EU Wants Apple To Open AirDrop and AirPlay To Android (9to5google.com) 19
The EU is pushing Apple to make iOS more interoperable with other platforms, requiring features like AirDrop and AirPlay to work seamlessly with Android and third-party devices, while also enabling background app functionality and cross-platform notifications. 9to5Google reports: A new document released (PDF) by the European Commission this week reveals a number of ways the EU wants Apple to change iOS and its features to be more interoperable with other platforms. There are some changes to iOS itself, such as opening up notifications to work on third-party smartwatches as they do with the Apple Watch. Similarly, the EU wants Apple to let iOS apps work in the background as Apple's first-party apps do, as this is a struggle of some apps, especially companion apps for accessories such as smartwatches (other than the Apple Watch, of course). But there are also some iOS features that the EU directly wants Apple to open up to other platforms, including Android. [...]
As our sister site 9to5Mac points out, Apple has responded (PDF) to this EU document, prominently criticizing the EU for putting out a mandate that "could expose your private information." Apple's document primarily focuses in on Meta, which the company says has made "more interoperability requests" than anyone else. Apple says that opening AirPlay to Meta would "[create] a new class of privacy and security issues, while giving them data about users homes." The EU is taking consultation on this case until January 9, 2025, and if Apple doesn't comply when the order is eventually put into effect, it could result in heavy fines.
As our sister site 9to5Mac points out, Apple has responded (PDF) to this EU document, prominently criticizing the EU for putting out a mandate that "could expose your private information." Apple's document primarily focuses in on Meta, which the company says has made "more interoperability requests" than anyone else. Apple says that opening AirPlay to Meta would "[create] a new class of privacy and security issues, while giving them data about users homes." The EU is taking consultation on this case until January 9, 2025, and if Apple doesn't comply when the order is eventually put into effect, it could result in heavy fines.
the security of our profits are at stake! (Score:1, Insightful)
the security of our profits are at stake!
Re: (Score:2)
Salaries for engineers tend to be a bit lower in the EU, and of course employers don't need to prove health insurance.
Just go the whole way, EU... (Score:4, Insightful)
EU, why not just go the whole way: declare every piece of of software must be usable on all hardware, and you can't have such a thing as platform-specific hardware, nor can you have platform-specific communications protocols, and you can't charge people for using those libraries/APIs/interfaces either because that would be "uncompetitive".
So you can't have Windows-only software, iOS-only software, Playstation-only software requiring Sony approval, Nintendo-only software, Tesla-only software, uh... Panasonic microwave-only software... and of course printer software (talk about gatekeeping!).... you can't have APIs that are available only to paying customers but must make them open to everything...
And why make it limited to software? Every hardware part should be compatible with every other hardware part, with completely open specifications. NVIDIA must publish the low-level interface to their chips so anyone can write drivers for them; anyone should be allowed to see the tech specs for Infineon automotive chips...anyone should be allowed to write device drivers for the cell modems, etc. etc.
I mean this would not be so bad if the EU said "you have to at least offer them for sale, but you can charge for them." But the EU seems to have this stance of "once a product is too popular, you're not allowed to make money on it any more, and in fact you have to lose money on it by continuing to support it for all possible competitors, too."
I just don't understand why something like AirDrop / AirPlay can't be a differentiator... why does it have to be open, when there are hundreds of other protocols that are open and are supported?
Mega-corporation but a victim (Score:4, Insightful)
Is this like Google, where it wanted Apple to buy Google's propriety messaging API.
If Apple doesn't want compatibility with Google/Garmin/etc devices, they don't have to. As long as Apple doesn't restrict access to the API, as Microsoft did.
It looks like Apple is playing favourites.
Step too far (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
I can imagine people buying an Apple product on the basis that it has "AirDrop" or "AirPlay". I haven't seen Microsoft marketing a tablet based on having "SMB", or Google marketing the Pixel phone on that it has "Snooze". The EU could decide to regulate pure software services, but right now they seem to dedicate their resources in hardware compatibility rather than pure software.
* You might say that Microsoft uses technologies like OneDrive for customer lock-in, but the protocol is open enough for GPL licen
Re: (Score:3)
If they want to force Apple to open up AirPlay & AirDrop, then Microsoft should be forced to open up NTFS, SMB, DirectoryAuth and all the various tech they use to keep people locked into their ecosystem.
Microsoft does nothing whatsoever to prevent anyone from interoperating with them. I am using samba as a DC for Windows VM guests right now. There are lots of things wrong with Microsoft but that isn't one of them.
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
One that's impossible to reproduce without all the little quirks of Word.
It's like reverting back to the Internet Explorer era, when every page was subtly broken.
Re: (Score:2)
That spec is a joke. Microsoft doesn't know how Word works. That's why it keeps getting worse.
Re: Step too far (Score:2)
Last I checked you can download the specs for SMB from Microsoft and there has been at least one instance of a Microsoft engineer contributing code the the Samba project.
So unless something has changed all that networking stuff is open.
Re: (Score:2)
Hey, you could even force Google to open their Cast and Quickshare protocols.
Screw that (Score:3)
So? (Score:3)
Apple says that opening AirPlay to Meta would "[create] a new class of privacy and security issues, while giving them data about users homes."
Give users granular control over permissions, teach them how to set those permissions, and warn them about the security and privacy dangers represented by third-party apps. Let them suffer the consequences of not heeding the warning. Now THAT would be a sign of real "courage", so I guess Apple won't go there.
Also, given that Apple sold its Chinese customers' privacy to Winnie the Pooh [nytimes.com], virtue-signalling about European customers' privacy seems more than a little disingenuous.