When the European Union passed the Digital Markets Act, it identified some companies and platforms as digital gatekeepers, where, to avoid competition abuses, some organizations had to open up their system.
Apple was one of these companies in terms of its iPhone platform, but as from Monday, April 29, the EU has confirmed the iPad as another gatekeeper. Which means the major software changes it brought to the iPhone will come to the iPad, too. As with the iPhone updates, these changes will only affect the iPad in the 27 countries of the EU, but you can be sure that other governments will be watching closely to see if such changes should be brought to iPad users around the world.
As reported by Bloomberg, “The move means Apple has six months to make sure its tablet ecosystem complies with a raft of preemptive measures under the EU’s flagship Digital Markets Act.”
The EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said that despite not meeting all the thresholds under the DMA, an investigation had now shown that “iPadOS constitutes an important gateway on which many companies rely to reach their customers.”
The responses have been quick and varied. Apple said, “We will continue to constructively engage with the European Commission to comply with the DMA, across all designated services. Our focus will remain on delivering the very best products and services to our European customers, while mitigating the new privacy and data security risks the DMA poses for our users.”
The new ruling from the EU means that Apple will have to allow the same features on the iPad that have been transformational for the iPhone. That means sideloading of apps, alternative app marketplaces, and the option to install alternative browser engines instead of sticking with Safari.
No sooner had the statement been made but Epic announced it is planning to bring its super-successful game Fortnite to the iPad in its Epic Games Store for EU users—the company had already announced it would be coming to the iPhone.
Epic said on X, “Today, the European Commission said that iPads will also need to comply with the Digital Markets Act. We’re moving full steam ahead to bring Fortnite and the @EpicGames Store to iPhones in the EU soon and iPads this year!”
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