As the UK competition authority proposes action on iOS as part of an investigation, Apple believes the changes would turn its operating system into an “Android clone”. The CMA wants, among other things, to remove the obligation of WebKit for browsers on iOS.
Apple is in the crosshairs of various competition authorities for its practices relating to iOS. There Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) UK, which is the competition regulator, considers the requirement of WebKit on iOS as an anti-competitive practice. According to Apple, if it ended this requirement and changed its practices, it would amount to making iOS a ” android clone“, as reported The Register. For the CMA, Apple and Google form a “ duopoly in the UK mobile market.
A deletion of WebKit that is debating
As a reminder, WebKit is a rendering engine developed by Apple and mandatory for any web browser that wants to be accepted on the App Store. However, this engine is the subject of many criticisms: some find that it makes all browsers similar, which tends to favor Safari, the default application. Others believe that WebKit limits browser performance compared to the power available on Apple-branded devices.
As part of an investigation into the substantial and well-established market power from Apple, the CMA proposed a main solution: the removal of the WebKit requirement on iOS. The authority is also working more broadly on mobile browsers and cloud gaming . In a statement last December, the CMA said it found “evidence that the quality of all browsers on Apple devices is limited by the slower development pace of WebKit“. It also implies that the developers canceled some planned features because the engine did not support them. Also, this generates higher development costs for companies, due to bugs inherent in WebKit.
Apple refuses to see iOS look more like Android
The mediaThe Registerrecalls that in December, Apple had filed a response which has just been published. For the iOS developer, the removal of this requirementwould prevent uniform updates of applications rendering web content, as Android does.Where the CMA would like alternative app stores, Apple responds that it “would undermine the strong user protections provided by Apple’s business modeland that it would reduce consumer choice.
Apple is fighting hard against the decisions that the UK competition authority is trying to impose.The Registerspecifies that after the declaration of the CMA of December, Apple appealed at the end of January before theCompetition Appeal Tribunalfrom the United Kingdom. The company is asking that the investigation be considered “invalid and without legal effect“: according to her, the CMA would have exceeded its provisions by opening the said investigation.
Apple may have no choice but to change its so-called practices.anti-competitive»
The media also teaches us that “the Japan Fair Trade Commission has recommended that Apple and Google include third-party app stores on their platforms.An iOS 17 presentation is expected for WWDC 2023 next June. According to rumors, Apple could submit to the recommendations of the various authorities for competition with this future version of the iPhone OS.
The other bigger coercion comes from the European Union. In 2024, the DSA and the DMA will come into force, two texts which aim to regulate digital companies more strongly, in particular their practices relating to competition. The precise consequences on Apple specifically are not yet known, but we can expect the brand to be forced to open iOS to alternative application stores. Additionally, messaging services will need to be interoperable, which will impact iMessage. Finally, the EU had in the past considered Apple’s payment system to be an abuse of dominant position. Moreover, some developers are already preparing for this opening, such as Google, which is working on a version of Chrome for iOS without WebKit.
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