The European Commission has ordered Apple to make changes to its operating system to comply with EU law.
Nine iOS connectivity features on the iPhone will now be changed. The European Commission says this will make it easier to connect to other devices including smartwatches, headphones and TVs.
The European Commission says that, as a result, “connected devices of all brands will work better.”
“The measures will grant device manufacturers and app developers improved access to iPhone features that interact with such devices…faster data transfers (e.g. peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connections, and near-field communication) and easier device set-up.”
Apple must also work on the “transparency and effectiveness of the process” for developers of other devices to get information from the tech giant on how to achieve “interoperability with iPhone and iPad features”.
This will “accelerate their ability to offer a wider choice to European consumers of innovative services and hardware that interoperate with iPhones and iPads”, the European Commission says.
But Apple has reacted angrily to the changes it has been forced to make. The company has been forced to comply because of a recently enforced EU law known as the Digital Markets Act or DMA.
“Today’s decisions wrap us in red tape, slowing down Apple’s ability to innovate for users in Europe and forcing us to give away our new features for free to companies who don’t have to play by the same rules”, Apple said in a statement.
“It’s bad for our products and for our European users”, the company claims.
Discussions with the EU have been ongoing for sometime. Apple says it has had 500 engineers working on solutions.
Apple says that the power of the European Commission to make it change its system amounts to micromanaging the design of the future of the iPhone.
The European Commission says that the specification decisions it has taken are legally binding.
“Apple is required to implement the specified measures in accordance with the conditions of the decisions.”
Apple is a US company, but its European headquarters are in Cork.