm going to have to deal with that. Thanks I guess.

          That's just because they stopped calling you because you refused to do anything but tell them to buy a new £1000 phone.

      • I am using a Samsung Galaxy S8 Ultra tablet for my personal device. I admin a fleet of iOS devices at work so I can compare side-by-side. The Galaxy tablet beats the pants off the iPad Pro in every way despite the fact that Apple isn't there to defend me from the evils of the world.

      • The solution I think is simple. An iPad that retains the walled garden, perhaps does not sell in the EU, and is shitware-lite. And then an iPad "Pro" that has a more open operating system like MacOS where its user-beware.

        For my mom, and for younger kids, that iPad product is still valuable and what I'd push on them. For normal humans who are aware of technology, the pro model.

        But I really just want an iPad Pro with macOS so I can do work when in places I can't set up a laptop. I don't really care about this

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sjames ( 1099 )

        Those people are free to never stray beyond it's walls.

        But note, even if literally nobody chooses to go outside the garden, the simple fact that they are free to makes sure Apple is careful to maintain the garden well.

  • Apple should do an Elon Musk, first the BS about forcing specific charging plugs, now this.
    Give the EU the finger, pull out of the market. See how voters like the EU after that.

    • Re:You'd think the EU has bigger fish to fry. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by youngone ( 975102 ) on Monday April 29, 2024 @09:40PM (#64434458)
      The specific charging plug the EU forced on Apple is USB-C and was a great thing.
      Apple sell something like $100 billion worth of stuff in the EU every year. Would they walk away from a market that big? I doubt it.

      • Even before the USB-C mandate, when the EU mandated a standardized charging type, be it Lightning, MicroUSB or USB-C, this greatly helped things.

        I know I'm showing my age, but I remember cellphones and laptop chargers [youtube.com] before then. You had barrel connectors, 30 pin connectors, card edge connectors, pogopin connectors, and everything in between. Even if the connector is physically compatible, the pins likely would have different polarities or voltages. Chargers were $60 apiece, and had the cable attached,

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by xlsior ( 524145 )
          Laptop chargers are next - Starting December 2024, all new laptops and cameras sold in the EU must support charging by USB-C as well.

          /And Starting in 2027, all cellphones and other gadgets sold in the EU need to have easily consumer-replaceable batteries with nothing more than standard/simple tools. Apple will certainly have another meltdown over that directive.

          • And also note the coming repairability of other parts: a given part only working with a given device will be forbidden.

            So as example you will be able to swap out say a screen from one phone with a bad logic board to another with a broken screen. Currently Apple stops that from working..

            • And also note the coming repairability of other parts: a given part only working with a given device will be forbidden.

              So as example you will be able to swap out say a screen from one phone with a bad logic board to another with a broken screen. Currently Apple stops that from working..

              Which neatly stops "chop shops".

              Thanks, EU. NOT!

          • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

            by NoMoreACs ( 6161580 )

            Laptop chargers are next - Starting December 2024, all new laptops and cameras sold in the EU must support charging by USB-C as well. /And Starting in 2027, all cellphones and other gadgets sold in the EU need to have easily consumer-replaceable batteries with nothing more than standard/simple tools. Apple will certainly have another meltdown over that directive.

            As will Samsung, etc.

            Stop being disingenuous.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by xlsior ( 524145 )

              Laptop chargers are next - Starting December 2024, all new laptops and cameras sold in the EU must support charging by USB-C as well. /And Starting in 2027, all cellphones and other gadgets sold in the EU need to have easily consumer-replaceable batteries with nothing more than standard/simple tools. Apple will certainly have another meltdown over that directive.

              As will Samsung, etc.

              Stop being disingenuous.

              Apple goes to extremes to lock down their devices. They pair & serial-lock batteries, screens, and other component to the motherboard of individual devices.
              If a repair company opens up two brand new iphones and switches the screens or batteries between the two, they won't work. If you try the same with a Samsung or other brand phone, it will work just fine.

              • Laptop chargers are next - Starting December 2024, all new laptops and cameras sold in the EU must support charging by USB-C as well. /And Starting in 2027, all cellphones and other gadgets sold in the EU need to have easily consumer-replaceable batteries with nothing more than standard/simple tools. Apple will certainly have another meltdown over that directive.

                As will Samsung, etc.

                Stop being disingenuous.

                Apple goes to extremes to lock down their devices. They pair & serial-lock batteries, screens, and other component to the motherboard of individual devices.

                If a repair company opens up two brand new iphones and switches the screens or batteries between the two, they won't work. If you try the same with a Samsung or other brand phone, it will work just fine.

