In a statement provided to DMN, Apple has strongly criticized the European Union’s decision announced today regarding certain interoperability obligations that the company must fulfill in the upcoming months.
Apple remarked, “Today’s decisions entangle us in bureaucratic constraints, hindering our ability to innovate for users in Europe and compelling us to offer our new features at no cost to companies that are not subject to the same regulations. This is detrimental to our products and our users in Europe. We will persist in collaborating with the European Commission to convey our concerns on behalf of our users.”
Regarding customer privacy, Apple has expressed significant apprehension over the requirements that mandate opening access to the iOS notification system. The company warned that these regulations could enable other firms to harvest user notifications in an unencrypted format, circumventing the privacy safeguards that Apple typically enforces.
Additionally, the company is frustrated by the “bureaucratic obstacles” that the decision imposes on its business operations going forward. It claimed that such decisions allow officials and third parties to impede Apple’s ability to launch new products and features. This not only hampers the development process but also forces the company to relinquish its innovations to others without compensation.
Thus far, the European Commission has only utilized the Digital Markets Act’s specification tools against Apple. This means that Apple is the only company obliged to comply to this extent, while others can freely benefit from it. Apple believes these measures do not promote competition and innovation effectively.
Nonetheless, the company stated that it will adhere to the law and will continue working with the European Commission on these matters. The earlier announcement included promises that Apple would begin implementing some of these interoperability changes as part of iOS 19.
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