Devs say Apple still flouting EU's Digital Markets Act six months on
47 comments
·December 16, 2025giancarlostoro
LocalH
They figured out that the App Store made them more money than PWAs do, that's why
danaris
What specific aspects of PWAs are still not supported on iOS these days?
I know that Apple made some huge advances in that within the past couple of years, but I...generally don't want PWAs myself, so I haven't paid very close attention. If you don't use Apple devices, and thus also don't pay very close attention, you might check and verify whether what you expect to be true still is.
troupo
> I think Apple should 100% support PWAs with no shenanigans
Where "support PWA" and "no shenanigans" are which of the ever shifting sets of APIs?
bsimpson
I get the point you're making (that standards evolve, and Apple will drag its feet again if it sees a profit), but that doesn't change that they've been gating functionality behind app-only APIs for decades to grow their walled garden and make the rest of us worse off for it.
You shouldn't have to install things on your phone. Most "apps" should just be websites, with a bookmark if you so choose.
1123581321
Apple told the European Commission it would roll out the new terms in January 2026. This letter is saying that the uncertainty leading up to January 2026 is causing damage and not in concordance with the European Commission finding in August 2025. Do I understand that right?
Did the European Commission agree to the January 2026 deadline or not? Have they been working internally behind the scenes with Apple or are they as in the dark as these developers? What is the legal mechanism to push disclosure a month earlier and why is the letter only being published now?
These are sincere questions of mine, in case it's not clear.
Y-bar
The commission might have agreed with the timeline. It is unclear. But on the other hand this is not just about the relationship between Apple and the EC. Their understanding might actually have meant that the damage to users and other developers remained as is claimed here so the commission now has to listen to the injured party and adjust their posture.
Think of it this way: I am blocking part of your driveway for some reasons, and after a while me and the city inspector agree that I will remedy the situation next year. Would you accept that, or would you tell the inspector that your driveway is still not useable and that I should be quicker?
enragedcacti
I think the confusion stems from The Register mixing up two different sets of DMA cases against Apple. The March and August EU actions are regarding hardware and software interoperability under DMA Article 6(7). For these cases, the August specification decision has a number of different deadlines specified, and I don't think any of these have passed yet.
The April 2025 non-compliance decision the app devs reference is regarding the DMA anti-steering provisions (Article 5(4)). This decision was that Apple failed to meet their compliance obligations that were specified way back in June 2024, that they would be subject to a fine, and that they would have 60 days to comply before being subject to periodic fines [1].
The Coalition for App Fairness is saying that they don't believe Apple's App Store anti-steering remediation is compliant or timely and that the EU needs to take further action.
[1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_...
utopiah
If I had to develop commercial applications expecting interoperability from the 2nd largest mobile operating system I would be very pissed.
As a consumer with the resources to leave, the choice is simple.
Y-bar
I disagree that the choice is simple.
In reality there are only two mobile operating systems where there is any hardware to purchase in my town. These two operating systems are the only mobile devices where my bank (and as far as I am aware other competing banks in my area) offer banking on.
There are many variables that goes into the purchase of a mobile phone, the App Store is only one of many. Google is marginally better at allowing side-loading or alternative stores, there is a degree of flexibility in hardware choices and so on. But on the other hand I trust Apple more (absolutely not fully, mind you) with regards to general privacy for example. This privacy protection in conjunction with significantly better movie recording compared to Android are the two primary reasons I stay on iOS.
But at the same time, I am highly critical of Apple’s conduct here. And because it is effectively impossible to vote with my wallet I am voting with my vote so that politicians enact policies that allow me to use my devices the way I want.
fsflover
Alternatively, GNU/Linux phones can be used. But not all banks support them, of course.
Silhouette
Not all banks, government services, travel and ticketing systems, and the list goes on.
The unfortunate reality is that we have a duopoly in the mobile device market and having one of those devices are now a practical necessity to live a normal life for most people. Without regulation to force the market to open up there's little to stop organisations that want ever more control over the devices you can use to access their systems. Trying to go outside the two big players just means you're going to get a substandard or completely pointless experience. And even governments are in on it.
