You also used to be able to initiate a backup to a computer from within iOS itself, so if the computer was awake on the LAN you didn’t have to go to the computer itself. But they removed that capability years ago. (Wireless backup to a computer has always been a little flaky to begin with, though.)
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iOS 19 and iOS 20 Must Include a Long List of Major Changes, EU Says
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Particularly irritating is that things used to be better here, but Apple have deliberately been making the UX worse for non-AirPlay speakers.
It used to be that if you were playing content through a Sonos speaker, via Spotify or the Sonos app, the iPhones volume control buttons could be used to adjust the volume.
But recently, Apple blocked this functionality and now the physical volume buttons only work for AirPlay and Bluetooth speakers. If you’re playing to a Sonos speaker, only the on-screen volume control works. It’s a small change, but pretty annoying and user-hostile.
"slowing down Apple's ability to innovate"
Eventually I'll consider Apple's ability to number new iOS versions correctly as innovation. "iOS 19, 20, 21, 22." Good job, Apple, look at you what a smart boy! Yay! 👨🍼🍼
Eventually I'll consider Apple's ability to number new iOS versions correctly as innovation. "iOS 19, 20, 21, 22." Good job, Apple, look at you what a smart boy! Yay! 👨🍼🍼
The walled garden IS the user experience. The DMA is the leveling of the playing field for the companies who couldn’t compete if their life depended on it. I want things integrated as they are, not some hodge podge of crap third party solutions that the EU (of all the loser political bodies, they are the losierest) bureaucrats foist on me. If I wanted the crap fest race to the bottom that is the Windows and Android markets, I would buy those.
The EU seems determined to reduce tech to the lowest common denominator and yet many of the member states don’t even have functional water and waste treatment facilities across their countries. Perhaps the EU should concentrate on upgrading infrastructure on the Continent and less about what Apple is doing with technology. The mobile wars ended a long time ago and Nokia and Palm and BlackBerry and Windows Mobile all lost to iOS and Android.
Bose, Sony, etc solve this by allowing their headphones to have two Bluetooth connections simultaneously. The headphones automatically switch to whichever device is playing audio at a given time.
More than two active devices means you still need to do some manual switching, though…
They're forcing them to hurt their competitiveness and locking them into a certain way of operating their business that is purposely designed to damage Apple's market position.
Alright let's break these down because I'm sick of everyone "black-and-whiting' this whole thing. Some of these make sense. Some of these set a bad precedent. Here's what I think:
******
Basically, us consumers have to take a look at what actually matters to US when it comes to giving more corporations more control over what features we can and can't use with them. Some of them actually benefit us. A lot of these only benefit the corporations trying to get at Apple's level. Not EVERYTHING needs to have an alternative.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
******
Basically, us consumers have to take a look at what actually matters to US when it comes to giving more corporations more control over what features we can and can't use with them. Some of them actually benefit us. A lot of these only benefit the corporations trying to get at Apple's level. Not EVERYTHING needs to have an alternative.
Because we're not getting better products, those who actually follow tech know there's a TON of issues with what the EU is asking. Massive security issues aside why should companies even bother building something innovative and leading edge of they're going to be forced to give it away for free to everyone?
I'm aware. My Technics allow up to 3 simultaneous connections, but it never works as intended when both my iPhone and iPad are connected. Must be an Apple thing I figure.
Sure, Aplle will claw back features and thus leave the market to Android then.
Luckily you and others here are not in the Apple marketing department.
Mind elaborating on this?
And what exactly is Apple "giving away" in this case? You realize some other watch company still has to build the entire product, right?
Bluetooth Multipoint allows for 3 simultaneous devices, but most only support 2.
You'd want to innovate more if you couldn't reap any rewards in a major market from your innovations? I sure wouldn't! This is going to disincentivize innovation at Apple, full stop.
I was wondering about this one. I use Apple devices so I don't know what else is available. If there is some sort of standard for this purpose being used by others, I think Apple should support it. I think tech is more mature and users are more sophisticated than they were 10 years ago. Interoperability is more important to a lot of people than it once was.
Apple wants to do business in a huge affluent market they have to meet their obligations. Or they can go ‘pound sand’ whatever that means.
We all know apple are going to comply so I don’t know what you’re talking about.
I think the issue is this is how Apple makes its products attractive! It creates both hardware and software to do things other companies can’t do because they only make the hardware. That’s the competitive advantage. It’s the whole business plan.
