(Paris) Apple announced Thursday that it would make changes, effective from March, to its iOS operating system, its Safari browser and its App Store application store within the European Union, reluctantly complying to the new regulation of digital markets, the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which will then come into force.
Concretely, from the release of version 17.4 of iOS on its famous iPhone or iPad, developers will be able to offer alternative application stores, verified by Apple.
The solutions developed by the Apple brand will no longer be the only payment options, particularly contactless.
And, when they first open Safari, users will be able to choose their browser from a list of competitors. Until now, you had to go to the settings to make this modification.
These changes come with new pricing conditions for developers.
“The changes we are announcing today are consistent with the requirements of the European Union Digital Markets Act, while helping to protect EU users from the inevitable increased privacy and security threats that this regulation results,” argues Phil Schiller, Apple’s vice president of marketing, quoted in a press release criticizing the DMA.
“Even with these guarantees in place, many risks remain,” adds the Cupertino group, whose security is one of the main marketing arguments. He also deplores a “less intuitive user experience” according to him.
Apple, like five other digital giants – Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Meta (Facebook, Instagram), Microsoft and the Chinese ByteDance (TikTok) – will be subject to the DMA from March 7, which introduces stricter rules to contain anti-competitive practices in the EU.
Companies in violation will face fines of up to 20% of their global turnover in the event of repeat offenses, or even dismantling measures in the most serious cases.
The legislation is the subject of legal challenges notably by Meta and TikTok.