Apple will not be forced to open up iMessage to rival messaging services after the European Commission decided that the app – alongside Microsoft’s Bing and Edge – will not be subject to strict new EU regulations. And Google isn’t particularly happy with the decision.
Bloomberg (through BGR) reported that the Inbound Digital Markets Act (DMA), which takes effect in March 2024, will not affect Apple’s messaging platform, nor Microsoft’s Bing search engine or Edge browser, as neither service has sufficient market share has in their respective markets.
In short, after a five-month investigation, the European Commission has concluded that these digital properties simply do not have a dominant enough presence to require regulation, and are therefore flying under the DMA’s radar.
It’s no surprise that Apple and Microsoft welcomed the European Commission’s announcement. Evading regulations obviously means avoiding DMA compliance headaches, and these apps can continue as they were without interference.
But Google, which has called on the EU to give Apple’s iMessage fair play with Android phones, is less happy with the decision. A Google spokesperson told us that “excluding these popular services from DMA rules means consumers and businesses won’t get the breadth of choice that already exists on other, more open platforms.”
Apple has previously said it will support RCS messaging from Android phones in 2024, a compromise that appears to have worked in its favor in this European Commission decision. But Google and others clearly wanted EU regulations to go further.
The Coalition for Open Digital Ecosystems (CODE), a group that Google helped create along with Meta, Qualcomm, and several other tech giants, also stated that “today’s surprising decision undermines the goals of the DMA and its potential to expand freedom of choice to improve. and contestability for all Europeans.”
Analysis: a good decision for consumers?
So, is this a good thing, a bad thing? Perhaps the best place to start is to ask: what is the purpose of the DMA itself?
The Digital Markets Act is about ensuring that digital markets are ‘fair and open’ for everyone. To do this, it plans to regulate the so-called ‘gatekeepers’ or major online platforms, by setting provisions for them to adhere to, as well as various do’s and don’ts for them.
A key part of this is ensuring interoperability with the gatekeeper’s own service, unfettered access to data related to the service, and a whole host of regulations, honestly – including preventing companies from banning the removal of an app.
After this ruling, none of this will apply to iMessage, Edge, or Bing anymore. Honestly, this isn’t really a big surprise in the case of iMessage, because while it’s big in the US, most people use WhatsApp in Europe, and iMessage isn’t actually that popular (relatively speaking).
Therefore, iMessage is not seen as a gatekeeper and therefore not subject to regulation. The same goes for Bing and Edge, which still have a lead over Google and Chrome in terms of market share. In case you’re wondering, WhatsApp falls under the DMA.
However, if you think Apple is getting free access to the DMA, think again. As you may have seen recently, the company is being forced to make some major changes to its mobile operating system.
iOS 17.4 shows you more prominent options for choosing your default browser and lets you download from alternative app stores for starters (not just Apple’s own ecosystem), which is of course all huge.
Likewise, Microsoft has been forced to make changes with Windows 11 for the European market, such as the ability to uninstall Edge if you want to get rid of the browser, or being able to unlink Bing from the operating system’s search bar (and much more ). ).
While these individual apps – iMessage, Bing and Edge – will not fall under the DMA’s regulatory hammer, the widely used operating systems from Apple and Microsoft certainly will.
However, there is another specter on the horizon for iMessage, and that is the possibility of this kind of regulation being introduced in the US, where Apple’s messaging app has a large presence.
Plus, there’s already mounting pressure from rival browser makers who aren’t happy with the way Apple has handled the DMA here, allowing for the aforementioned greater choice and freedom in iOS, but only in Europe – meaning those browser developers have to juggle two different versions of their clients for Apple mobile phones, not just one.