Apple says it will ease the transition from iPhone to Android smartphones in the coming year as part of the implementation of the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Anyone with an iPhone can already use Google’s app to help them switch to Android, but the process is still a headache for most users since Apple has so far refused to help transfer certain types of data.
Apple announced on Thursday that the new option will be available by the third quarter of 2025.
“Apple is developing a solution that helps mobile operating system providers develop user solutions for transferring data from an iPhone to a non-Apple phone,” the company said, without naming Android.
Late this year or early next year, the company also wants to enable data transfer from one web browser to another on the same device. This would, for example, make it easier to switch from Apple’s own Safari browser to Google’s Chrome.
Aimed at promoting fair competition, the new EU law also ensures a more level playing field among competing web browsers. The DMA is designed to prevent companies from favoring their own services over those of competitors.
In the EU, stricter rules for large online platforms have been in force since Thursday. The European Commission has so far identified 22 services from six companies as so-called “gatekeepers” subject to the new requirements, including US tech giants Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google’s parent company Alphabet and Facebook group Meta. The video app TikTok from the Bytedance group, which originally came from China, is also on the list.