04 Feb 2024
2 min read
Apple’s answer to EU’s gatekeeper rules is new ‘core tech’ fee for apps
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Apple has announced a raft of changes incoming to iOS in the European Union — including a new fee for developers — as the iPhone maker prepares to roll out its response to the bloc’s ex ante competition reform, the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
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Back in September, the EU designated Apple as one of six “gatekeepers” subject to the DMA, listing the iOS App Store and its browser Safari as “core platform services.” The regulation imposes a series of obligations and restrictions on gatekeepers. In Apple’s case this includes forcing it to accept sideloading of apps, among other changes. The deadline for gatekeepers’ compliance with the DMA is March 7.
Back in September, the EU designated Apple as one of six “gatekeepers” subject to the DMA, listing the iOS App Store and its browser Safari as “core platform services.” The regulation imposes a series of obligations and restrictions on gatekeepers. In Apple’s case this includes forcing it to accept sideloading of apps, among other changes. The deadline for gatekeepers’ compliance with the DMA is March 7.
Today Apple has announced the availability of iOS 17.4 in beta, which it says will help developers prepare for the changes to its mobile platform that will be rolled out next month to meet the EU’s compliance deadline.
In a background briefing with journalists ahead of the beta launch, Apple said it’s been working on its solution to comply with the DMA for months. But it also warned some of the changes will create new risks for users — repeating a long-standing argument against sideloading that the practice risks reducing iOS users’ security and privacy.
The changes Apple says are incoming for iOS developers distributing apps in the European Economic Area (EEA) include:
- New options for distributing iOS apps from alternative app marketplaces — including new APIs and tools that enable developers to offer their iOS apps for
download from alternative app marketplaces. - New framework and APIs for creating alternative app marketplaces — enabling marketplace developers to install apps and manage updates on behalf of other
developers from their dedicated marketplace app. - New frameworks and APIs for alternative browser engines — enabling developers to use browser engines, other than WebKit, for browser apps and apps
with in-app browsing experiences. - An interoperability request form — where developers can submit additional requests for interoperability with iPhone and iOS hardware and software features.
Last week, details emerged of an offer Apple has made to the EU to try to settle an antitrust proceeding against Apply Pay. Today it suggested those proposed changes to contactless payments on iOS are “DMA-compliant” — including new APIs enabling developers to use NFC technology in their banking and wallet apps throughout the EEA, and new controls that allow users to select a third-party contactless payment app (or an alternative app marketplace) as their default.
Although, as with all the incoming changes Apple is outing today, it will be up to the European Commission, which oversees gatekeepers’ compliance with the DMA, to assess whether or not they meet the law’s requirements.
