“Tech company has to delay new product/feature as it has to think about the consequences of said product/feature” isn’t the hellscape some of you make it out to be…
(The EU also got Threads later, as Meta had to improve the privacy - and society didn’t burn.)
But I think several things are true:
Apple had to check some stuff with the EC,
these features wouldn’t be release this year in Europe anyway,
and Apple is playing this up to score points against the DMA.
Also, remember when Apple released word predictions and QuickType for their keyboard in iOS 8(!) in 2014? That’s the same year they released Apple Music and the Health app. Yeah, here in Norway, we’re getting that feature this year. It’s out in the iOS 18 beta! So it’s not like i’m shocked to not be first in line for a feature…
BTW, we’re not in the EU, haven’t ratified the DMA - so I assume they won’t delay the features in question here? That’ll be a good test to see how much of Apple’s spin is true.
From my perspective (European), i am baffled by the arguments in the Apple blog sphere when it comes to regulations, and i think there is indeed a cultural devide between Europe and the US.
Corporations are not your friends. Don’t trust them.
I am reminded of the complaints about Cookie banners. Are the banners a good solution? Probably not. But they are just a sympton of the underlying problem: that companies sell your data without consent. If that practice would stop, there would be no need for banners.
Apple will probably play this “regulations are killing innovation”-theater for a few more months, but in the end they’ll comply (see: Meta’s Threads launch). And Europeans will finally be able to decorate their iMessages with cheesy AI-moji.
If it was just about opening up the app store then agreed, but it seems any integration needs to be opened up?
It appears Apple can no longer have tight coupling between its products in the EU which seems bonkers.
If you feel like this, vote them out! It’s good to have a healthy distrust in authorities.
But at least they are democratically legitimized, much of the problems in tech today are based on the outsized (and mostly unregulated!) powers that multinational corporations have.
You can trust governments in functioning democracies more than giant companies.
Makes it very important to fight for the democracy itself to be just that, though! But heck, even in flawed ones it’s easier to vote out bad actors compared to with giant companies.
Not quite, as I understand it. I’ll use the Apple Watch as an example: One thing is Apple doing great work to make it work nicely with the iPhone. And they shouldn’t be forced to do the same work for Fitbit. But currently they both don’t do the work for others and refuse them doing the work themselves.
So, they can make amazing connections, as long as they don’t also refuse others to do the same work in parallel. The App Store can be exactly like it is today, as long as they allow others to compete.
So no company should be allowed to have private api’s and interoperability between their own products and only for whom the EU decide is a ‘gatekeeper’?
That’s going to kill innovation because what’s the point?
It’s very strange. I’ve been a real fan of Apple hardware and software for many years and I’m interested in all the latest news about Apple. That’s why I also enjoy consuming David Sparks’ interesting content. But at the moment I’m not really interested in Apple’s latest innovations because I can’t buy them in Europe anyway. The Vision Pro has not yet been delivered. Apple Intelligence, iPhone Mirroring and SharePlay Screen Sharing won’t be available before 2025. Somehow I mistrust Apple at the moment. If I lived in the USA, I wouldn’t feel this, I would be looking forward to the new products and new features. But in Europe, I only read about it and can’t share in the joy. I’ll deal with it in 2025. Or 2026, or 2027, whenever Apple decides to bring its innovations to Europe. If I’m still interested then.
Basically, I personally am not really interested in whether and why Apple is arguing with the EU administration. I also don’t know which side I should take. As a professional software developer, I don’t really find the business model with the App Store that attractive because I don’t find it interesting to spend months developing an app so that an Apple employee can then decide that this app won’t be published. But I really like using Apple hardware and software to develop software based on web technologies for my business customers and myself. If it ever becomes economically less risky to develop apps for iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, etc. without Apple being able to block distributing them, then I would be interested.
I believe the EU dit not tell Apple they are not allowed to release these features in the EU, it is Apple’s choice and it sounds more like: “we at Apple rather not release these features than comply to…”. Releasing a statement like this makes it sound more like ‘whining’ than anything else to me. They could also have stated “we are not sure if these features can be rolled out in the EU, and will work together with the EU to…”…
But to be honest, I do not really care about these features enough to feel disappointment. Most AI related features, although not as tightly integrated in macOS I can already do with tools available at this moment.
I wish Microsoft would do the same and leave all those AI features out of their OS and Office in the EU at least, currently I do not prefer to have these AI features integrated in software I (need to) use daily.
My social network is in no way representative for the whole EU but:
I agree, most people I know that are not ‘tech savvy’ do not care about most things the DMA is ‘forcing’ Apple to implement, they are not even aware of it. Most people I know use Android because they like the customization of Android, or they use Android because there are cheaper phones available with Android. Most of them do not use MacOS.
I also never heard any of them complain about the closed App Stores. As long a nobody forces me to use these alternative App Stores, because I rather stick with the Apple App Store.
I think one of the main problems with the DMA is that it seems all very politically driven. Having Vestager (which I used to like a lot) and the commission in charge lead to it being a way to for the EC to promote itself instead of more calm decisions.
But I think some kind of government control over gatekeepers is needed to protect smaller businesses/developers. Not burdening every upcoming and not yet important platform is the most innovation friendly part of this law I would say.
Also having a delay of a few months for a few features is not the end of the world for me. Even without DMA non-English speaking countries get features with a delay. Some kind of public authorities oversight has not killed innovation in other sectors such as pharmaceuticals south the FDA.
Having Vestager (which I used to like a lot) and the commission in charge lead to it being a way to for the EC to promote itself instead of more calm decisions.
The EU Commission has to inform the public because the EU has passed a new law and the EU Commission is convinced that Apple (and others) are not complying with this law, even though it has been politely and quietly asking Apple’s management to do so for some time.
Now it is going to be an expensive battle. The EU is clearly preparing to impose a very large fine on Apple in a lengthy formal procedure, and Apple will appeal against this to the European Court of Justice.
Professional tech journalists, many IT managers, software developers and content producers as well as tech enthusiasts are very interested in this issue because it could significantly change the rules of how the IT market works in Europe.
Incidentally, there are also similar developments in Asian countries and not least in the U.S.
) on Mastodon:
That’ll be a good test to see how much of Apple’s spin is true.