The European Commission opened two procedures on Thursday aimed at ensuring that Apple makes its iOS and iPadOS operating systems fully interoperable with other developers’ devices. The American giant has six months to do so.
The new European legislation (known as “DMA“) has given Apple the status of “access controller” in digital markets, which imposes more obligations on it to behave fairly. However, with its iOS (for iPhones) and iPadOS (for iPads) operating systems, the technology giant manages basic platform services from a dominant market position. In this case, European law requires it to open up the use of its operating systems to other developers.
This Thursday, the Commission opened two procedures for “help“Apple has a way to do this. First, it must make its iOS system more interoperable with other companies’ devices, such as smartwatches, headsets and virtual reality glasses. This concerns notifications, interconnections between devices and connectivity. The second procedure concerns how Apple responds to requests from developers to link their devices to iOS and iPadOS.
The Commission is demanding more transparency and predictability to increase developers’ opportunities to innovate. Fines are possible if Apple does not get its act together within six months.Our goal is to ensure fair and open digital markets“, said Margrethe Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition.Effective interoperability plays an important role in this. This process will provide greater clarity for developers, third parties and Apple.“