                You're behind the times:

                https://www.apple.com/newsroom... [apple.com]

                https://www.msn.com/en-us/news... [msn.com]

                https://www.imore.com/iphone/i... [imore.com]

          • Wait how does that effect super high powered laptops that need like a 350W brick? I need to look up the specs on the USB-C connector but I am fairly sure it cannot support 20V at 20amps:P
            • USB-C v3.1 have a max output of 240W, however the EU mandate allows for laptops that need more power to use a proprietary charger. In fact everything > 100W is allowed that under the current mandate.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          I've been converting older devices to use USB C. You can buy pre-made cables with a barrel jack on one and and a USB plug on the other. In 99% of cases the voltage doesn't have to be exact either, e.g. a 19V laptop will work just fine with a 20V cable.

          The only real issue I'm finding is that often the cables aren't clearly labelled with what voltage they are, so I have to put up own labels on. I make some of my own cables too, and buy the USB plugs with Power Delivery PCB built in from AliExpress. Unfortunat

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by McLoud ( 92118 )

          I know I'm showing my age, but I remember cellphones and laptop chargers [youtube.com] before then. You had barrel connectors, 30 pin connectors, card edge connectors, pogopin connectors, and everything in between. Even if the connector is physically compatible, the pins likely would have different polarities or voltages.

          Different voltages and same form factor too, plug the wrong thing and one would've fried the device

          • Pin polarities as well. That barrel connector can have the inside part either positive or negative, so even if one did get the voltage right, there was a 50/50 chance.

            If that continued today, I'd be expecting companies to have "DRM" chips that wouldn't allow a device to charge unless the charger made some type of proprietary chip negotiation, similar to HDCP.

      • The specific charging plug the EU forced on Apple is USB-C and was a great thing.

        Apple sell something like $100 billion worth of stuff in the EU every year. Would they walk away from a market that big? I doubt it.

        But earlier, before there was USB-C, the EU threatened to force Apple to change from their 30 pin Dock Connector to the abomination known as MicroUSB(!!!)

        Which is precisely why Apple devised Lightning; the very first rotation-agnostic Connector in the World with more than two pins. Released before the USB-C standard was even ratified, let alone Released.

        • No the EU didn't mandate that Apple changed to the Micro USB. EU mandated that the industry itself should figure out what the common connector should be and if they didn't (which they didn't due to Apple) then EU would mandate such a connector (and they did with USB-C). The industry excluding Apple decided on the Micro USB, so the industry tried to mandate Apple to change to Micro USB, not the EU.

      • Would they walk away from a market that big? I doubt it.

        A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. In America, Apple has a bird in hand.

        Do you want to recalculate those odds now?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sjames ( 1099 )

          Why would I do that? Corporate America is Gollum. They will chase their preciousss dollars directly into the volcano every time.

          • Fair enough; although, I think you are being a bit insulting to Gollum. Even Gollum wasn't THAT intense despite being tortured in Dol Guldur and wandering the shadows of Mordor.

    • Apple should do an Elon Musk, first the BS about forcing specific charging plugs, now this. Give the EU the finger, pull out of the market. See how voters like the EU after that.

      Android phones have the biggest market share in the EU, 65% compared to 25% for Apple. I can guarantee the shareholders won't like Apple leaving the world's second largest economy though.

    • Good riddance to bad garbage
    • I'm not sure apple wants to run their company into the ground like Elon. Dude spent 44b to light twitter on fire then lit a match on tesla with his stupid cybertruck

  • im absolutely shocked that microsoft, sony, and nintendo are not being targeted with their 100million+ device platforms.

    especially nintendo.

    xbox one 60million and xbox series X/S 20 million for a total 80 million modern xbox

    PlayStation 4 117million + PlayStation 5 50million for 170million modern playstations

    Switch with another 140million. seems the only app is youtube and they refuse to allow a web brower.

    its absolutely shocking.

    • They don't have Apple money. The EU will be around with a hand out soon enough.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward
        ummm you realise MS has more money/assets and a higher stock value than Apple right? regardless the OP's statement is dumb, all of those companies have faced past investigation and forced to change various anti competitive practises.
      • The EU does not gain money from the fines they pay out so there is no hand out.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Given the way Microsoft is imploding on the Xbox, it would be hypocritical of them not to consider opening up the PS4/5 since the Xbox would have disappeared.

      And people were worried that Xbox would take over the console market because of Activision.

    • Let's talk when there are 2+ billion such devices... According to your numbers, all gaming consoles from all vendors don't even add up to 1/4 the number of iOS devices in the world.

      FWIW, Microsoft is way more open with their Xbox platform than Sony and Nintendo are with theirs.

      I do agree that gaming platforms should be opened up too, but as with most things in this world, it all comes down to scale.

    • They are currently not targeted because the consoles are seen as speciality entertainment things and not something that you use to take part of every day life like smart phones and tablets have become.

