This is starting to get annoying now. All these pushes will just drive Apple to do more services themselves rather than allow third parties to create apps for them, or even partnerships for first party ventures. EU's just being a pain in the ass now.
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Apple Gets EU Warning to Open iOS to Third-Party Connected Devices
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ProbablyDylan
macrumors 68040
Is there competition for smart watches in the Apple Sphere though? What competitors are there to the Apple Watch, and how well do they work with iPhone?
SBlue1
macrumors 68020
Yeah, how dare the government works for its people! The government should just be there for the big companies!!
I do like some things Apple is offering but I also like third party gear more than some of what Apple has to offer.
Apple is deliberately crippling the experience of others to force you to buy Apple.
It’s like buying a car where you can only buy the same tires from the manufacturer who sells the car.
The EU is only forcing Apple to open up their API’s so other manufacturers can offer the same experience.
It’s up to you if you want to buy only Apple or not and it’s called fair competition.
It has nothing to do with forcing Apple to make iOS open source. Only the API’s that communicate with the device.
surferfb
macrumors 68030
The market's solution: buy an Android. Again, in a sane world the government doesn't come in and say "you must make your product work with your competitor's products" when the product in question has less than 30% market share.
You're not entitled to a Playstation that runs Xbox games just because you really, really want to play Starfield.
There is extensive regulation around car manufacturing within the EU covering safety, environmental concerns, servicing and parts availability. The manufacturers like this as they get a single source of regulation across all EU countries, they even pressured the UK government to keep those regulations after Brexit.
If you genuinely believe in market economics, then surely you know that entirely free and unregulated markets are not always efficient and don't always result in the best outcome for consumers? Or did your economy classes stop after Adam Smith, before they got to John Nash? 😉
IF consumers don't like the way Apple operates, then Apple will suffer. For example, 70% of the EU choose something OTHER than Apple. That's how this works. IF Samsung sees a weakness in how Apple operates, Samsung can offer something different.
Nothing shows that Apple isn't competing in a market that is working.
surferfb
macrumors 68030
You're not forced to buy anything. If you don't like it there is a huge ecosystem of competing products. You're not entitled to have your cake and to eat it too.
It's unfortunate that there are only really two choices in the market. Imagine buying a car where your only options were a BMW or a Fiat. That wouldn't work well for consumers just as the current situation doesn't for phone buyers.
No I’m not. I’m only saying that they are the same in a different form factor.
They both rely on the same hard- and software (the base is the same)
iamdamian
macrumors member
This EU digital markets nonsense is really starting to annoy me!
I don't profess to know or understand all of the rules and regulations it keeps imposing, but from what I see it is watering down user experience and thus degrading the quality of the user experience.
I get that there are some people who want to be able to connect non-apple watches to their iPhones (more easily) and likely other accessories too. I have no issue with that.
But IMO (and it is my opinion) the EU are over reaching without a full understanding of what they are imposing. I CHOSE Apple because I wanted the security and protection they offer. Everyone has a different opinion, and I am not professing that any tech company is perfect. But I trust Apple with my privacy and security over other organisations such as Meta or the Android ecosystem.
I want the protection of the Apple Ap store, iTunes and Movie Store. I trust that Apps etc on the Apple eco system have been vetted enough in order to protect me as a user. I want the ease (that Apple have built within there eco system) of using iOS to manage my subscriptions and such like. I want it all in once place. I don't want to have to go to umpteen different market places for different app and such like every time I want to manage different subscriptions across different market places. And I fully respect and appreciate that Apple are entitled to levy a fee to developers for access to and use of their platform. I personally consider it only fair.
I don't want alternative marketplaces for Apps, Music and Movies. I buy Apple because I want the eco system, ease of use and protection it comes with. I don't want some watered down and weakened system because bureaucrats demand it.
I want want Apple offer. Because they offer the protection and privacy I expect (and NO I am not saying Apple are perfect, but for me and my needs they are close to meeting my expectations).
I am really sick of the EU and other governments getting involved under the 'guise' of having the public's best. interests at heart. I don't believe that to be true.
I for one am glad that being in the UK I am not beholden to this EU madness. Though I know the UK has its own madness that thankfully so far hasn't affected my user experience on iOS. It annoys me that thanks to EU rules and UK rubbish we will get access to Apple Ai later than the US, so they can adhere to all the red tape. This is a prime example of bureaucrats degrading user experience.
And before anyone trolls me for my comments. This is my opinion on what I want! I'm not speaking for the masses!
But I don't believe the interference from governments all over the world is making the quality of the end users experience better. it is making it worse.
I don't profess to know or understand all of the rules and regulations it keeps imposing, but from what I see it is watering down user experience and thus degrading the quality of the user experience.
I get that there are some people who want to be able to connect non-apple watches to their iPhones (more easily) and likely other accessories too. I have no issue with that.
But IMO (and it is my opinion) the EU are over reaching without a full understanding of what they are imposing. I CHOSE Apple because I wanted the security and protection they offer. Everyone has a different opinion, and I am not professing that any tech company is perfect. But I trust Apple with my privacy and security over other organisations such as Meta or the Android ecosystem.
