Apple tries again to make EU DMA officials happy – with new fees Apple this week revised its alternative contractual terms for devs selling apps in the European Union – a revision that was immediately dismissed by critics as more "malicious compliance." The iBiz was one of six tech platforms designated last year as "gatekeepers" due to their respective market dominance by the European …
So, to summarize, Apple used to forbid app creators from linking out from apps. This has been deemed anticompetitive by the EU. So now, Apple allows linking out from apps, but demands a prohibitive license fee for that right...?
Yeah... I find it pretty astonishing that they think this is going to work. I do hope the EU extract a punitive amount out of them for taking the piss in this way.
Though I suppose this is pretty similar to the way Facebook allows people in the EU to opt out of tracking... if they pay for Facebook. And I hope the EU responds similarly as well.
It's been spreading in France, and I just noticed that the Daily Mail (*) is now pulling this ruse.
I can but hope that the EU stamp down on this growing plague before "pay or be tracked" become the only two options available.
* - I'm a Guardian reading wokerati (according to a previous Home Sec) but I pop by the Mail from time to time to see how the right views events. The hypocrisy over the recent rioting is staggering...
is what Facebook offers. You pay for not being offered ads customized on the data they illegally gathered and still keep gathering. You instead get non-personalized ads and the IMPRESSION they don't track you anymore. They are very careful in their wording to NOWHERE promise you that the tracking will will stop.
Think of it, they "can't" promise that from the point of their business view. They track non users on non Facebook sites with their like buttons and scripts just as well, and would be held liable for contract breach if they did the same with paying users. If they only did not track paying users if they were logged in into Facebook, they would have failed to make clear the terms and conditions and still would be in breach of contract with those unaware and surfing without being logged in into Facebook. They would open them up to expensive class action suits. Another "problem" they would face would be discussion on what to do with previously gathered data. If subscribing to the "pay or be tracked" thing would be real, what would they have to do with old data? Delete it, and risk that users exploit a single month subscription and cancel it in order to wipe years of data Facebook has gathered on them? They "can't" allow that to happen. Analysing pictures and posts of other non paying users featuring paying users would be another situation where Facebook very quickly gets at risk of breaching the terms of their own contract if they offered a "pay or be tracked" option.
=> They offer no "pay or be tracked". They offer "pay and be shown no personalized ads / no clear signs that the paying user is still tracked". If you doubt it, rather then downvote me please show me a link and the exact quote to official Meta communication and terms of contract proving me wrong, reply it and then downvote me.
"I do hope the EU extract a punitive amount out of them for taking the piss in this way."
I'm thinking maximum penalty for each iteration of their agreements that is found to be noncompliant. It's clear Apple knows what is intended, and they're trying hard to refuse while somehow "technically" complying. Nail 'em.
Instead of “… Requirement for Apple to grant access to alternative browser engines….”
Apple need to be made to treat browser apps the same as any other app! If the app includes a rendering engine then so be it.
Other “normal” apps seem to have good enough API access to the display and video rendering and audio etc etc so I don’t see why a browser needs any “special” treatment. The only thing that springs to mind is providing a hook to direct links from emails etc to use your browser of choice rather than Safari. But it looks like that’s probable there already
> Apple need to be made to treat browser apps the same as any other app!
You know nothing about iOS developlment or Apple's policies do you? If Apple treat browser apps the same as any other app they won't be allowed on iOS at all.
Apps published on the App Store must not duplicate functionality of the phone / OS. iOS already includes a browser so a browser app is duplicating a feature of the OS. Banned.
iOS apps are not allowed to include an interpreter that can run arbitrary code not part of the app. Like say a Javascript engine. So that's all browsers banned again.
What is needed is for Apple to stop placing arbitrary demands and rules on browsers in order to stifle competition to the App Store from web apps.
Ok, so when I said Apple need to treat a browser like an ordinary app, I SHOULD have added “…and make apple stop pissing about imposing stupid rules”.
And your simple analysis isn’t quite right - there are (for example) many email clients, note-takers, mapping apps, etc etc. All these duplicate the inbuilt apps to some extent.
"Apps published on the App Store must not duplicate functionality of the phone / OS."
Jeez. The last time I used iOS (v7), the mail app was fundamentally broken with IMAP (would download and cache everything, not the last X days/weeks). An option to try something else would have been nice. I now understand why there wasn't something like K9Mail on the app store.
"You know nothing about iOS developlment do you? Apps published on the App Store must not duplicate functionality of the phone / OS"
It's amusing to me when rude people can't spell or grasp basic facts. The app store is full of apps that duplicate existing functionality. Weather apps, calendar apps, Google maps, email clients, keyboard apps, clocks, alarms, messaging, etc.
Finding this poster disagreeable doesn't mean I'm on Apple's side here. They are clearly in the wrong and just trying to muddy the waters with the regulators for as long as they can, until they are hopefully forced to do ask they have been asked.
What would be the situation if Apple provided a notification when you tried to purchase ANY Apple device that stated. This device runs these inbuilt apps for calls, email, browser etc etc and cannot be changed. Please do not buy this device if you want to change any of this stuff. How would that sit with the EU etc?
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2025
