The European Commission wants Apple to open up various technological integrations to others. This should ensure that earphones or smartwatches not from Apple work as smoothly as devices from the company itself.
Anyone who owns an iPhone or iPad today and uses it in combination with AirPods or an Apple Watch can expect smooth integration. Think of notifications on your watch about your phone. iPhone and iPad users can also smoothly share files via AirDrop, a technology developed by Apple that is also reserved for its users.
According to Europe, this conflicts with the Digital Markets Act. The company has many users in Europe and a substantial market share in the smartphone market, which also means it must open its closed technology garden to others.
Early September, after a warning, it became clear that Apple had to prepare for more opening up, now the European Commission is making clear what needs to change. It has several proposals ready, to which the market can now formally respond.
Specifically, this includes notifications between iOS and paired devices, processes that can run in the background, automatic switching of audio sources via Bluetooth, peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connections, AirPlay, AirDrop, NFC functionality, media casting, pairing of devices based on proximity and automatic Wi-Fi connections.
The Commission is now awaiting feedback from the sector before making its final recommendations, which are expected to be published within six months.