EU regulation has led to Apple being pressured to open up iOS in ways in which many by no means anticipated, nevertheless it’s not performed simply but. In an effort to make sure “efficient interoperability” with different platforms, the EU needs Apple to make native options of iOS being appropriate with Android, together with the likes of AirDrop and extra.
A brand new doc launched by the European Fee this week reveals plenty of methods the EU needs Apple to alter iOS and its options to be extra interoperable with different platforms.
There are some adjustments to iOS itself, similar to opening up notifications to work on third-party smartwatches as they do with the Apple Watch. Equally, the EU needs Apple to let iOS apps work within the background as Apple’s first-party apps do, as it is a battle of some apps, particularly companion apps for equipment similar to smartwatches (apart from the Apple Watch, in fact).
However there are additionally some iOS options that the EU immediately needs Apple to divulge heart’s contents to different platforms, together with Android.
This begins with AirDrop, which at present solely works between iOS and macOS gadgets. The EU explains:
Apple shall present a protocol specification that offers third events all info required to combine, entry, and management the AirDrop protocol inside an utility or service (together with as a part of the working system) operating on a third-party related bodily machine so as to permit these purposes and companies to ship information to, and obtain information from, an iOS machine.
The EU additionally needs Apple to open up AirPlay to different platforms, one thing the corporate has technically already performed. AirPlay is supported on some TVs and merchandise from different manufacturers, however the skill to really connect with one thing over AirPlay is at present restricted solely to iOS. Google’s Solid tech, against this, works on Android, iOS, and different platforms. The EU needs Apple to “make out there the likelihood for a third-party related bodily machine to develop into an AirPlay sender.”
As our sister website 9to5Mac factors out, Apple has responded to this EU doc, prominently criticizing the EU for placing out a mandate that “may expose your personal info.” Apple’s doc primarily focuses in on Meta, which the corporate says has made “extra interoperability requests” than anybody else. Apple says that opening AirPlay to Meta would “[create] a brand new class of privateness and safety points, whereas giving them knowledge about customers properties.”
The EU is taking session on this case till January 9, 2025, and if Apple doesn’t comply when the order is ultimately enforce, it may end in heavy fines.
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