Thanks to the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), iPhone users in 27 EU member states are allowed to download apps from third-party app stores, use a browser other than Webkit, choose their own financial app for contactless payments, pay for in-app purchases using a third party finance company and more. EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager isn’t exactly thrilled with the way Apple and Alphabet have responded to some of the DMA’s rules.
EU competition chief Vestager suggested the EU could force Apple to make the Photos app removable
Vestager said the EU would continue to investigate when she added: “Under Article 6(3) DMA, gatekeepers have an obligation to enable easy uninstallation of apps and easy change of default settings. They must also display a choice screen. Apple’s compliance model appears to does not meet the objectives of this commitment. In particular, we are concerned that the current design of the web browser selection screen deprives end users of the ability to make a fully informed decision.”
She continued. “Example: They don’t improve user engagement with all available options. Apple also failed to disable the installation of several apps (one of them would be Photos) and prevents end users from changing their default status (for example Cloud), as required by DMA.” Vestager’s comments about Apple’s Photos app surprised many since iPhone users can easily download a third-party photo app like Google Photos.