Apple is ahead of the curve when it comes to forcing government entities and governing bodies to force its hand: alternative payment methods, stripping features from existing devices, allowing alternative app stores and true default browser competition – everywhere you turn, it seems to satisfy some reversal, either because of the rulings. A judiciary that did not go its way or because lawmakers regulated its preferred way of doing business ceased to exist.
Apple isn’t enjoying this, which should surprise precisely no one. What should be more surprising is how much Apple is willing to whine and cry to its customers about how much they don’t like this, and about how they think this will be bad for them – the users, which Apple seems to consider weak-willed in some ways.
“With each change, Apple introduces new safeguards that reduce – but do not eliminate – the new risks that DMA poses to EU users,” is text taken from Apple press release Announcing the changes it’s making in iOS 17.4 that comply with Europe’s newly implemented Digital Markets Act. The release also includes, “For users, changes include new controls and disclosures, and expanded protections to reduce privacy and security risks created by the DMA” directly as a second subheading in large, bold type.
Third-party app installation vectors and things like sideloading, which is available on Android at the moment, can pose additional risks to uninformed users who don’t take proper precautions or take responsibility themselves to make sure they have good software hygiene and that they install reputable software from trustworthy sources. . But Apple’s scaremongering is likely overstating the issue, since Android has long exposed users to this risk — and Macs and Windows have always done the same. Somehow, though, the community remains intact and people are mostly OK with using those platforms with reasonable success.
Earlier this month, Apple also announced that developers will be able to link to the web to tell them about alternative subscription methods for content available as digital in-app purchases. However, there were several hurdles, including how and where this link appeared was tightly controlled, and Apple had to provide special permission to apps to allow them to do so initially. Also, the real kicker is that Apple says that anyone who makes a purchase through that link owes them a 27% discount, which raises concerns because the user is on their way out to follow your link as well.
It’s completely understandable why Apple wouldn’t want to make these changes; Apple’s control of the App Store, and its reduction in purchases (typically 30%, with some exceptions) represents a significant portion of its services revenue, which could have a material impact on profits if it erodes over time. What’s not understood is how angry the company is at putting its open fingers over its tightly closed fists when it comes to compliance here.
Lawmakers are already looking to poke Apple’s monolithic business in various places to see if it doesn’t creep into antitrust territory – or, as is the case in Europe, actually enact laws to limit their control and power. Acting like a kicked puppy when it comes to actually putting these things into practice won’t convince these regulators with Apple’s arguments that these types of actions are unnecessary and are in fact user-hostile.
At best, it seems short-sighted: Yes, doing so would mean Apple’s revenue picture wouldn’t change materially in the near term. But it also means it looks like a company completely unwilling to act in the spirit of lawmakers’ efforts to increase competition and reduce the influence of multi-trillion-dollar companies like Apple on the world at large. Developers are increasingly angry at Apple’s antics. These ill feelings probably won’t mean much for platforms like iOS, which have unparalleled install bases and are therefore unavoidable if you’re building a mobile consumer software company, but they will mean a lot to any future efforts to keep emerging platforms out of the market. Earth – Same as Apple Vision Pro.
This also means that Apple may be more vulnerable to competitors among its core businesses; It may seem impossible at this point that iOS would lose its powerful position in the mobile market, but strange things have happened, and developers who feel rejected and humiliated enough will also be more likely to fail to help replicate someone else’s iPhone blitz if things go bad enough. Enough.