Source: Meta and Microsoft lobby EU regulators to reject Apple's iOS and App Store changes to comply with the DMA, saying Apple's plans fail to go far enough
Apple's initial DMA proposal was framed as preserving as much iOS and App Store control as possible within the law's wording, an approach detailed in coverage of its effort to retain control while adapting to the DMA. Meta and Microsoft are now asking Brussels to test whether that interpretation delivers meaningful access rather than merely formal compliance.
The dispute foreshadows a broader enforcement clash: subsequent reporting said EU officials found Apple's anti-steering rules did not comply with the DMA. It matters because the regulator's interpretation will determine how far Apple must open operating-system and distribution pathways to rivals.
First-order effects
Meta and Microsoft gain a formal avenue to press regulators for changes that would give third parties more practical latitude on iOS and in app distribution.
Apple faces heightened scrutiny of whether its proposed compliance measures preserve restrictions that the DMA is meant to loosen.
Second-order effects
Other developers and platform rivals have a stronger incentive to challenge implementation details, rather than accept Apple's DMA framework as the settled operating model.
The outcome could reset the terms on which app makers direct users to alternatives and on which software providers seek access to iOS capabilities.
Third-order effects
DMA compliance is becoming an ongoing contest over implementation, with gatekeepers and rivals treating technical rules, commercial terms, and access conditions as core competition policy.
If regulators demand more substantive openness, platform control may shift from unilateral product policy toward negotiated and enforceable access obligations; the eventual boundary remains dependent on EU enforcement.
The trend: This is one instance of regulators moving from writing platform-access rules to adjudicating whether gatekeepers' technical compliance preserves the leverage those rules target.
Hogwash. Apple has the best user interface designers in the world. So when Apple releases software with an awful user interface, you know it is premeditated, dictated to the design team by executives, and hated by the good creatives and engineers forced to build it.
Apple needs to completely reset its relationships with regulators and developers on the foundation of enlightened, lawful business practices as Microsoft did after the DOJ case. They can't go on like this, not as a self-respecting company that's honest with itself and the world.
Compare Apple's awful new European iOS scare screens, web app obstructions, bizarre new junk fees, and blockade of iPad to the excellent security architecture of Apple's Mac, which they market wholeheartedly: https://www.apple.com/... [image]
This article quotes @XboxP3 saying that Apple's “initial steps ... are very prohibitive to us actually creating [an iOS app store]” and they “will continue to work regulators to open that up.” As explained by @games_fray, a short-term solution is not in sight. No quick win there
“Zuckerberg has also dismissed Apple's proposal as “onerous” and “at odds” with the intent of the EU regulation” — well Zuck should know about being onerous & at odds with EU regs eh
Concrete risks, possibly, that the June conference organized by @AutoriteitCM and ECN might become an airport hotel conference “full” of gatekeepers complaining that other gatekeepers do not comply with the DMA ? 🫢 - Making enough room for other voices is key
What Apple makes here is a “sweat of the brow” argument that tells us nothing about compliance, competition and contestable markets: Apple says it spent “tens of thousands of hours” on the DMA App Store solution after Microsoft complains https://mspoweruser.com/...
#Apple has a fight on its hands in Brussels as the likes of #Meta and #Microsoft see a business opportunity in the DMA. Backlash over its App Store compliance plan raises question of how EU regulators will respond. https://enterprise-sharing.ft.com/ ...
Circular firing squad spotted! 'Meta and Microsoft want Brussels regulators to reject the iPhone maker's proposals to satisfy the bloc's Digital Markets Act and extract more concessions.' #DMA https://www.ft.com/...
It offers app developers the choice between staying under its “existing” App Store terms that do not comply with the DMA and “adopting” new terms that are (i) unattractive and (ii) not even in line with the DMA.
Pleased to be quoted in this great article by Michael Acton in the Financial Times. Apple's implementation of the DMA is entirely defective. https://www.ft.com/...