Here’s how Apple’s iPhone design could change – if US Department of Justice wins antitrust case against the tech giant

The U.S. Department of Justice, along with 16 state and district attorneys, announced Thursday that they are suing Apple. They say the company’s sleek devices and software create a monopoly that drives up prices for its own customers.

At the heart of the lawsuit is the accusation that Apple designed everything from the App Store to iMessage to box in consumers, locking them in a walled garden where it’s harder to compare stores for both hardware and digital services .

One example from the lawsuit’s allegations is that Apple made it harder for competing payment apps, such as PayPal or Stripe, to work on the iPhone, prioritizing Apple Pay.

Fortunately, for most ordinary people on the sidelines, Apple’s legal battles with the European Union (EU) are an excellent harbinger of the big changes awaiting the iPhone if the US government emerges victorious. battle comes.

Apple users can even save some money over time.

Software options outside the App Store

Thanks to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, Apple users across the Atlantic have the option to choose a different standard digital marketplace to purchase and download software for their phone.

In reality, Apple’s potentially monopolistic use of the App Store affected app developers as much as it affected Apple hardware owners, with the tech giant cutting 30 percent on all app and subscription fees through its own marketplace.

This move left many app makers with no choice but to pass on that cost increase to the owners of Apple iPhones and iPads, at least as the DOJ now claims.

Here’s how the Cupertino-based company explained it the adjustments have been made to comply with the new EU regulations: ‘Users can manage their favorite default app marketplace through a new default setting for app marketplace apps. Platform features for finding and using apps like Spotlight are integrated with a user’s default app marketplace.”

But customers should be advised that Apple has chosen not to impose any of its own strict standards on these other app store alternatives, potentially creating a sort of “wild west” atmosphere.

Alternative browsers to Apple’s Safari

The EU found that Apple’s provision of its own browser, Safari, on all Apple iPhone and iPad devices constituted a monopolistic practice.

So while Safari remains pre-installed, a European user’s first experience of opening the app starts with a prompt that offers them the chance to download and install another web browser as the primary option.

As part of their support page However, in accordance with EU regulations, Apple noted that browsers and browser apps are a key portal through which scammers and other malicious actors try to gain access to people’s digital lives.

So, unlike the App Store situation, “Apple will only allow developers to implement alternative browser engines after they meet specific criteria and commit to a set of ongoing privacy and security requirements.”

These included, they said, requirements that all third-party makers of browsers and browser apps “produce timely security updates to address emerging threats and vulnerabilities” if they want to use iPhones or iPads.

Wider compatibility for iPhone payments

Until now, Apple has limited users’ ability to enjoy their device’s Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to only other Apple devices or established payment terminals used by retailers.

That makes it less convenient to, for example, pay back a friend who uses Android, via the simple and convenient tapping nearby that NFC is known for.

Now Apple has introduced an option that allows iPhone owners to give their other banking or wallet apps the ability to use host card emulation (HCE), expanding the scope of which apps on their phone are compatible with NFC terminals or mobile devices that accept contactless payments.

“To help protect the privacy and security of users on iPhone, developers who want to build HCE payment capabilities into their banking or wallet app” said Apple‘must apply for the HCE payment right.’

The application process, they said, will ensure that all these so-called fintech apps “meet certain industry and regulatory requirements, and adhere to ongoing security and privacy standards.”

iMessage: an end to green speech bubbles?

The European Union eventually left iMessage – and its habit of treating messages from other phones as second-class citizens – alone.

The EU found that only 10 percent of residents even used iMessage, preferring WhatsApp, among other things, putting monopolistic concerns somewhat into question.

But the DOJ can’t make that claim: As many as 85 percent of American teens use iMessage, for example, according to Fast companyand Apple itself has acknowledged the control its text messaging app has privately.

“The #1 hardest (reason) to leave the Apple Universe app is iMessage,” the company site said, citing the writings of a former Apple employee. ‘iMessage amounts to serious lock-in.’

While the issues at play are technical, the iMessage monopoly is more than just green versus blue speech bubbles: communications between iMessage users have less image and video compression, and, most importantly, have the best encryption and Apple privacy protection.

Both of these important value-adds are denied to texters from other phones who contact an iPhone user in their lives.

A victory at the DOJ could expand the network of important people you can securely connect to on your device, but Apple isn’t giving up on this problem without a fight.

“We believe this lawsuit is factually and legally flawed,” Apple said in a statement. “And we will defend ourselves against it vigorously.”