Unlike on Android phones, Apple only allows iPhone users to install apps using the company's in-house platform - the App Store. This may change, however, under planned EU laws. — Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa
BRUSSELS: Since the launch of App Store in 2007, Apple's in-house platform has been the only practical way to download apps, something that officials in the European Union want to change to increase competition.
Apple, long resistant to the European Digital Markets Act (DMA) which could impact its revenue and loosen its grip on which apps can be used on iPhones, may now be softening its stance on the planned EU law.
Apple manager Kyle Andeer said at a debate in Brussels on Monday that the company was working on meeting the DMA requirements, in a slight change in tone after Apple's repeated warnings that allowing alternative app platforms could endanger the security of users.
At the same time, the question of how other app stores could be approved without endangering the integrity of Apple products was still being examined. Andeer said that Apple filters out many fraudulent or non-functioning apps.
Users should still be able to rely on apps working as advertised - regardless of the source from which they were downloaded, he said. The question now is how this can be achieved.
The Apple manager pointed out that the DMA allows companies to take both technical and contractual steps to ensure the integrity of their devices and software. According to the EU law, such steps must be reasonable and the platform operator must justify that they are necessary.
Music streaming market leader Spotify, long been at loggerheads with Apple, has been calling on the iPhone maker to change its app store rules.
Among other things, it says, the rule mandating the use of Apple's system for in-app purchases within apps needs to end. The DMA requirements could easily be met in doing so, Spotify manager Gene Burrus says.
For in-app purchases, Apple collects a fee of up to 30% of the purchase price. Spotify therefore no longer offers subscription deals within its iPhone app.
Streaming services can allow the use of subscriptions purchased on the web in the iPhone apps. However, they are not allowed to inform users in the apps that subscriptions can also be taken out elsewhere. The EU Commission is taking action against Apple following a complaint by Spotify.
On devices running Google's Android system, there is a similar commission for Google on sales through the group's Play Store - but other app stores are also allowed on the platform, and many users sideload apps to bypass geolocation restrictions or get apps not on Google's platform. – dpa
