Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iOS 19 and iOS 20 Must Include a Long List of Major Changes, EU Says

jarman92 said:
OK? My point is that the EU is clearly weaponizing burdensome regulation to prop up its own nearly non-existent tech sector.
Click to expand...
Not really though is it? How is improving compatibility weaponising regulation? Oh wait it isn't.

Should they just slap tariffs on like the orange baboon likes to*

*no offence meant to baboons
 
  • Third-party smartwatches must be able to display and interact with iOS notifications by the end of 2025, which likely means iOS 19.2 or earlier. => There should be indeed an open watch API so that watches are not crippled by bad phone OS supports. Absolutely makes sense in the bigger picture.
  • Apple must make its automatic audio switching feature available to third-party headphones by June 1, 2026, which likely means iOS 19.4 or earlier. This is the feature that allows most AirPods and select Beats to automatically switch connection between Apple devices, such as a Mac and an iPhone. => This is a stupid demand. Bluetooth is there and standardized. Devices already can do pairing to multiple other devices. This should do the job...
  • Apple must make changes to iOS that allow for third parties to offer equivalent AirDrop alternatives by June 1, 2026.
    Apple must make changes to iOS that allow for third parties to offer equivalent AirPlay alternatives by iOS 20, or the end of 2026. iOS 20 is expected to be released to the general public in September 2026. => Apple brought this one upon themselves. Apple could have avoided that by actually implementing Bluetooth file transfer like literally every other plattform in the past 20 years. This demand is absolutely justified...
 
  • Like
Reactions: j26 and 01cowherd
skottichan said:
I'm genuinely curious on this one, what monopoly does Apple actually have?

The Android is the majority of smartphones in nearly all markets, so not smartphones.
Macs are not even remotely the monopoly in the PC market.


iOS and MacOS aren't in monopolistic positions in any categories.

The only argument is that iOS has an unfair monopoly on iPhones. Which is kind of absurd, as it's the software made specifically for the hardware. That would be akin to claiming that Nintendo has an unfair monopoly because I can't legally play Fire Emblem on my PS5 or iPhone.

Honestly, this all feels like that meme of Obama giving Obama an award. Of course the EU sides with itself when appeals are heard.
Click to expand...
There are only two mobile phone OSs on the planet. They are both acting as a monopoly. The market is virtually impossible to break into, Microsoft failed even with all of their wealth.

As such the gloves are off. Governments and the people have a right to make sure they are not being exploited. Monopolies are not new, neither are the laws that all governments have created in all countries to control them.

Apple have huge power with iOS, as it is a monopoly they are not allowed to abuse that power in order to break into other markets. The monopoly is not being regulated against, only the abuse of it to give them power in the App Store market or the Mobile Browser Market, or the bluetooth headphone market.

MacOS isn't a monopoly, they are many other operating systems available, including linux. The computer market also acts well to provide a real choice to consumers.
 
contacos said:
This seems like a lot of work for nothing considering most / all companies are not even going to bother to implement anything on their own because they probably already realized it's just cheaper to stick to whatever tools Apple provides already.

Have you seen a single non web kit browser on iOS in the first year of DMA? NOPE!
Click to expand...
This stuff will be very time consuming and difficult to pull off.

Everybody will get way less new features because of this. This will affect US users, too. Hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers will be tied up with implementing all this stuff. More complexity means more potential security issues and bugs.

The outcome is that we Europeans won’t get many future Apple accessories and software features at all. For example, iPhone remote use is still unavailable. Not sure what the problem is. Should Apple offer iPhone remote use from Windows via some app? Good luck pulling that off. It makes use of all iPhone/Mac interoperability features built over the years.

It really seems that anything “our ecosystem only” is becoming illegal in EU which really raises the question why Apple should spend billions annually on their own SW stacks and silicon anymore.

Also, if some new accessory requires the presence of an Apple chip in the accessory is it illegal in EU or is Apple forced to sell the hardware to others? Everything can’t be implemented in pure software.
 
This is what the Apple community has been saying. Apple could have to allowed side loading, and alternative payment methods, and everything would have been fine. Now the EU has poorly written laws that will directly change how iOS works.

For example what does "airplay alternative" mean? Spotify and Google have been doing casting in their apps for years. Likewise couldn't a developer already make an "airdrop alternative" by making a share sheet utility to send a file to another device? Remember bumping iPhones together to share stuff?

