\n<\/p>\n
Apple is on a roll when it comes to having its hand forced by state entities and governing bodies: Alternative payment methods, stripping features from existing hardware, allowing alternate app stores<\/a> and genuine browser default competition \u2013 everywhere you turn it seems to be satisfying some reversal, owing either to trial judgements not going its way or to lawmakers regulating its preferred way of doing business out of existence.<\/p>\n Apple does not enjoy this, which should surprise exactly no one. What should be a tad more surprising is how willing Apple is to whine and mewl to its customers about how much it doesn\u2019t like this, and about how it thinks this will be bad for them \u2013 the users, which Apple seems to consider its weak-willed wards in some regards.<\/p>\n \u201cAcross every change, Apple is introducing new safeguards that reduce \u2014 but don\u2019t eliminate \u2014 new risks the DMA poses to EU users,\u201d is text taken from Apple\u2019s own press release<\/a> announcing changes it\u2019s making in iOS 17.4 that comply with the newly implemented Digital Markets Act in Europe. The release even includes, \u201cFor users, the changes include new controls and disclosures, and expanded protections to reduce privacy and security risks the DMA creates\u201d directly as a second subhead in big, bold font.<\/p>\n Third-party app install vectors and things like side-loading, which is available on Android right now, indeed could pose additional risks for users who are uninformed and don\u2019t take proper precautions or responsibility themselves to ensure they have good software hygiene and are installing reputable software from trustworthy sources. But Apple\u2019s scaremongering is likely overstating the problem, since Android as mentioned has exposed users to this risk for quite a while now \u2013 and Mac and Windows devices have always done the same. Somehow, despite that, society remains intact and people are mostly ok with using those platforms with reasonable success.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Apple also announced that developers would be able to link out to the web to tell them about alternative subscription methods for content available as digital purchases in-app. There were multiple catches, however, including that how and where that link appear are tightly controlled, and Apple has to provide special permission to apps to allow them to even do this to begin with. Also, the real kicker is that Apple says anyone who makes a purchase through that link owes it a 27% cut<\/a>, and it throws up a scare sheet as the user is on their way out to follow your link as well.<\/p>\n It\u2019s extremely understandable why Apple doesn\u2019t want to make these changes; Apple\u2019s control of the App Store, and its cut of purchases (typically 30%, with some exceptions) represents a significant chunk of its service revenue, which could have a material impact on earnings if eroded over time. What isn\u2019t so understandable is just how petulant the company is being about prying open fingers on its tightly closed fist when it comes to compliance here.<\/p>\n Lawmakers are already looking to poke Apple\u2019s monolithic business in various spots to see if it isn\u2019t creeping into antitrust territory \u2013 or, as in Europe, already enacting laws to limit their control and power. Acting like a kicked puppy when it comes to actually putting these things into practice isn\u2019t going to convince these regulators of Apple\u2019s arguments that these kinds of measures aren\u2019t needed and are in fact user hostile.<\/p>\n At best, it seems short-sighted: Yes, doing so will mean Apple\u2019s revenue picture doesn\u2019t materially change in the near-term. But it also means it looks like a company supremely unwilling to work with the spirit of lawmaker efforts to increase competition and reduce the influence that multi-trillion dollar companies like Apple have on the world overall. And developers are increasingly irate at Apple\u2019s antics. Those ill feelings likely won\u2019t mean much for platforms like iOS, which have unparalleled install bases and therefore are unavoidable if you\u2019re building a mobile consumer software business, but they will mean a lot for any future efforts to get emerging platforms off the ground \u2013 like the Apple Vision Pro.<\/p>\n It also means that Apple could be more susceptible to competitors among its core businesses; it may seem impossible at this point that iOS could ever lose its power position in the mobile market, but stranger things have happened, and developers feeling spurned and insulted enough will be more likely to wan too help replicate the iPhone lightning strike for someone else if things get bad enough.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n