Summary
- The EU is pressuring Apple to increase interoperability with third parties, including opening up AirDrop and AirPlay.
- The proposed changes could potentially allow seamless file transfer between iOS and Android platforms.
- The proposal also requires Apple to provide access to its proximity-triggered pairing feature, enabling third-party accessories (like non-Apple earbuds) to pair with iPhones just as easily as Apple’s own accessories.
It’s a fact that Apple’s products and services work seamlessly with each other, which is one of the primary reasons why it’s so difficult for those deep in the Cupertino-based tech giant’s ecosystem to leave. The EU, however, doesn’t seem to be playing around, and it clearly intends to wilt Apple’s walled garden.
Under the EU and the Digital Markets Act’s pressure, the tech giant has been coerced into opening up its App Store, supporting RCS, and even adopting USB-C ports on its phones. The latter two, the iPhone-maker says, are its own concepts and weren’t introduced in direct response to the EU’s scrutiny, but we all know that’s not actually the case. Now, in a bid to demand even more “effective interoperability,” the European Commission has submitted a new draft document that lists several changes that it intends to enforce, and some of these could be a huge win for consumers.
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First spotted by The Verge, the new interoperability proposal clearly lays down several measures that it would like Apple and connected third-parties to take, and it includes changes to ‘features for interactivity,’ ‘features for data transfers,’ and ‘features for device set-up and configuration.’
Features for interactivity
- iOS notifications
- Background execution
- Automatic audio switching
Features for data transfers
- High-bandwidth peer-to-peer Wi-Fi connection
- AirDrop
- AirPlay
- Close-range wireless file transfer services
- Media casting
Features for device set-up and configuration
- Proximity-triggered pairing
- Automatic Wi-Fi connection
- NFC controller in Reader/Writer mode
While not all of these measures might be ‘interesting’ for the regular user, the potential unlocking of three key Apple features listed in the document could be a game-changer for consumers:
AirDrop
“Apple shall provide effective interoperability with the AirDrop feature,” reads the clear mandate, leaving little room for interpretation. According to the document, the EU wants Apple to implement a solution that would allow third parties to use the AirDrop API, “in a way that is equally effective as the solution available to Apple.” Additionally, to ensure parity, once available, the EU wants any updates made to AirDrop to be accessible to third parties at the same time those updates are rolled out to Apple’s own devices.
This would essentially enable seamless file transfer between iOS and other operating systems, including Android.
AirPlay
“Apple shall provide effective interoperability with the AirPlay feature,” reads the opening sentence of the section. Similar to AirDrop, the EU wants Apple to offer AirPlay access to third party connected devices, so that devices can act as an “AirPlay receiver, i.e., allowing the iOS device to cast content to a receiving third-party connected physical device” and vice versa.
Apple will likely be more amenable to this change, considering that AirPlay is already supported on a range of third-party hardware, primarily TVs.
Proximity-triggered pairing
Essentially Fast Pair, but with iOS devices — that’s what the EU wants here. The way it stands now, new AirPods connect to iPhones seamlessly, while third party buds, like the Pixel Buds, for example, need to be manually paired by going into Bluetooth settings. The EU wants Apple to open up its ‘Proximity-triggered pairing’ feature for third-party accessories, all while ensuring that the experience “is equally effective as the solution available to Apple.” This essentially means that the pairing process should be just as fast as it is for Apple’s own accessories, like the Apple Watch or AirPods, complete with the “same user prompts” and “the same information screens.”
“Apple shall implement the measures above in the next major iOS release, and in any case by the end of 2025 at the latest,” reads the section’s concluding statement.
The EU is currently seeking feedback about the measures from interested third parties and Apple. It is important to note that the measures mentioned above (and in the document) may be revised based on the feedback. Apple is clearly unhappy with the measures, and it has already expressed its strong opposition to several proposals.