For example, The reason the AirPod switching device thing is a big deal is because Apple have made all the devices you can switch to! They’ve had to convince buyers to buy multiple of their devices to get that benefit.
If they can’t convince buyers to buy multiple Apple products why create the switch thing at all? In that way, I think it will stifle innovation because ultimately where is the profit incentive for Apple to innovate if it has to provide everything for third parties to leverage?
The reason most OEM’s don’t innovate is because there is no profit for them. On android they all can’t afford to make their own OS so they just lazily wait for Google. But Apple spent the money to make its own OS so they could innovate with things like the AirPods or pencil etc.
I’d argue that these things fall under patent law and they can wait 25 yrs to profit from my innovation…
They are. A mate of mine owns a farmhouse in Portugal, in a fairly remote village a couple of hours out of Lisbon. Just in the last couple of years, the property was connected to treated mains water supply. Previously his tap water came from a well on the farm, which was rust-coloured and you had to drink bottled water.
A sign at the entrance to the village explains how the work was funded by EU development grants.
This isn’t about iOS vs Android, it’s about Apple and Google extending their duopoly unfairly to other categories of devices.
For example, it’s impossible for third parties to make a smart watch that competes with the Apple Watch on iOS, because other watches aren’t allowed to connect to iOS and receive notifications, messages, etc the way that an Apple Watch does. This stifles innovation and restricts consumer choice.
The last three points are outrageous. How dare the EU wants everything to work well together just by regulation. AirPlay, Audio Switching & AirPlay are parts of the Apple Ecosystem and they should be defended tooth and nail.
Give them hell Apple. Stop shipping all features of iOS to Europe.
Give them hell Apple. Stop shipping all features of iOS to Europe.
Does it really have to be equivalent? I'd rather have something that actually works reliably.
How are they going to differentiate if differentiating is effectively illegal? Every new feature will come under scrutiny. Great experiences like magical headphone setup are illegal in the future, unless the tech is available to all.
What if the great experience requires proprietary chips or hardware? Will it be illegal or will Apple be forced to sell the required hardware to anyone who wants it? If yes, who sets the price? Apple or EU comission?
I’m actually surprised that stuff like Universal Clipboard or Handoff (continuing something you started on the iPhone on your Mac and so on) is still allowed to remain “closed”. Surely all that should work seamlessly across Apple, Android, Windows and Symbian devices, somehow.
Implementing this stuff is incredibly hard even when you control everything. Making it all open is even harder. Your ability to adjust public APIs is very limited once they are out. Even more bizarrely, EU sets the development schedules mandating that changes must be ready in 6/12/18 months, depending on the complexity. Are they the ones assessing the complexity of making changes to iOS? That’s pretty wild. They can’t have any idea. Even companies like Apple themselves can’t estimate and deliver stuff on time.
There is lots of competition between Apple (iPhone) and Google (Android). They got big because they’ve made products and services that people love. The addressable market is billions. If you make a product that people love you will be big, astronomically big.
No amount of regulation will ever bring us a third or fourth ecosystem. Symbian died because it was garbage. Neither Apple or Google did anything nasty to stop Microsoft from succeeding with Windows Phone. It just wasn’t compelling enough and it was too late.
There just isn’t room for a third platform. It’s the same for PCs.
The reason is simple: developers simply can’t make apps for three platforms, let alone four. Unless, of course, EU comission bans platform specific development tools and APIs and mandates that all apps must be written using some cross platform tool. Even for gaming consoles we only have two “equivalent” platforms, plus Nintendo which thrives on their own exclusive franchise. At least until EU forces them to bring it all to Xbox and PS.
(Let’s not give them ideas..)
Apple’s locked down ecosystem is all for profit. Not for the consumer. They want total control over what you do and what price you pay. Can’t repair your own device. Can’t install any software. Can’t set a different maps app as default.
EU forcing Apple to work with any accessory or app or part is pro consumer. And still you can choose not to leave the ecosystem should you wish. I haven’t.
Yeah Apple should create a gimped EU iOS and a normal iOS for the rest of the world.
Because the EU knows it can’t compete on the merits, so it’s explicitly trying to force Apple to immediately give away, for free, all technology it develops to every other company. Sure it will “improve compatibility,” but at the cost of innovation. Why would Apple bother developing any new features if it can’t use those features to sell iPhones?
This is just going to turn iOS/MacOS into watered down crap like Windows and Android. I so loved getting error messages this morning about an HP DLL file that was actually farmed out to another company for development entirely, which was then downloaded from Windows Update.