Apple is moving forward when it comes to government entities and government bodies: Alternative payment methods, removing features from existing hardware, allowing alternative app stores and genuine default browser competition – everywhere you turn seems to satisfy some inversion, due either of court decisions that go wrong or of legislators that regulate the preferred way of doing business out of business.
Apple isn’t enjoying this, which shouldn’t exactly surprise anyone. What should be a bit more surprising is how willing Apple is to whine and sniff at its customers about how much it doesn’t like this and how it thinks it will be bad for them – the users, whom the Apple seems to think they are weak-willed wards in some respects.
“With each change, Apple introduces new safeguards that reduce—but do not eliminate—new risks that DMA poses to EU users,” is the text from Apple’s own press release announces changes it is making in iOS 17.4 that comply with the newly implemented Digital Markets Act in Europe. The release also includes: “For users, changes include new controls and disclosures, and expanded protections to reduce privacy and security risks posed by DMA” directly as a second subtitle in large, bold font.
Third-party app installation vectors and things like sideloading, which is currently available on Android, could indeed pose additional risks for users who are not informed and do not take the proper precautions or responsibility themselves to ensure that they have good software hygiene and installing trusted software from trusted sources. But Apple’s scaremongering is likely overstating the problem, as Android as mentioned has exposed users to this risk for some time – and Mac and Windows devices have always done the same. Somehow, though, society remains intact and people are usually okay with using these platforms with reasonable success.
Earlier this month, Apple also announced that developers will be able to connect to the web to inform them of alternative subscription methods for content available as digital in-app purchases. However, there were several catches, including that how and where this link appears is strictly controlled, and Apple must grant special permission to apps to allow them to even do so in the first place. Also, the real bonus is that Apple says that anyone who makes a purchase through this link owes a 27% cut and pulls out a fear card as the user exits to follow your link as well.
It’s perfectly understandable why Apple doesn’t want to make these changes. Apple’s control of the App Store and its cut of purchases (typically 30%, with some exceptions) represents a significant chunk of its revenue from services, which could have a significant impact on profits if it erodes over time . What’s not quite as clear is how annoying the company is with opening its fingers in its tightly closed fist when it comes to compliance here.
Lawmakers are already looking to push Apple’s monolithic business in various places to see if it strays into antitrust territory — or, as in Europe, is already enacting laws to limit their control and power. Acting like a kicked puppy when it comes to putting these things into practice isn’t going to convince these regulators of Apple’s arguments that these kinds of measures are unnecessary and actually unfriendly to the user.
At best, it seems short-sighted: Yes, doing so will mean Apple’s revenue picture won’t materially change in the near term. But it also means it looks like a company extremely reluctant to work in the spirit of the legislature’s efforts to increase competition and reduce the influence that multi-trillion dollar companies like Apple have on the world at large. And developers are increasingly outraged by Apple’s antics. Those bad feelings likely won’t mean much for platforms like iOS, which have unparalleled install bases and are therefore inevitable if you’re building a consumer mobile software business, but they will mean a lot for any future efforts to weed out emerging platforms. ground – like the Apple Vision Pro.
It also means Apple could be more vulnerable to competitors among its core businesses. It may seem impossible at this point that iOS will ever lose its place in the mobile market, but stranger things have happened, and developers who feel rejected and offended enough will be more likely to help replicate the iPhone’s lightning for someone another, if things get bad enough.
