The European Union introduced its Digital Markets Act in 2022 as a means to improve competition in the digital and tech markets. The aim of the DMA is to prevent “gatekeepers” from, essentially, gatekeeping—using their power to prevent other businesses in the same space from getting a foothold.
The DMA has done a lot. The most notable for me was forcing iPhones to use USB-C instead of their proprietary Lightning connector. However, things are pushing further than I would have ever envisioned, as if the EU has its way, a lot of proprietary Apple technologies, such as AirDrop and AirPlay, will have to be made compatible with Android.
The European Union’s Impact Could Force Apple To Open Up Some Of Its Biggest Features
The EU is trying to foster a very competitive environment in tech and digital products, and for the most part, I’d say that it is doing a pretty good job of that. Some companies are so titanic that, if they wanted to, they could snuff the life out of any underdogs trying to play around in their territory. The EU’s DMA tries to remedy that, but even with the changes Apple has made under the act, the EU still doesn’t deem it sufficient.
It believes that the walled garden that Apple has built needs to be broken down and made more interoperable with rivals such as Android. The European Commission posted a document with proposed measures on how the American technology giant could better provide the interoperability required by the DMA.
The problem is, that those measures are pretty major steps for Apple to take. If the EU gets its way, Apple will have to make notable features such as AirDrop, AirPlay, and proximity-based pairing (that you see with the Apple Watch or AirPods) interoperable and available to whoever might want to use them. iMessage isn’t on the list though, which should make Apple users happy.
Apple Doesn’t Agree, But If Things Don’t Go Its Way, It Could Face A Massive Fine
Naturally, Apple is kicking against this move and says that opening up its ecosystem in such a fashion could have a negative effect on the security of user data. To be fair, privacy has always been a major perk of how tight Apple’s software is. I can see how that could be true.
Unfortunately for Apple, if these measures are found to be reasonable and it chooses not to comply, it could be hit with a fine as heavy as 10% of its global sales in a year. That is not an amount that can be shrugged off.
Does This Mean These Features Are Coming To Android? Not Necessarily
The EU’s proposed changes are still merely preliminary, and they might not come to fruition depending on feedback from Apple and other concerned third parties. However, in the event that they are followed through with, you might be asking whether that means that Android phones will be able to use AirDrop.
Well, not necessarily. The EU’s changes would have Apple make APIs and other necessary tools available for developers who want to access these features. We’re almost certain to see third-party apps built around these features—that’s just the way things work—but whether Google will decide to build that interoperability with opened-up Apple features into Android is a bit harder to predict.