Which is going to be interesting when both the huge US corporations that form that duopoly and/or the government of their home nation decide to do something that goes against what the government or laws in other places want to happen.
raw_anon_1111
Funny enough because of the judge’s ruling, anyone can link outside of the App Store in the US to accept payments without paying Apple anything.
candiddevmike
What recourse do you have if the app store review process finds "issues" with your app that are "obviously unrelated" to your payment setup but seemingly can't be resolved after multiple review iterations?
It seems like the app store review process is designed to be opaque enough to ensure Apple gets their way in their sandbox, regardless of judicial ruling. In my experience, the review process is wildly inconsistent.
raw_anon_1111
I know Netflix, Amazon’s Kindle app and DuoLingo have outside links.
Apple and Amazon made a deal years ago where you can buy digital videos within Amazon Prime Video using your Amazon account.
But let’s be real, the only apps making money directly from in app purchases are pay to win games. It came out in Apple vs Epic that 90% of App Store revenue comes from games.
The other companies making money are mostly selling subscriptions to SaaS apps/services that you can use one subscription anywhere and have always been paying outside of the App Store.
AnthonyMouse
> But let’s be real, the only apps making money directly from in app purchases are pay to win games. It came out in Apple vs Epic that 90% of App Store revenue comes from games.
But is that the chicken or the egg? Is it that surprising that when such an oppressively large margin is being extracted, the primary survivors are the things that are themselves scams? Normal businesses typically don't have 30% margins to begin with, much less have that much to spare for a extractive middleman.
troupo
> that you can use one subscription anywhere and have always been paying outside of the App Store.
Why can't those services show a link in their app to their page without Apple claiming it's owed 27% of the sale?
mindcrash
All the while Android users - or at least those on the Samsung Galaxy sub-ecosystem - are happily downloading free, as in open source, software from alternative sources like F-Droid (https://f-droid.org/), Obtainium (https://obtainium.imranr.dev/), Accrescent (https://accrescent.app/), and even can access the main app store through a more privacy friendly way using Aurora (https://auroraoss.com/) - although with the latter you will probably break a license agreement you never read anyway, so fuck that.
That, and:
* Customization is better -- Apple has nothing like Good Lock, which is developed AND officially supported by Samsung,
* AI is better -- And Samsung even gives the choice to run AI features completely locally on your phone -or- in the cloud,
* Features for power users are all around better -- As a example did you know Google built a freaking virtualization service which allows you to run a full Linux operating system, with an complete KDE Plasma or GNOME UI on top of Android? Well, now you do. Super fun feature to have on a phone. Even more super fun feature to have on a tablet.
And then there's DeX -- at least on the Galaxies, as long as Google is working on the built in desktop features for the next Android release.
And for those times you quickly want or need a Linux shell you can launch Termux (https://termux.dev/en/).
Most notably and importantly: for all these things you don't have to root or jailbreak ANYTHING... They work completely out of the box -- Although you can get a scary sounding warning when downloading stuff from outside the Play store, but if you really understand and can deal with the consequences this can be easily solved using a toggle button.
How Apple keeps managing to drive themselves and their developer ecosystem completely in the ground still is completely baffling to me. And that comes from someone who really used to love Apple, back in the Jobs era (Got the first iPod, iPhone, iPad, and first Intel MacBook Pro to prove it).
PS: Because lots of people got super pissed about Google abandoning sideloading on Android they walked back on their initial decisions and it will keep working for the foreseeable future
n8cpdx
Android is definitely the superior choice as long as you have no expectation of privacy and never need to dial 911 in an emergency. [1]
More serious problems blocking a transition to Android: instead of developing Health Connect in 2015 or before when Apple made HealthKit, Android waited until the mid-2020s, and many apps do not support it. And the implementation is busted if you use multiple devices. Meanwhile on iOS, I have a perfect database of all my health information going back years, and all the apps interpolate nicely - my nutrition tracking app can see my exercise and blood glucose, my glucose tracking app can show exercise on the timeline, my training readiness app can read my sleep data and HRV/RHR from the watch.
And as far as I know Android still doesn’t have Focus Modes, which I rely on to customize my phone and watch. It works really well, integrates with apps, and is easily automatable.