  • Stupid (Score:2, Insightful)

    by papasui ( 567265 )
    If a company wants to have a walled garden, ok. Youâ(TM)re free to chose it or chose an alternative. There ARE alternatives, just because you donâ(TM)t like the alternative doesnâ(TM)t make it less true.
    • > If a company wants to have a walled garden, ok. Youâ(TM)re free to chose it or chose an alternative. There ARE alternatives, just because you donâ(TM)t like the alternative doesnâ(TM)t make it less true.

      Except when it's Twitter under Musk /s

    • The very definition of a "gatekeeper service" is that no you're not TRULY free to pick an alternative.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      People get locked into Apple's ecosystem. Wouldn't it be great if you could use a cross-platform app store where buying something gave you both the Android and iOS versions?

      • Yeah, it would also be great if all my Ford parts worked on a Chevy. All technology should be homogeneous! The USB-C cable is the only valid cable for the rest of time!

        While we are at it, we need to get rid of every Linux repo but Snap. I am sure that Canonical could convince the EU to mandate Snap compatibility so all these walled gardens like apt and pacman will no longer be able to rob Linux users of the choice to be 100% compatible with Snap.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          Didn't the US used to do that? Standard headlights, because they often needed replacing back then? There was a round one and a square one.

          By the way, the rule isn't that it has to be USB C. The rule is that periodically industry experts and EU experts will consult and decide what it will be going forward, so if something better comes along they can make the change when it is most beneficial for consumers.

          That said, USB C should be it for the foreseeable future. Loads of bandwidth, plenty of pins, alternate

  • I wish Apple would tell the EU to buzz off (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jsepeta ( 412566 ) on Monday April 29, 2024 @11:59PM (#64434636) Homepage

    Where's the open-ness of the PS5 platform, or the XBox, or the goddamned Tesla OS? The EU is simply picking on Apple because none of their member countries can contribute much to technology, and Apple has a lot of money, so they're being total GOONS.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Give it time. The DMA only applies to the largest tech platforms, but I think it's likely that as the benefits are seen it will start to apply to medium size ones too. Maybe not legislatively, it might simply be that those platforms do it because consumers demand it, or because they want to avoid having the exact terms dictated to them.

      That really was Apple's mistake here. If they had done it voluntarily they would probably have got away with worse terms, but because rules had to be made now the EU gets to

      • This legislation only exists because no EU company meets their definition of a gatekeeper. The DMA similar to American legislation that targeted Japanese automakers by requiring the cars to be mostly manufactured in the states. It is using legislation to protect an underperforming domestic industry.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jsepeta ( 412566 )

      Roku, open your TV sticks!
      Vizio, open your televisions!
      Google, open your voice puck!
      HP, stop making your printers proprietary!

      Where does it end? This path is lunacy.

    • People live their lives through their phone. There's a qualitative difference.

      Like why your car requires a seatbelt and airbags, but your snowmobile doesn't.

  • Apple said it "will continue to constructively engage with the European Commission..." meaning like they usually do? Meaning they'll ignore calls for negotiations, get as litigious as they can, try to use diplomatic channels, i.e. the US State Department, threaten developers & their own staff, make life as difficult as possible for their users because "EU gubbermint regulations!!!", claim the sky is going to fall in, have hissy fits, & throw their toys out of the pram, etc.?

    You know. They're Amer

    • Apple said it "will continue to constructively engage with the European Commission..." meaning like they usually do? Meaning they'll ignore calls for negotiations, get as litigious as they can, try to use diplomatic channels, i.e. the US State Department, threaten developers & their own staff, make life as difficult as possible for their users because "EU gubbermint regulations!!!", claim the sky is going to fall in, have hissy fits, & throw their toys out of the pram, etc.?

      You know. They're Americans. They'll go full-on "Karen" over this. It's the 'Murican way. Freedom!!!

      Don't like the way Apple does business? Don't buy their Products!

      It's just as simple as that.

  • "In other words, the DMA is lobbing some serious stink bombs into Apple's walled garden."

    This is the point. The Commission has an agenda of which this is part. Its not financial. Its to open the walled garden. Its not to compel anyone to buy or use anything. Its to make the iPhone as open a platform as an Android phone for those that want to exercise the freedom that openness will give.

    "The EU is simply picking on Apple because none of their member countries can contribute much to technology, and Apple

    • People have all the "freedom" in the world, they can use a second rate Android or other garbage phone and have all the "freedom" to do anything they want on it.

      While I have been working in a very high technology industry for decades - a lot higher than the software gadget business - I don't care anything about cell phone software. I do not want to endlessly grub around in it and find the 2 things that work and 50000 things that don't. I want an appliance I am singularly uninterested in even understanding i

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