I want the protection of the Apple Ap store, iTunes and Movie Store. I trust that Apps etc on the Apple eco system have been vetted enough in order to protect me as a user. I want the ease (that Apple have built within there eco system) of using iOS to manage my subscriptions and such like. I want it all in once place. I don't want to have to go to umpteen different market places for different app and such like every time I want to manage different subscriptions across different market places. And I fully respect and appreciate that Apple are entitled to levy a fee to developers for access to and use of their platform. I personally consider it only fair.
I don't want alternative marketplaces for Apps, Music and Movies. I buy Apple because I want the eco system, ease of use and protection it comes with. I don't want some watered down and weakened system because bureaucrats demand it.
I want want Apple offer. Because they offer the protection and privacy I expect (and NO I am not saying Apple are perfect, but for me and my needs they are close to meeting my expectations).
I am really sick of the EU and other governments getting involved under the 'guise' of having the public's best. interests at heart. I don't believe that to be true.
I for one am glad that being in the UK I am not beholden to this EU madness. Though I know the UK has its own madness that thankfully so far hasn't affected my user experience on iOS. It annoys me that thanks to EU rules and UK rubbish we will get access to Apple Ai later than the US, so they can adhere to all the red tape. This is a prime example of bureaucrats degrading user experience.
And before anyone trolls me for my comments. This is my opinion on what I want! I'm not speaking for the masses!
But I don't believe the interference from governments all over the world is making the quality of the end users experience better. it is making it worse.
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You're not alone. Some 70% of EU consumers prefer how Android operates. You can do as they do. That's how a market works.
70% of the EU market is clearly not forced to buy Apple products.
If a car manufacturer wanted to try that out, the market would decide if it were a good decision or not. There's no need to prohibit that if a car manufacturer wanted to try it out.
A business is only viable to the degree it offers something better/different than its competition. What you're taking about is taking competition away. It's ok if you don't believe in market economics. Just say that.
How about having an EU only iPhone that is crippled right out of the box. There is just no way Google/Android are going to comply with this nonsense.
And yet you can't change the os lol, so in practice you only own an expensive brick.
I'm well aware of reasonable regulations, for example in areas like product safety. But forcing Apple to be open source is not reasonable regulation. I well versed in market economics and regulatory environments.
And if consumers don't like the way Apple operates, they won't buy their products. Right?
Statements like this show a complete misunderstanding of why the DMA exists and in which cases they choose to enforce it. You seem to be looking for some sort of strawman golden technological principle like "all parts must always be replaceable in all possible markets and applications", and then you seem to be faulting the EU that they don't adhere to that useless golden rule so you want to call them inconsistent?
The DMA isn't some sort of technological principle. It's trying to create a level playing field market for digital services so that companies trying to do business in smartwatches, music streaming, digital payments, or any of the other dozens of new markets that are being built on top of smartphones platforms don't have a disadvantage if they don't simultaneously run their own smartphone platform.
There are genuine companies selling smartwatches other than Apple, Google or Samsung (see Polar and Garmin for example) who would benefit from better compatibility to make the smartwatch market more competitive. That's not a hypothetical toy example. Your example of interchangeable engine blocks is entire hypothetical, there are no companies actually trying to do that - pick a real example from a real company trying to do real competition and then it's easier to have a real discussion on the merits of why that example may or may not deserve market regulation.
ProbablyDylan
macrumors 68040
"If you don't like it, leave" is often easier said than done. Moreover, 30% market share is still millions of users.
No, but I can buy a 3rd party controller for the PlayStation. Sony doesn't prevent you from using half the buttons on the controller just because they didn't make it.
EU just keeps moaning about Apple because it’s their point of view. When nobody in the EU can compete, they just drag done the winner instead of telling the losers to train harder in order to win. Facts are facts! Nokia couldn’t compete. Ericsson couldn’t compete. And so forth. Instead of telling developers and phone companies to try harder, they just give participation trophies by handicapping the one in the lead.
I’m with you one hundred percent. If they don’t like Apple, go buy an Android. It’s the easiest, simplest way to get what you like. Crying about Apple just goes to show you really don’t want what you say you want, it just shows the world that you want others to do what you like. I don’t buy an Android phone because it’s not what I’m interested in. I don’t petition and go cry in Mountain View, CA for Google to change everything because I don’t like it.
With you guys it's like, heaven forbid make a product as free and fun to use as possible.
Your argument would work for food for example, don't like butter made by A? No worries, buy from B instead. Or t-shirts, sewing machines, pizza etc.
It doesn't work in the smartphone market - it's far harder to treat this product as an exchangeable commodity that fulfills a human need, since it's significantly more expensive, for one.
Atog
macrumors regular
Yes I am forced by Apple to buy their gear for the best experience.
For example: I buy an iPhone. Apple assures that I only get the best experience with an Apple Watch. Why? Because they intentionally cripple the experience with a Garmin watch to connect to my iPhone. So while the Garmin watch is (hypothetically) better and cheaper, Apple deliberately cripples it by not allowing it to use the same API’s the Apple Watch uses. That’s not fair.
And if you think it’s fair, you wouldn’t see Firefox, chrome, and all the other browsers on your computer.
It’s not that the EU forces to make iOS open source, it’s only the API’s that have to be.
All other brands face the same rules to let smaller developers have a fair chance to compete.