The EU is officially out of control. It’s now demanding that Apple break down the competitive advantage it’s built with attractive features like AirPlay and AirDrop and essentially open them up to the competition. Thereby stripping Apple – bit by bit – of its competitive advantage.
Ever since the EU first implemented its Digital Markets Act, it’s treated Apple like a global monopoly or rather a disrespectful child that deserves to spend time in a corner.
It’s used the strength of the union to force Apple to make technical changes that theoretically benefit its constituents, like a charge port standard (USB-C) and more recently the side-loading of Apps outside the protective arms of the App Store.
I know many cheer these changes. Why should Apple force people to use its App Store or its now retired lightning cable?
Apple has complied but also warned about the dangers of such compliance. When the EU forced sideloading, Apple promised, “the risks will increase.” If we haven’t seen that happen, it may be because the majority of iPhone owners are still using the trusted and well-regarded App Store.
I consider this a change no one, save the EU and some software companies that pressed the issue, wanted.
In the case of USB-C, I’ve long believed Apple was heading in that direction anyway but the threat of fines forced Apple’s hand and made it accelerate its plans.
Open sesame
Now, though, we have the EU demanding that Apple open up nine core iOS features, including push notifications for non-Apple smartwatches, seamless pairing between non-Apple headphones and Apple devices, and AirPlay and AirDrop. In the last instance, the EU is demanding Apple open iOS up to third-party solutions and ensure they work as well as native software.
Naturally, Apple is not happy and shared this comment with TechRadar:
“Today’s decisions wrap us in red tape, slowing down Apple’s ability to innovate for users in Europe and forcing us to give away our new features for free to companies who don’t have to play by the same rules. It’s bad for our products and for our European users. We will continue to work with the European Commission to help them understand our concerns on behalf of our users.”
As I’m sure you can gather from the tone, Apple is fed up. This constant stream of EU enforcements, all designed to diminish Apple and hoist up competitors, is ridiculous and increasingly unfair.
Let’s zero in on AirDrop as an example.
Drop it like it’s hot
AirDrop, which lets you quickly share files, photos, and videos between iPhones and other Apple ecosystem devices, arrived more than a decade ago on iOS 7. It was a transformative and brilliant bit of programming that instantly opened up an ad-hoc network between, say, a pair of iPhones. It did require some learning. Open AirDrop settings on phones could result in you unexpectedly receiving an illicit photo (yes, it happened to me once and it was terrible). Apple has since vastly improved AirDrop controls.
Not a lot of people used it at first, but every time I went to a party where I was often taking pictures, I would grab the host and quickly drop the photos onto their phones. They were usually shocked and deeply appreciative.
There was, for years, nothing quite like it on the Android side until Samsung unveiled Quick Share and Google launched Nearby in 2020. The two later merged to become just Quick Share.
There’s no doubt Apple’s success with AirDrop spurred the development of Quick Share and isn’t that exactly how competition is supposed to work? You don’t look at one company’s successful deployment of technology and then demand that they make it possible for you to deploy a copycat app, and on the successful company’s platform no less.
There’s no doubt Apple’s success with AirDrop spurred the development of Quick Share and isn’t that exactly how competition is supposed to work?
But this is what the EU is demanding of Apple. It must make it possible for competitors to compete with Apple on its own platform, and why? Because apparently, they cannot do it without the EU’s help.
I actually do not think that’s true. Google and Samsung, for instance, are not stepping up to say they do not need this help because it serves them no purpose to do so. If the EU wants to slap Apple, let them. It certainly doesn’t harm any of these competitors (until they fall under the EU’s watchful gaze).
In the EU’s world, there is no difference between competitors. They want a level playing field, even if at an innovation level, one company is outperforming the other.
Ecosystem FTW
Apple has built a fantastic ecosystem that pays significant benefits to those who live inside of it. Yes, that does in a way define which smartwatch and earbuds I use. But, for more than 20 years, it had no impact on the laptop I carried. I was a dyed-in-the-wool Windows fan and even though I used an iPhone and AirPods, and I wore an Apple Watch, I saw no need to switch to a MacBook.
When I did make the switch, it was to see if I liked the macOS experience better than Windows (spoiler alert: I did), and, yes it turns out that there were instant benefits to the switch, like AirDrop access to files on my iPhone and iPad.
Everything is easier when you have all Apple products but that’s not an unfair advantage, it’s engineering and excellence. The EU would like to wipe that out and make Apple as average as possible so it’s fair for everyone. But that’s not fair to Apple and, honestly, not to you, the Apple user, either. You pay a premium for the best programming, the best products, and the best interoperability.
Everything is easier when you have all Apple products but that’s not an unfair advantage, it’s engineering and excellence.
You won’t get that by mixing and matching some from Apple and some from, for instance, Samsung, even if the EU wants you to. I love many Samsung, Google, OnePlus, and Microsoft products and there is nothing wrong with a non-homogenous setup. There should not, however, be an issue with all-Apple-all-the-time.
The EU needs to step back and get out of the way of smart technology and only act when consumers are being harmed. There was no harm here, just some small companies whining because they weren’t winning.
You might think this is an EU-only issue but remember that what starts in Europe usually flies over the Atlantic to the US and eventually all global markets. Put another way, when the EU sneezes, we all catch a cold.