As a longtime iPhone user directly affected, I’ve followed the rollout of the European Union’s big Digital Markets Act (DMA) over the past few years, wondering how it might impact not only the Apple products I use all the time but also other devices and services from tech companies that are deemed gatekeepers in the region.
I’ve also often criticized the DMA and what the EU is trying to do in the region to improve competition and user access to services. With the DMA now fully implemented, I can’t see anything I like about the iPhone and iPad features Apple has to deploy. I do not want iPhone sideloading, third-party app stores, and third-party payment systems on my devices.
I’ve also looked at what others are doing related to the DMA, namely Meta, which has been quite vocal about bringing interoperability to WhatsApp. As a user of the latter, I said I’d never bridge any chat app with WhatsApp. Instead, I’d download a separate chat app if need be to talk to one of my contacts. I was wondering what Meta’s endgame was all along, and the recent Meta-Apple developments have answered my questions.
It looks like Meta made no fewer than 15 interoperability requests (and counting) from Apple under the DMA laws. That would explain why Meta is so keen on having WhatsApp appear to be interoperable with other services. It’s a way to say that Meta is doing the interoperability work to claim similar benefits from rivals like Apple.
However, Apple has released a report that details the privacy implications of Meta’s requests. Apple says that if it were to make the changes Meta wants, the giant social network provider could gain access to iPhone and iPad features that should always be private.
The post I’m a European iPhone user, and Meta’s DMA requests to Apple worry me appeared first on BGR.
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I’m a European iPhone user, and Meta’s DMA requests to Apple worry me originally appeared on BGR.com on Thu, 19 Dec 2024 at 18:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.