EU may force Apple to open AirDrop and AirPlay to work with Android, and ultimately Samsung. Apple’s services are unbeatable when it comes to cross-platform experience under the Apple ecosystem of products.
Apple has a closed ecosystem given its full control over hardware and software. Meanwhile, the European Union has led the company to drop many controversial exclusivities including the adoption of USB Type-C and RCS.
The new interoperability proposal (via TheVerge) lays down several measures that it would like Apple and connected third parties to take, and it includes changes to ‘features for interactivity,’ ‘features for data transfers,’ and ‘features for device set-up and configuration.’
Features for interactivity
- iOS notifications
- Background execution
- Automatic audio switching
Features for data transfers
- High-bandwidth peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection
- AirDrop
- AirPlay
- Close-range wireless file transfer services
- Media casting
Features for device set-up and configuration
- Proximity-triggered pairing
- Automatic Wi-Fi connection
- NFC controller in Reader/Writer mode
Notably, all the features proposed by the EU might be ‘interesting’ for the regular user. However, the deployment of three main Apple features could open AirDrop to work with the Android operating system and naturally Samsung phones.
AirDrop
“Apple shall provide effective interoperability with the AirDrop feature,” reads the clear mandate. The EU wants Apple to implement a solution that would allow third parties to use the AirDrop API, “in a way that is equally effective as the solution available to Apple.”
Beyond that, the EU wants any updates made to AirDrop to be accessible to third parties at the same time as the initial rollout. This would enable seamless file transfer between iOS and other operating systems, including Android.
“Apple shall implement the measures above in the next major iOS release, and in any case by the end of 2025 at the latest,” reads the section’s concluding statement.
