EU asks for views on plan to force Apple to open up iOS

The European Commission has published draft proposals for how Apple must meet interoperability requirements flowing from the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) — inviting feedback on proposed measures targeted at areas like iOS notifications, data transfer, and device set-up by January 9, 2025.

European Union regulators then have until around mid March to adopt final decisions on what measures the bloc will expect Apple to take, and by when, to deliver access for rivals as the DMA demands.

Apple’s iOS, iPadOS, App Store and Safari web browser are all subject to to the regulation which aims to boost competition by enabling third parties to plug their own services into dominant platforms. But the current interoperability proceedings focus on Apple’s mobile operating systems, iOS and iPadOS.

Back in September the Commission announced two “specification proceedings” to determine how the interoperability rules should be applied to Apple’s core platforms. On Thursday it published the preliminary results and kicked off two consultations: One on “proposed measures for interoperability between Apple’s iOS operating system and connected devices“; and a second on “proposed measures for requesting interoperability with Apple’s iOS and iPadOS operating systems“.

Among the requirements being proposed for Apple are measures intended to achieve “effective interoperability” with iOS Notifications; background execution; automatic audio switching; data transfer features including high-bandwidth p2p wi-fi connection, Airdrop, Airplay, close-range wireless file transfer services, and media casting; features for device-set up and configuration such as proximity-triggered pairing, automatic wi-fi connection, and the NFC controller.

The Commission also wants Apple to improve the request-based process it has set up for third parties to seek interoperability with iOS and iPadOS — which the second proceeding deals with.

Proposed measures here include actions that aim to boost transparency around iOS and iPadOS features and functionalities that are currently reserved for Apple (such as by providing information on libraries, frameworks and daemons); support for developers who are interested in interoperability to boost the effectiveness and transparency of the request process itself, including measures to improve communications and feedback around requests, and around any rejections, as well as the structure of a conciliation process to handle disagreements; as well as measures geared towards futureproofing interoperability through interoperability by design; and measures to give greater clarity around the timeline for interoperability requests to be actioned by Apple to drive predictability and accountability for developers requesting access.

Reached for comment, Apple spokesman Tom Parker emailed a five-page report setting out the company’s response to the proposals — in which Apple suggests abuse of DMA interoperability requirements could harm users privacy as it warns: “Data-hungry companies across the globe may weaponize interoperability.”

Apple’s lobbying document also hits out at Meta, specifically — accusing the adtech giant of making many and over-broad DMA access requests, as we reported earlier.

Parker also highlighted the following line in which Apple wrote: “The magical experiences people love about Apple products are made possible because of the time, talent and capital the company dedicates to creating products that work right out of the box. These processes will hurt innovation — companies should be able to compete with one another to make their own products work together in new ways that benefit users without giving their ideas away to competitors. Apple is the only company being forced to share its innovations in this way with everyone else, including those who do not share its commitment to user privacy.” 

In the report, Apple suggests it has often provided developers with access to the same tools in iOS and iPadOS that it has but argues it’s “incredibly important” for interoperability to be “done in a way that’s right for our users”.

“That is why, every single time we open developer access to functionalities, we give careful thought to how to do it in a way that continues to protect users,” Apple also claims, adding: “Without the right protections, giving third parties access to parts of users’ devices could open up ways for bad actors to steal or expose their personal information.”

The Commission’s consultation on the first specification proceeding notes that it’s particularly seeking technical views on the effectiveness of the proposed measures for interoperability between iOS and connected devices, including effectiveness in practice, completeness, feasibility and views on its proposed timelines for Apple to implement the measures.

Regarding the second consultation the EU also wants feedback on timelines and, more broadly, whether the proposed measures achieve their objective; and, if not, how they might be improved.

“The Commission will carefully assess the feedback provided by interested parties and Apple. The input received may result in adjustments to the proposed measures and will feed into the Commission’s decision on the legally binding final measures applying to Apple,” the EU added.