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iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

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Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#111

Post by llmslave2 »

hshdhdhj4444 wrote: post #81
llmslave2 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a totally reasonable position that both regulation and companies exploiting users are wrong. And it's also entirely a moral assertion that markets should resolve to outcomes judged by members of some political apparatus. Likewise, the idea that a third party should interfere with economic relations between two consenting parties is also a moral judgement, not an absolute fact. Most arguments in favour of regulat…

Markets depend on regulations. Free market absolutists don’t know what they are talking about. The actual originators of market capitalism, most famously Adam Smith, but also proponents like Milton Friedman, had no such confusion. In reality, today’s free market absolutists don’t get their ideas from economists (even free market economists). Instead, they get their ideas from terrible mid 20th century novelists (I’ll…

What is the point of responding to someone if you're going to completely ignore everything they say? Serious question, I'm curious what compels you to do this. Especially in such an arrogant and condescending way.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#112

Post by tiffanyh »

isodev wrote: post #5

It’s fascinating the kind of cool features we can have when products are made to be useful, with their target user in mind. Go EU!

Or it disincentivizes creating those features, if you must give it to your competitors.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#113

Post by avianlyric »

ankit219 wrote: post #107
isodev wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lesson being learned is that Apple could’ve avoided all this trouble if they had used or produced standards for the connection between their components. The whole concept of a gatekeeper was created in response to Apple-likes being difficult and simply hostile to interop opportunities even though they’re defacto the phone company and there is no way around them. So if the solution is not optimal, that circles bac…

A company making an integrated experience would inevitably provide a better experience/performance than a company asked to build for 100s of devices with different spec. That Apple did not want to open it up is a separate discussion. My contention is this: expecting a third party provider to be able to provide the same experience as the first party is an impractical goal. Even pushing companies towards that means a l…

> You can have a reasonable requirement where Apple should not be able to block other companies from providing similar services based on an iphone.

This is what the requirement is. The EU isn’t demanding that Apple provide the same experience for 3rd Party and 1st Party products. It only requires that Apple allow 3rd Parties access to the same capabilities as 1st Party products, so 3rd Parties could build 1st Party quality experiences.

Nobody is asking Apple to degrade their own products. They’re just demanding that Apple don’t artificially degrade other people’s products.

> That Apple did not want to open it up is a separate discussion.

This is the only point of discussion here. Because all the EU requires is that Apple open up their internal protocols so others can implement them.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#114

Post by avianlyric »

officialchicken wrote: post #48
dsign wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s call them bureaucrats, but let’s not forget that their baseline is to be public servants, while that of product managers is to increase profits :-) . I think the system is working as intended though, because increasing profits can be a great driver for innovation and service to the consumer, until it’s not and the “immune system” (the bureaucracy) must be called on to fight the uncontrolled pathological growth…

[flagged]

> ALL OF THE LEGALLY SANCTIONED GOVERNMENT MONOPOLIES HERE.

This is the kinda claim that really needs citations, and ideally some commentary on how the examples demonstrate the point you’re trying to make. Otherwise it’s impossible to reply to, and just comes across a little shrill and conspiratorial. Which I don’t think is your goal.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#115

Post by charliebwrites »

indemnity wrote: post #109
fabioborellini wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple can't perform well with audio on Apple Silicon, either. In 2025 macos is the only OS with audio cracking appearing with CPU load. Even Linux is better

Yeah, this is a regression since macOS Tahoe. Amazing that it still exists after several patch releases, is audio working not a basic test case for Apple? I’ve found it to be worst when using Xcode / simulator and having headphones on for music. sudo killall coreaudiod seems to fix it for a while.

> sudo killall coreaudiod seems to fix it for a while

For me this fixes it for about 30 minutes then I have to do it again… and again… and again…

I wonder why some folks need to do it more than others

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#116

Post by baobun »

kibbber wrote: post #82
Y-bar wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Give an example regulation which has objectively been catastrophic and where there has been no clear attempts at amending or improving it.

I quoted a couple.

You mean with your other sockpuppet account you did?

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#117

Post by avianlyric »

tiffanyh wrote: post #112
isodev wrote: post #5

It’s fascinating the kind of cool features we can have when products are made to be useful, with their target user in mind. Go EU!

Or it disincentivizes creating those features, if you must give it to your competitors.

That’s a rather silly view to take. We have a phenomenon called “the first mover advantage” for a reason.

Plenty of other markets and businesses operate just fine while operating in an environment that makes protecting individual innovation functionally impossible. Just look at any related to fast fashion (not that I think the fast fashion market is a healthy phenomenon) or any commodities market. Or for that matter, most of the software industry.

The incentive for creating features should be to remain relevant and competitive. It shouldn’t be to build moats and war chests.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#118

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

Y-bar wrote: post #78
kibbber wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Like progressive taxation? Like forbidding discrimination based on skin colour? Ok, sometimes .

Give an example regulation which has objectively been catastrophic and where there has been no clear attempts at amending or improving it.

Abortion abolition in states that are causing women to die because doctors are afraid to perform them even when it puts the woman’s life in danger not to perform them.

It even put the life of a Republican lawmaker in dander in Florida. Of course she blamed democrats.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/22/kat-cammack-...

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#119

Post by illiac786 »

tiffanyh wrote: post #112
isodev wrote: post #5

It’s fascinating the kind of cool features we can have when products are made to be useful, with their target user in mind. Go EU!

Or it disincentivizes creating those features, if you must give it to your competitors.

I would agree in general, but in this specific case it’s still an advantage for the iOS platform in general. It just removes a buying incentive for the AirPods.

The general problem is that there must be a line.

Vendors don’t create lock-ins because they are malicious, they create it because it makes them money.

Now, if we limit these lock-ins, it will reduce their ability to make money and yes, it will impact some features - short term.

But looking at it long terms, vendor lock-ins are actually a reason to stop innovating: your customers are locked in anyway.

So, overall, I would say this is good for innovation in general.

Re: iOS 26.3 brings AirPods-like pairing to third-party devices in EU under DMA

#120

Post by raw_anon_1111 »

isodev wrote: post #105
ankit219 wrote: post #104

Are we learning the wrong lessons? Integrated always works better than modular components. Here, Apple is being asked to enable their versions of software for third party devices, which do not have the same hardware assumptions as Apple did. (Apple will not release the exact hardware spec for airpods anyway). This means the newer version will be designed modularly, with some tradeoffs to enable the "same" kind of acc…

The lesson being learned is that Apple could’ve avoided all this trouble if they had used or produced standards for the connection between their components. The whole concept of a gatekeeper was created in response to Apple-likes being difficult and simply hostile to interop opportunities even though they’re defacto the phone company and there is no way around them. So if the solution is not optimal, that circles bac…

There is no “produced standard” to allow three Bluetooth devices - each headphone and the case - to register as one Bluetooth device or to automatically register a Bluetooth device to all devices using the same cloud account.
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