[1]: edit - I thought this was old news, from years ago, but it turns out Android not being able to make emergency calls is an evergreen story. At one point it was Teams’ fault [2] - can you imagine that? Teams being so bad it can block your phone from calling 911? But really it’s android’s fault such a thing is possible. https://www.androidpolice.com/google-pixels-most-dangerous-b... [2]: https://medium.com/@mmrahman123/how-a-bug-in-android-and-mic...
lern_too_spel
Android is strictly superior to iOS in terms of privacy. On iOS, you can't even get your location without sending it to Apple or install an app without telling Apple which one. Unlike iOS, you can even replace your default maps app with a fully offline app. User choice is the key to ensuring privacy.
Google Fit was released in 2014 and implemented data migration to Health Connect when that launched. Similarly, Samsung Health synchronizes data with Health Connect.
The long-fixed bug tickled by Teams was in functionality iOS still doesn't provide. If I use Google Voice, Skype, Signal, or some other telephony service, Android lets me route all outgoing calls through that service automatically.
n8cpdx
Google Health Connect is still not mature. Believe me, if it was, I’d have likely at least attempted to switch back to Android by now. [1]
Apple Maps can be uninstalled, and many people rely on Google Maps. There are plenty of alternatives. I like how convenient the iOS APIs make it to choose alternatives. The Transit app can read the address information from my calendar (a caldav calendar self-hosted on Synology) which makes it really easy to navigate to appointments.
Re:privacy: https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/03/meta_pauses_android_t...
[1]: https://www.androidauthority.com/android-health-connect-usel...
naian
Samsung is so good that… https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46123747
wackget
You forgot to mention Google's upcoming developer verification push, which will prevent users installing apps - even from third-party sources - if the developers have not verified their identity with Google:
mindcrash
They already announced side loading will continue to work, while making it slightly more difficult for average users to install suspicious crap on their phone or tablet. I can live with that:
https://www.androidauthority.com/android-power-users-install...
Also, how sideloading works seemingly varies from vendor to vendor. On my Samsung devices I never had to fiddle with ADB or developer mode to install a APK from outside the Play store, I just download something, toggle crapware protection off, install, toggle crapware protection on and I'm done. Think it might has something to with all the customization work Samsung put into One UI (and just outright removing stuff from Google they didn't like).
schubidubiduba
Google has already backpedaled on that, luckily.
But you are right, insofar that it likely is only a matter of time until Google's walled garden is as walled in as the one of Apple.
ZeroConcerns
Well, if Apple were really clever, they'd have introduced an 'EU DMA CAPTCHA' by now, requiring anyone EU-adjacent-resident to mark all the evil EU bureaucrats in a picture of room before allowing them to resume their doomscrolling.
I mean, it absolutely worked for effectively sinking the GDPR, where pretty much everyone now equates that law with obnoxious 'cookie banners', to the point that these regulations are being relaxed, despite never requiring these banners in any way, shape or form in the first place.
But, yeah, despite that, I'd say they'll get away with this as well...
buzer
> I mean, it absolutely worked for effectively sinking the DMCA, where pretty much everyone now equites that law with obnoxious 'cookie banners', to the point that these regulations are being relaxed.
I don't think DMCA has anything to do with that though I did wish everyone hated it. You probably meant GDPR.
ZeroConcerns
Yes, indeed, thank you! Fixed now, but, well... abbreviation fatigue takes its toll...
Silhouette
Even with the fix that's still not really accurate - though it's a widespread misconception.
an0malous
> Apple has said it will roll out new App Store terms in January 2026, but developers say the company has provided no clarity on what those changes will involve or whether they will actually comply with the DMA.
> "We have seen this playbook before in Europe and beyond," the signatories warn, adding that they suspect any new terms will continue to impose fees that would violate the law.
So the complaint is that they might violate the law next month?
cwillu
The complaint is that they're violating the law right now.
bigyabai
No, the complaint is the established pattern of neglect.
charcircuit
Give people an inch and they will want a mile. I hope Apple resists these bullies who feel entitled to use all the hardwork Apple put into building their platform.
schubidubiduba
You got it the wrong way around: Apple feels entitled to use all the hard work developers put into their apps to bolster their own pockets.
LocalH
Their platform, that runs on devices they don't own?
I'll go a step farther. iOS is the only mobile OS that restricts PWA's and I think they do it on purpose to force you out of PWAs and into native apps. I think Apple should 100% support PWAs with no shenanigans, they should work 100% without Apple needing to approve of anything too.
Steve Jobs pitched PWAs way back when, I don't know why all we've gotten is a half-baked solution from Apple other than they want you in their App Store with a native app.