Apple, just stop being so greedy. We don't want legislation controlling your roadmap. Just give a little more freedom to third party apps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 01cowherd and robvalentine
Uhm does this mean all wireless ear- and headphones are required to offer seamless switching? As in: I use a Sony headphone, and it automagically switches between my PC, my Android phone and my iPad? How would that even work? Is there a standard to be defined by the EU?

I generally get what the EU wants, but this one seems a bit far fetched. Or I don’t understand EU’s demand here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: transmaster
This is ridiculous. I have non-Apple devices that pair nicely with my iPhone and iPad, Apple Watch, Mini PC with Windows 11, My Software Defined radios, etc. I have AirPod Pro 2's, but I don't use them much. I use my FiiO BTR17s. I can address Siri from the FiiO; it talks back the same way. It isn't rocket science it is Bluetooth. Auto switching is no problem. It does get irritating at times when I have more than one device trying to pair with the BTR17, and that can be as much as 50 feet away.

1742410726962.png
 
It's not about trash. All those changes seem more than reasonable and they are good for the customers. If Apple really cares about customer experience then they should not 'cripple' other products.

I have Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra which is, in many ways, better than the overpriced 'junk' from Apple (which they didn't even update except colour and usb-c). There is technologically no reason not to support automatic switching and yet Apple doesn't support it as they prefer their own devices. That is monopolistic behaviour and good for EU to catch them on these.

Walled garden can't be walled for everything. Apple has such a monopoly that in the end new players can't really compete which is why you can see from leaked court documents from various Apple cases that this is precisely what Apple wants. Sell more of their products when crippling other non apple one.

I'm not saying that Apple should open everything to everyone - that's not how it works but if bluetooth device is prevented from Apple to automatic switching even though the technology allows it on the non apple product then that is where Apple is wrong.

These are all industry standards protocols so Apple can easily allow that and they should.

Anyway, you get the point.

JamieLannister said:
If I wanted trash, I'd buy trash. I buy into apple specifically for that tight integration across all of its products. iPadOS sucks, yes, but it all works cohesively together. Do I want my Chinese $10 bluetooth to work like AirPods Pro auto switch on apple hardware, of course I do! But it ain't gonna happen for most obvious reasons.
Click to expand...
 
  • Like
Reactions: transmaster and [AUT] Thomas
centauratlas said:
You don’t. You can back up with iTunes. See this partway down:

Back up iPhone

Back up iPhone using iCloud or your computer. If you replace your iPhone, you can use the backup to transfer your information to the new device.
support.apple.com
Click to expand...
This has actually been a sore spot for me for a long time. The only choices Apple provides are iCloud, using a Mac, or using a Windows PC.
They can back up an image to iCloud and I have to believe it would be trivial to implement the UI necessary to point the device to a network share (like on a NAS, for example) and do the same. They simply just choose not to. This would be far easier than using a computer.

I get that as a corporation they are in business to make money, but in this instance, a small shift in priority in favor of offering alternatives for users instead of the ever-present push for "services" would have engendered a small measure of positive opinion of the company for some of us. I refuse to pay extra to back up to iCloud, so no extra revenue from my family's devices anyway.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 01cowherd and robvalentine
StuBeck said:
Its about letting Apple audio products with audio switching work with other bluetooth devices automatically.

To answer your question, its not a unique feature anyway, other devices have this too, without the properitery Apple chips. My Bose headphones switch between devices for example.
Click to expand...
Right. Bluetooth Multipoint is part of the Bluetooth spec. There are some other features facilitated by H2, but the audio switching can be done without it.
 
“Slowing down Apple's ability to innovate for users in Europe”

Make my Bose headphones switch between devices (I wonder how…) and I’ll hail that innovation. But they probably mean Apple Intelligence…
 
"slowing down Apple's ability to innovate"

Nooo, no, please no, don't slow down even more. If you slow down even more we'll be going backwards and iOS 21 will be a blackberry.
 
It's not often about paying less. It's also about better products. AirPods Max is not a good product compared to other headphones so Apple crippling it on purpose is monopolistic behaviour and good on EU for stopping it


JamieLannister said:
You're not force to buy apple that always comes at premium prices. But no, you want all those features but you want to pay less. EU can go pound sand
Click to expand...
 
All seems fine and dandy to me. All of these strict requirements from Apple are arbitrary and anti-consumer. No technical reason that my Technics buds can't switch between my iPhone and iPad dynamically.
 
  • Like
Reactions: zlurkr
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back