Reaction to EU digital law
Apple announces easier switch to Android
March 8, 2024, 8:20 a.m
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Anyone who switches from an iPhone to an Android smartphone has to overcome a few hurdles when transferring data. But that should change for consumers within the EU by autumn 2025, iPhone manufacturer Apple has announced.
Apple wants to make switching data from an iPhone to an Android smartphone in the EU more user-friendly next year. The group announced this as part of the implementation of the requirements of the DMA (Digital Markets Act). A corresponding solution should be available in autumn 2025. There is currently a Google app for switching from iPhone to Android, but some types of data are not transferred.
At the end of this year or the beginning of next year, the group wants to make it possible to transfer relevant data from one web browser to another on the same device. The DMA also envisions more competition in web browsers.
The stricter rules for large online platforms have been in effect in the EU since Thursday. The EU Commission has so far identified 22 services from six companies as so-called gatekeepers to which the new requirements apply. Unsurprisingly, the American tech giants Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet and the Facebook group Meta are affected. The video app Tiktok from the Bytedance company, which originally comes from China, also made the list. The requirements include, among other things, that the “gatekeepers” are not allowed to give preference to their own services over offers from competitors.