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iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

9to5mac.com

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Re: iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

#41

Post by jsnell »

kristjansson wrote: post #13
rezonant wrote: post #2

> iPadOS on the iPad is a completely different platform in the eyes of Apple and the European Commission. Is this correct, or is Apple making the distinction here?

Given the literal billions of dollars at stake, presumably this has been viscously litigated already, and this is where the EC and Apple have landed

No. EU doesn't pre-approve any of these plans. They'll only be assessed after the compliance deadline (in early March) and will take into account public feedback on the proposals.

The interesting question will be how plans that are deemed to be insufficient are dealt with. If the companies can just change their plans after getting the EU's feedback, it becomes a rational choice to submit illegal plans and then "fix" it. That way there's no risk of accidentally giving too many concessions. To avoid that, attempts as blatant as Apple's shouldn't be just negotiated down to a compromise but result in immediate fines.

Re: iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

#42

Post by tech234a »

lapcat wrote: post #37
goosedragons wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And March of 2019 Spotify filed a complaint with the European Commission over Apple's practices. https://newsroom.spotify.com/2019-03-13/consumers-and-innova... And "iPadOS" was and still is basically just a name change. Even from day 1 iPads had a different set of features.

That was March 13. WWDC 2019 was June 3. Do you seriously think that Apple magically switched everything to iPadOS in 2 months? And why? How exactly did iPadOS even help with the Spotify complaint?

March (not May) was about 2.5 months before WWDC.

Re: iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

#43

Post by layer8 »

rezonant wrote: post #2

> iPadOS on the iPad is a completely different platform in the eyes of Apple and the European Commission. Is this correct, or is Apple making the distinction here?

“Operating system” is one of the categories of things the DMA applies to. The commission so far has only designated iOS (among Apple OSs), not iPadOS. The commission could arguably have viewed them as being variations of the same single OS, but it didn’t.

Re: iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

#44

Post by nerpderp82 »

SllX wrote: post #27
dmart wrote: post #3

Suddenly it makes a lot more sense why Apple made a big deal about iPadOS being its own separate OS, even though the differences are so minimal.

Actually I think the real reason is even lamer. The iPhone is their baby, and the iPad is decidedly not. It’s a good business, it’s a big business, and they sell a lot of them, but in terms of revenue it has never really exceeded the Mac and doing QA for both iPhones and iPads running the same operating system at feature parity year after year was holding their baby back. That’s why when they do new releases, things…

I think you nailed it.

I have worked with Apple and know a couple people that work there. They would not be able to operate with the level of precision and scale to pull of a single OS across mobile and ipad. But it wouldn't be a totally different OS, it would be a branch.

Re: iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

#45

Post by layer8 »

poniko wrote: post #16
rezonant wrote: post #2

> iPadOS on the iPad is a completely different platform in the eyes of Apple and the European Commission. Is this correct, or is Apple making the distinction here?

Yes, Apple stated they have 5 different app stores.

App stores and operating systems are different things under the DMA to which different rules apply. The commission view Apple’s App Store as a single app store, but iOS and iPadOS as different operating systems. The rules apply accordingly.

Re: iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

#46

Post by layer8 »

mepian wrote: post #6

Does anyone know how these new rules affect JIT/AOT compilers in apps?

It’s not clear. Download of executable code is still prohibited, but “installation” and “execution” is not mentioned anymore in the new terms.

Re: iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

#47

Post by lxgr »

kmeisthax wrote: post #40

Note that if you opt for the EU compliant new business terms for iPhone, you will still be obligated to pay Core Technology Fees on all Apple platforms, even if those platforms do not allow sideloading. So your iPad apps now have install fees and you still have to pass app review.

Does the iPad at least get support for alternative payments then?

Edit: Seems like they will. From TFA:

> Changes to App Store policy to allow alternative payments and lower commissions affect the App Store across all Apple platforms.

Re: iPad users will miss out on third-party app stores, browser engines, and more

#49

Post by jachee »

ivanmontillam wrote: post #32
mrtksn wrote: post #20

For anyone interested, EU has started an investigation on iPadOS despite not meeting the threshold: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_... The investigation should be completed within 12 months.

The funny thing is that Europeans will eventually have a better experience with Apple than U.S. residents. It's not my intention to poison the well, but Apple feels like treating its customers like cattle.

I’m a U.S. resident who’s eyeballs deep in the ecosystem… (well, I will be, come Friday…) and I feel much more valued by Apple than cattle.

If there’s a future where there’s an app that requires me to install their store on my device to have the privilege of buying their app, I’m simply not buying that app.

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in that.

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