The EU is continuing its efforts to break down walled gardens, including Apple’s, with its latest effort aimed at forcing the company to open AirDrop.
The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Digital Services Act (DSA) went into effect in late 2022, taking aim at Big Tech. The DMA, in particular, has a number of provisions designed to level the playing field, especially in regard to platforms designated as “gatekeepers,” such as as app stores and other services offered by companies that have large user bases and unilateral control of their ecosystems.
In its latest bid, the EU wants Apple to open up AirDrop and allow access to Android and other platforms. The bloc outlines its goals in a new document.
Apple shall provide effective interoperability with the AirDrop feature. The AirDrop feature consists in the ability of end users to exchange files between iOS devices and Apple connected physical devices using AirDrop. AirDrop allows end users to transfer files (or more generically “items”), such as photos, URLs, or documents, between nearby AirDrop-capable Apple devices, such as between iPhones, iPads, Mac computers, Apple Vision Pro and Apple Watches.
Apple shall implement an interoperability solution that provides third parties with access to the same AirDrop feature described in the preceding paragraph as available to Apple, in a way that is equally effective as the solution available to Apple.
Apple shall provide interoperability with all functionalities of the AirDrop feature which are available to Apple’s own connected physical devices, including, but not limited to, Apple Vision Pro, Apple Watch, as well as any future Apple connected physical devices.
Apple shall provide a protocol specification that gives third parties all information required to integrate, access, and control the AirDrop protocol within an application or service (including as part of the operating system) running on a third-party connected physical device in order to allow these applications and services to send files to, and receive files from, an iOS device.
Argument for Opening AirDrop
AirDrop is one of hallmark features of iOS and macOS devices, using an encrypted peer-to-peer WiFi connection to easily transfer files between devices. Opening AirDrop to allow seamless file transfrer between Apple and Android devices would certainly be a major benefit to users, addressing one of the challenges with cross-platform communication: file sharing.
While Google has created its own AirDrop competitor, making AirDrop work with Android, Windows, and any other OS will make it infinitely easier to quickly share files without resorting to email, messaging, or a third-party file-sharing service.
Argument Against Opening AirDrop
Apple will likely fight the change, seeing it as another attempt by the EU to crack open its walled garden, and there is merit to concerns Apple will likely raise.
Apple has made a fortune delivering a curated experience for its users, ensuring everything works as expected. A significant reason everything works so well is because Apple is able to control both the harware and the software, giving it a level of integration few can match. Forcing the company to make AirDrop compatible with an infinite number of devices and configures will likely degrade the overall experience.
The Bigger Issue With the EU’s Stance
Apple has already run afoul of the DMA in regard to the iOS App Store, and will likely be the first Big Tech firm fined under the new legislation. The EU has accused Apple of having serious compliance issues with the DAM.
“We have a number of Apple issues; I find them very serious. I was very surprised that we would have such suspicions of Apple being non-compliant,” EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said in mid-2024.
″[Apple] are very important because a lot of good business happens through the App Store, happens through payment mechanisms, so of course, even though you know I can say this is not what was expected of such a company, of course we will enforce exactly with the same top priority as with any other business,” Vestager added.
Meanwhile, Apple has already said it will not roll out its Apple Intelligence within the EU, saying it will not be able to deploy the features within the bloc as a result of the DMA.
Due to the regulatory uncertainties brought about by the Digital Markets Act, we do not believe that we will be able to roll out three of these [new] features — iPhone Mirroring, SharePlay Screen Sharing enhancements, and Apple Intelligence — to our EU users this year.
Meta has followed Apple’s lead, saying it will not bring its multimodel AI models to the EU over the same concerns.
We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months, but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory environment.
While the DMA may be admirable in its intent, EU regulators must be careful not to destroy companies’ ability to compete by offering unique services and features that differentiate them from competitors. If EU regulators cross that line, the may find that companies increasingly follow Apple and Meta’s example, leading to the bloc falling behind in the tech race.
