The Digital Market Act (DMA) aims to regulate digital markets in the EU, preventing monopolies from companies like Apple and Google. The latter had to adapt by putting an end to measures that prevented competition from operating freely in their ecosystems.
For example, the iPhone's default browser was Safari before,but now,users have multiple browsers to choose fromthird-party competitors of Apple. This European Union measure quickly bore fruit, because it allowed the Brave browser to see its number of downloadsincrease dramatically.
Another measure, which is probably the most important, and the one that Apple has the most difficulty digesting, is the fact of allowing alternatives to the App Store in iOS. If Cupertino does not like this idea, it is due to the fact that it charges a commission on the majority of transactions carried out there.
The EU's goal with this measure was to allow competitors to offer their services outside of the App Store, butApple did not play the game. While some CEOs thought they could do without Apple commissions, they could pay even more if they exit the App Store. Apple has in fact implementedtechnology costs of 50 euro cents per installation per yearfor any app that leaves its store. However, this raises a few questions.
Apple kicks in
Apple was asked whether popular free apps distributed outside of its app store would be impacted by technology fees, but Apple was unable to respond.
As reported by 9To5Mac about theAltStore creator Riley Testu:
Testut said that in high school, he created an app — distributed outside of the App Store — that was downloaded 10 million times. According to new App Store guidelines, Testut would owe Apple 5 million euros due to core technology fees.
Apple has not yet thought about this type of situation. European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager told Reuters:
There are things we're keenly interested in, such as whether Apple's new pricing structure doesn't make it de facto attractive to use DMA benefits. These are the kinds of things we're going to investigate.
Apple must stop unfounded security warnings
The Commissioner says she has received many comments regarding the compliance measures proposed by companies, and it now appears that we are entering aDMA adjustment phase.When Apple announced the opening of third-party stores, it did not hesitate to discourage its users from using them. Particularly with this kind of statement:
We have been very clear about the new threats introduced by the DMA, including increased risks of malware, fraud and scams, illegal and objectionable content, and Apple's reduced ability to respond to and remove malicious applications .
The European Commissioner considers this reckless and warns Apple that an investigation could be opened if it continues to make this type of statement:
I think it would be unwise to say that the services are not safe to use, as that has nothing to do with DMA. The DMA is there to open up the market so that other service providers can contact you and it is up to them to decide how your service provider of your operating system, how they will ensure its security, it is up to him to decide. - And of course, if we see or suspect that it is to say that someone else is not doing their job, we could take initiatives to look into this issue.
Regarding the new fees for operating outside the App Store, Apple promises to make efforts,especially for small developers.
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By : Keleops AG
