Step in wrong direction: Xbox president on Apple proposed changes in EU

Spotify and Mozilla also raised their concerns with regard to the changes that Apple recently announced to comply with the EU's DMA

American technology giant Apple has recently announced changes it is bringing to iOS, Safari, and the App Store to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union (EU). Coming in March with iOS 17.4 update, the changes would allow iPhone users to install third-party app marketplaces, change default web browsers, and set preferred payment methods other than Apple’s own.

While the changes were expected to be welcomed by app developers, Apple has faced criticism by major app makers and service providers since its announcement. Developers that have criticised Apple in the past for its unfair commission policy on iOS app development have called the new changes not good enough to uphold the new regulations.

Spotify CEO and founder, Daniel Ek, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said that Apple’s new changes in the EU is a “monopoly under a different mask.” He further added that “by inventing a new tax system to replace the old, Apple mocks the spirit of the law and the lawmakers who wrote it.”

Reposting Daniel’s post, Microsoft’s Xbox president said that Apple’s new policy “ is a step in the wrong direction.” She added that Apple should listen to feedback on their proposed plan and work towards more inclusivity.

Similarly, Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney posted that Apple is forcing developers to choose between App Store exclusivity and the store terms, which will be illegal under DMA regulations.

“Epic has always supported the notion of Apple notarization and malware scanning for apps, but we strongly reject Apple's twisting this process to undermine competition and continue imposing Apple taxes on transactions they're not involved in,” wrote Sweeney.

Mozilla spokesperson Damiano DeMonte in an interview with The Verge stated that the company is “extremely disappointed” with Apple’s proposed plan to restrict the newly-announced BrowserEngineKit to EU-specific apps. DeMonte said that the effect of these changes would force independent browsers like Firefox to build and maintain two separate browser implementations.

 

Apple in its proposed changes said that iOS app developers will be able to select two additional payment processing options on its App Store in the EU. Developers can either choose Payment Service Providers (PSPs), letting users complete transactions within their app, or they can redirect users to an external webpage to complete a transaction. However, developers who choose PSPs and link-out processes will have to pay a commission to Apple for using the App Store platform.