In the EU case, Apple weaponizes people's ignorance about regulation. Apple pretends that the features everyone else has been shipping left and right somehow need extra paperwork and special approvals, because (…checks notes…) pro-privacy EU laws let zero-privacy competitors sail through, but block implementations that offer more privacy!?
What's really happening is Apple unilaterally withholding features while making vague noises about regulation as bargaining chips in talks with EU regulators where Apple is trying to weasel out of punishment for breaking anti-monopoly laws.
I don't think it's unfair to say that the EU scrutinizes Apple (and a few other megacorps) a great deal more than most other companies. Some zero-privacy competitors might be sailing by right now simply because they aren't already caught up in the EU's red tape. Which isn't to say Apple doesn't also wield that red tape as their own bargaining chip, like you said.
Looking closer at products of megacorps is actually exactly the point of what the EU is doing - that's where the "gatekeeper" classification comes in. In order to allow a fair competition for smaller companies, dominant companies need to make sure they offer interfaces for other products. In this case, since so many people have iPhones, they are told to offer the possibility for other AI vendors to offer a replacement model instead of forcing the lock-in to Apple(Google)'s model on the device. That doesn't necessarily impact the privacy at all, unless a user would knowingly (or ignorantly) choose a less privacy-preserving alternative. Which while some users may make a wrong choice, should be their choice to make nonetheless.
There is no privacy concern here. Probably monopoly concerns.
Personally I would consider withholding products or features from the EU, not because I want to "steal everyone's data", but because they're a pain in the neck for a small business to comply with.
Personally I think EU policies single handedly ruined the web. Every time I'm shown a cookie policy I am a tiny bit more angry at the EU. If I were Apple I would drag my feet way more. They probably only do it because shareholders would force them to go after the Euros if they didn't try.
This isn't really true. AI laws in the EU mandate that Apple give full access to everythign on the device to third parties.
It's legit to be skeptical on the privacy front, but giving deepseek access to my entire phone. Or the TrumpAI at some point in a dystopian future seems... not great.
They’re actively asking developers to index all the content in their apps, to provide Personal Context that Siri can use for user requests. And to create/index the actions available in the app.
So, where developers comply, all of that content is now accessible to those alternative implementations.
It’s not full read/write of the phone, and it’d exclude obvious secrets like passwords, but it is quite far reaching access.
I don’t know what sort of restrictions they can put on the alternative implementations. Can I vibe code one and have it live in a week? or is there a minimum bar?
We may have a different view of what 'giving access' means in this context.
The way I see it: If a user willingly (1) installs another AI app like deepseek and (2) willingly gives it access to 'full phone and app data' with a warning screen or setting of whatever that seems... like a good thing?
I may not agree with those users that it's worthwhile providing their full private data to [some AI startup X] or [Some Chinese or US AI company that will hover up as much for their own use] but if the EU forces Apple to provide this as an option, that sounds good to me.
The whole point of the regulation is that the data on the device is _the user's_ data and if Apple can have its AI services work with the user's data, competitors should be able to do the same.
From my (admittedly European) perspective it looks like Apple is just throwing a tantrum here.
Could the restriction not be the device owner choosing to use it? If some rando vibe coded an app and the os told me all the things it can access, I'd probably want to trust the developer before installing it. Why do I need to beg Apple's permission to use software better than their first party offering?
I’m sorry, but the DMA is mandating Cambridge Analytica-type access to data. That whole scandal was people on Facebook granting a third party access to all the data they had access to. And Cambridge Analytica lied about how they were going to use it.
Facebook got roasted for this, but now the EU wants the same open data policy from every big tech company.
Oh wow... Cambridge Analitica had access to all the data Facebook had on you without you knowing it and without you knowing the extent of the data Facebook had on you. EU wants you to be able to knowingly install apps on your phone and give them access to the data on your phone you chose to.
China will get there first why because they’re run by engineers. Yes, they will have some stipulations but if you show them a good idea, it’s a good idea. They won’t stand on ceremony and say not invented here.
correct, but honestly it's much more interesting to have the new Siri on my phone than my mac, at least in my case. Very disappointing, having bought an Iphone 16 pro mainly for the new AI features which almost 2 years later are still not there to be used.
Both the EU and China put enormous risk on misstepping. If you raise the cost of distribution, even just through time-cost, don’t be surprised when it fucking costs
The OS restriction aren’t merely based on the region settings, they are also based on Apple Account region/country and on the detected physical location of the device.
Most of them are, some are annoyingly missing. It’s possible to install apps from two different app store accounts, but it’s 10 times more annoying than on Android. Additionally, there are some EU only features, such as third-party NFC payments.
Apple’s performative DMA outrage is getting more pathetic by the iOS version.
You can easily change your account region back and forth on iOS. Meanwhile Android has a bunch of extra checks and includes a 12 months delay before being able to switch it again.
A family member lost years of irreplaceable photos and paid apps due to account lock, and doing this across two countries they were legitimately residing in triggered it.
In my experience it only locked me out (of just the payment or account settings I think) for like 24 hours when I switched like 4 times in a single day.
From my personal experience I found it easier as a user. I had no balance or subscriptions at the time so I could quickly switch regions back and forth to get all the apps I wanted.