How the EU’s DMA is changing Big Tech: all of the news and updates

Google is planning to test changes to how it displays search results for certain topics, nearly a year after it was charged with violating antitrust rules in the European Union, Reuters reports. The shift will show top-ranked rival services for hotels, flights, restaurants, and transportation higher up in results, rather than prioritizing Google’s own services like Google Flights. It will be rolling out soon “across Europe,” starting with results for lodgings, with “flights and other services” following later.

This update could address one of the core issues the European Commission highlighted when it ruled last year that Google was in violation of the Digital Markets Act, which aims to rein in anticompetitive practices by leading tech companies like Google, Apple, and Microsoft. Companies that fail to comply with DMA regulations can face fines of up to 10 percent of their annual revenue.

Microsoft’s changes in response to the Digital Markets Act already included allowing Windows machines in the regions it covers to uninstall Edge and remove Bing results from Windows search, but now the list is growing in some meaningful ways. New features announced Monday for Microsoft Windows users in the European Economic Area (the EU plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway) include the option to uninstall the Microsoft Store and avoid extra nags or prompts asking them to set Microsoft Edge as the default browser unless they choose to open it.

That last one is one I’d like to have readily available in the United States, and according to Microsoft, it’s already live in the EEA, starting with Edge version 137.0.3296.52 that rolled out on May 29th.

German iPhone users are starting to report that they’re now able to use PayPal’s tap-to-pay feature at in-store payment terminals, according to German tech site iPhone Ticker. The new capability, which PayPal announced earlier this month, is a result of the EU forcing Apple to open iPhone NFC chips up for third-party contactless payments under the Digital Markets Act.

PayPal’s contactless wallet works with terminals that support Mastercard payments and is iPhone-only for now, so it won’t work on an Apple Watch, iPhone Ticker reports (via a machine translation). In December, a Norwegian payment app called Vipps became the first to take advantage of Apple’s changing ecosystem, nearly a year after Apple first announced it was opening up its NFC hardware to third-party wallet apps for EU users last year.

Apple and Meta are the first companies to be fined for violations under the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). The European Commission announced today that Apple has been served a €500 million (about $570 million) penalty after ruling that its App Store “anti-steering” practices failed to comply with DMA antitrust rules. Meta has been fined €200 million (about $230 million) following similar charges regarding Facebook and Instagram’s ‘pay or consent’ ad model.

Both companies have been given 60 days to comply with the ruling, which in Apple’s case includes removing its restrictions on developers, or face the risk of periodic penalty payments. Apple has confirmed that it intends to appeal the ruling, and The New York Times reports that Meta plans to do the same.

Google is breaking European antitrust laws by favoring its own Shopping, Hotels, and Flights search services over rival comparison providers, according to the European Commission. The EU announced in its preliminary ruling today that Google’s parent company, Alphabet, had also violated anti-steering rules under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by preventing app developers on its Play Store from steering customers to other distribution channels.

Google can challenge the preliminary charges or make additional compliance changes ahead of the EU’s final ruling. The EU can fine companies up to 10 percent of their global annual revenue for DMA violations, which would be a maximum of $35 billion based on the $350 billion Alphabet earned in 2024.

Apple just released its first developer betas of a new round of software updates, and early testers have spotted support for Priority Notifications in the iOS 18.4 preview. It’s an Apple Intelligence-powered feature that uses on-device processing to try to detect which updates are especially important and sort them into a separate section above your other notifications.

According to 9to5Mac, the Priority Notifications feature is turned off by default in this first developer beta, but you can enable it with a toggle in the notifications area of the settings menu.

The European Union has published several recommendations for Apple to make iOS and iPadOS more interoperable with competitors following two separate DMA proceedings launched in September, sparking concerns about user privacy from the iPhone maker.

On Wednesday, the EU Commission submitted draft recommendations to Apple regarding changes that would make the iOS operating system more compatible with third-party devices like smartwatches, earbuds, and headsets. The Commission is also proposing measures to improve how Apple communicates with developers who make interoperability requests for iOS and iPadOS, including increased transparency around internal features and rejections.

Apple will soon become the first company to incur a fine for violating the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), reports Bloomberg. Sources tell the outlet that the Commission is getting ready to levy the penalty after it found that Apple’s “anti-steering” practices harmed competition on the App Store.

