Apple Challenges EU Digital Markets Act Over Feature Delays

Apple is urging European regulators to scrap the Digital Markets Act (DMA), claiming it has created security vulnerabilities and damaged the user experience, not to mention caused at least three of its product features to be postponed or delayed indefinitely.

In a statement posted to its website, Apple says EU users now face exposure to malware through mandatory third-party app stores, with pornography and gambling apps appearing on iPhones for the first time. This, Apple says, is because alternative marketplaces like AltStore have introduced content that the company has historically blocked from its App Store.

Feature development has also suffered under the new rules, says Apple. iPhone Mirroring remains unavailable in Europe because Apple cannot extend the Mac-to-iPhone connectivity to Windows PCs without exposing user data. Similarly, plans to bring its AI-powered Live Translation feature for AirPods to EU users have been put on ice over privacy-based engineering challenges.

Apple says it has also had to delay Visited Places and Preferred Routes in Maps, which store location data on device so it's only accessible to the user. "So far, our teams haven't found a way to share these capabilities with other developers without exposing our users' locations – something we are not willing to do," writes Apple.

Apple claims that these compliance efforts consume thousands of engineering hours while delivering inferior results for European customers.

The complaints read as the company's most aggressive pushback since the DMA took effect. Apple argues that rather than boosting competition, the law enables data harvesting by rival firms seeking access to sensitive iPhone information.

"Companies have submitted requests for some of the most sensitive data on a user's iPhone," Apple writes, including complete notification histories and Wi-Fi network logs that could reveal hospital visits or other private locations.

The EU in April hit Apple with a €500 million fine over App Store payment restrictions that prevent developers from steering users to make purchases outside of its App Store. Apple is still appealing the decision.

The DMA requires major tech platforms to open their ecosystems to competitors or face penalties of up to 10% of global revenue – or as much as 20% for repeat violations.

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