One of the things Apple is known for is its walled garden approach. The company has notoriously over the years tried to keep things in-house as much as possible. Unfortunately, the Apple walled garden is in danger of being torn down. This is thanks to recent demands by the EU that want Apple to ensure greater iOS interoperability with other platforms.
Playing nice with others
According to a recent report from Bloomberg, the European Commission has published a document covering some of the changes it wants to see from the company. One of those changes include better iOS interoperability. This would effectively give third-party developers access to technologies that were previously only available to Apple.
One of the proposed changes include allowing third-party apps to run completely in the background. This is currently a feature that is only available to Apple’s native apps. Some other examples also include allowing third-party smartwatches and headsets to pair and control easily within iOS. This is, once again, something that is only available to Apple’s own products.
The EU has given Apple a deadline for its consultation until the 9th of January, 2025. To nobody’s surprise, Apple isn’t happy with these demands. The company claims that opening up its technologies would put users at risk. Apple faces the risk of fines of up to 10% of its global annual sales should it fail to comply with these rules.
Apple will probably resist
As much power as the EU wields, it wouldn’t be surprising if Apple were to try and resist this request. The company will most likely use every legal means at its disposal to argue and appeal this decision.
Apple has historically been known to resist changes in the industry. The company prefers to work at its own pace, only introducing features and changes that are the norm years later. Take Siri, for example. It took Apple 5 years before it granted third-party apps limited access to the digital assistant. Other examples that come to mind include some iOS features, such as widgets and more flexibility in customization. The company also took its sweet time introducing USB-C support for its iPhones.
More recently, Apple fought tooth and nail before caving in and adding support for RCS to its iPhones. That being said, iOS interoperability would be on a different level compared to adding features users have been asking for. It would be essentially asking Apple to loosen its grip on iOS, something the company probably wants to avoid at all costs.