This follows the EU’s €1.84 billion (around $2 billion) fine imposed on Apple in March. After investigating a complaint from Spotify, the EU Commission ruled that Apple restricted developers’ ability to point users to cheaper purchases outside the App Store in March — a practice that’s illegal under the DMA.

The European Commission has opened new proceedings under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that will see the bloc instruct Apple on how it can comply with its interoperability obligations. The two “specification proceedings” focused on iOS and iPadOS will conclude within six months.

Under DMA, Apple is required to provide third parties “free and effective interoperability” with hardware and software features controlled by iOS and iPadOS. Now the EU is going to help Apple understand what that specifically means.

The Epic Games Store has arrived on the iPad for users in the European Union, making games like Fortnite and Fall Guys available to play from the device.

The launch comes as part of Monday’s iPadOS 18 update, which lets EU users download apps from third-party app stores on the iPad. The Epic Games Store — and several other alternative app marketplaces — launched on the iPhone in the EU last month.

The Setapp Mobile alternative app store is now available in open beta for iPhone users in the European Union, featuring 50 different productivity- and lifestyle-focused apps at launch. While most of these apps, like the Tripsy itinerary planner and MindNode mind mapping tool, are already available on the official iOS App Store, Setapp creator MacPaw says its own platform provides a simplified user experience and a fair, performance-based compensation model for app developers.

Setapp was originally released as an app marketplace for macOS before the company launched a mobile version for iOS users. Setapp Mobile launched as a closed beta in May, shortly after the European Union’s Digital Markets Act forced Apple to start allowing iPhones to support third-party app marketplaces.

Apple will let iPad users in the European Union download apps from alternative app marketplaces starting next week, coinciding with the release of iPadOS 18 on September 16th. The change comes after the iPad operating system was designated a “core platform service” in April under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), the same rules that forced the company to allow third-party app stores on iPhones earlier this year.

A handful of third-party app stores have already launched for iPhone users in the EU, such as Setapp Mobile, AltStore PAL, and the new Epic Games Store, which has committed to supporting iPads this year. So hold tight, Fortnite fans. You’ll soon have a larger display option for on-the-go gaming.

Meta has finally pulled the curtain back on what its plans for third-party chats in WhatsApp and Messenger will look like. The change, which is coming for users in the European Union, introduces new options to put Messenger and WhatsApp messages in the same inbox as third-party chats or keep them separate.

It’s building new notifications into Messenger and WhatsApp as well, which will let users know when they can link chats from newly supported apps. Meta says it has “gone above and beyond the ‘basic’ features required for interoperable messaging” and will offer rich messaging features, like reactions, direct replies, typing indicators, and read receipts.

Apple will soon let iPhone and iPad users in the European Union choose default apps for phone calls, messaging, keyboards, password managers, and more. These options will be available later this year in a new “Default Apps” section in Settings, according to an update on Thursday.

In the spring of next year, Apple says it will also let users set default navigation, translation apps, and call spam filter apps. Along with these new options, iPhone users in the EU will add the ability to delete the App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos, and Safari apps. The only apps Apple won’t let users delete are Settings and Phone.

Apple is splitting its App Store division in half, according to a report from Bloomberg. While one group of employees will run the App Store, the other will manage its approach to alternative marketplaces that have started opening up in the European Union.

As part of the change, App Store vice president Matt Fischer will leave the company after more than a decade in the role. “This has been on my mind for some time, and as we are also reorganizing the team to better manage new challenges and opportunities, now is the right moment to pass the baton to two outstanding leaders on my team,” Fischer writes in an email to employees seen by Bloomberg. Fischer has also posted the email on LinkedIn.

For the first time since August 2020, Fortnite is back on iOS, and it’s just as exciting and engaging as ever — although a lot has changed in that time.

Following years of legal battles, rumors, and the launch of the Digital Markets Act (DMA), Epic Games’ flagship title has reappeared on the newly launched Epic Games Store on iOS and Android, as well as the AltStore PAL third-party marketplace.

Apple is tweaking its App Store rules in the EU after regulators charged the company with breaking the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in June. At first glance, the updated rules appear to give developers more freedom when linking to outside purchases — but a restrictive new fee structure will force developers to pay Apple a commission for sales made across any platform, not just iOS, for as long as they include outside links.

Starting this fall, all developers in the EU will be able to include links that lead to purchases outside their apps. The updated rules will let developers tell their users about offers on the web, on another app store, or otherwise “at a destination of their choice.” It allows developers to include as many links as they want and gives users an option to disable in-app scare screens.