If Apple opened this up, you could use a cross-platform digital wallet of your choice, making it easy to switch smartphones. You can also use digital car keys in the car manufacturer’s cross-platform app.
Gaming in the cloud
The DOJ claims that Apple resists cloud gaming services and apps because it sees them as a threat to the “high-performance local computing” that sets iPhones apart from the competition. The idea is that hardware doesn’t matter if you move processing to the cloud. All you need is a fast internet connection and an inexpensive device (like a budget Android phone).
The lawsuit also criticizes Apple for insisting that cloud games be submitted as stand-alone applications for approval and for forcing cloud games it allows to use its proprietary payment system.
Perhaps as a preemptive move, Apple announced that in January it would open the App Store to apps and game streaming services.
We should soon see services like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now with their own iPhone apps, but it’s not yet clear how subscriptions and game services within those apps will work on iPhones.
If developers could create a single cloud app to run on multiple platforms, it would significantly reduce their costs compared to Apple’s current system and make many more games available on iPhones.
Better smartwatches
Apple wants you to buy an Apple Watch that goes with your iPhone. To that end, the lawsuit notes that Apple only allows third-party smartwatches access to a subset of the programming interfaces (APIs) that the Apple Watch has access to.
Only Apple Watch can respond to messages, accept calendar invitations, or stay connected to your iPhone when the battery-saving Low Power mode is on.
Without these limitations, using third-party smartwatches with the iPhone could be a far better experience.
Apple Watch on Android
The longtime champion of every best smartwatch guide, including our own, is the Apple Watch. This nifty wearable boasts all sorts of smooth integrations with Apple products and services, but you need to own an iPhone to use the Apple Watch.
The lawsuit points out that this makes it harder for people who own both to switch from Apple (because they’ll need a new phone and a new watch), but it also boosts iPhone sales. I’d love to use my Apple Watch with my Android phone, but of all the possibilities this suit offers, this might be the most amazing.
Great apps
The lawsuit talks a lot about Apple’s supposed crackdown on “super apps.” Super apps provide multiple functions or mini-apps all in one—so they can combine an app store, messaging functionality, and a payment system (like WeChat, for example).
The lawsuit claims that super apps would be good for users and developers, reducing dependence on the iPhone, making it easier to switch to another smartphone and creating a homogeneous experience across platforms. The EU is already forcing Apple to allow third-party app stores in Europe, among other changes, so it might concede something here.
Ultimately, Apple will continue to fight it in court and we may never see some of these proposed changes. Apple’s emailed statement said: “This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart… We will vigorously defend against it.”
After a largely victorious battle with Epic, we wouldn’t bet against an Apple win. But many of these changes would be welcome by regular iPhone users. Ironically, they might even make the iPhone more attractive to people who currently use an Android phone.