The deadline to comply with the European Union"s Digital Markets Act is now just a few days away on March. Today, a number of mobile app companies are joining forces to let the EU and its European Commission regulatory body know that they believe Apple"s efforts to comply with the DMA are a non-starter for them.
Spotify posted the body of the letter on its news site. The list of companies and organizations that have signed the letter also includes Epic Games, Proton, Deezer, and many more.
In the letter, the companies state to the executives at the European Commission that Apple"s announcement earlier this year to allow sideloading of apps on its iOS devices, along with third-party app stores, in Europe does not, in fact, meet the requirements of the DMA.
The letter points out that these changes to Apple"s new iOS rules in Europe come with extra conditions, including making app companies pay a Core Technology Fee (CTF). The letter states:
Apple’s new terms not only disregard both the spirit and letter of the law, but if left unchanged, make a mockery of the DMA and the considerable efforts by the European Commission and EU institutions to make digital markets competitive.
The companies that signed this letter are urging the EC to take action against Apple when the DMA deadline arrives "to protect developers and benefit consumers."
Apple spokesperson Peter Ajemian sent a statement to The Verge in response to the joint letter:
For every change, teams at Apple continued to put our users at the center of everything we do. That meant creating safeguards to protect EU users to the greatest extent possible and to respond to new threats, including new vectors for malware and viruses, opportunities for scams and fraud, and challenges to ensuring apps are functional on Apple’s platforms. Still, these protections don’t eliminate new threats the DMA creates.
Apple"s iOS app rules in Europe have been criticized in the last few weeks by other major tech companies. Microsoft"s Xbox President Sarah Bond has called Apple"s policies "a step in the wrong direction." Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that Apple"s rules are "at odds with the intent of what the EU regulation was."