More from How the EU’s DMA is changing Big Tech: all of the news and updates
“There are things that we take a keen interest in, for instance, if the new Apple fee structure will de facto not make it in any way attractive to use the benefits of the DMA,” Margrethe Vestager tells Reuters. “That kind of thing is what we will be investigating.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Vestager says she’s received “Quite a lot” of comments about how the DMA’s gatekeepers are complying with the EU’s new antitrust rules.
The company credits the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) for the 164 percent increase in new iOS users it saw from March 5th to the 7th. Opera also saw significant user growth in specific countries, including a 402 percent spike in France and a 143 percent boost in Spain.
Apple started letting iPhone users choose their default browser as part of its compliance with the DMA earlier this month. Besides Opera, Brave and Firefox are also seeing more iPhone users in the EU.
Firefox spokesperson Christopher Hilton tells The Verge that the browser has seen a more than 50 percent jump in users in Germany and a nearly 30 percent increase in France:
Despite less than ideal compliance, the recent implementation of the DMA choice screen is a promising step toward true competition online in the EU... Still, there is a lot of room for improvement, and we’ll continue to fight for a web that puts people over profits, prioritizes privacy and is open and accessible to all.
Brave saw a similar increase in users after Apple started letting users choose their default browsers on iOS 17.4 in the EU last week.
Brave says its browser is having a hockey stick moment after the release of Apple’s DMA-compliant iOS 17.4 last week, which immediately nags users to choose their default browser from a randomized list upon startup.
It’s DMA day in Europe, and I’ve immediately been prompted to choose a default browser after updating to iOS 17.4. The list is populated with “the most downloaded browsers on iOS in that country in the prior year.” I picked Chrome, but quickly switched back to Safari because I’m not crazy. But instead of finding the default setting under something like “Browser” it was under “Safari” instead — confusing.
Maybe I’ll really switch if/when Chrome ditches WebKit for Blink in the future.
The Digital Markets Act’s deadline for compliance is imminent. Its six designated ‘gatekeepers’ have fought the rules, but also bent to them.
It’ll let them use their own payments alongside (or instead) of Google Play, starting this week.
If you do, it’ll only charge you 26 (or 27) percent of revenue instead of 30, or 11 (or 12) percent for subs instead of 15. What a savings! Never mind Google knows you’ll pay more than the discount to process payments yourself. Never mind that Spotify pays zero.
Play devs can also link to outside payment offers this week in the EU. Tim Sweeney’s calling that a “new Google Tax on web transactions,” but we don’t yet have details.
Google noted the change as part of an update on its compliance with the Digital Markets Act. The update highlights more options it’s already announced or rolled out, including new choice screens and data sharing options, plus changes to how Play Store developers can collect payments — all preparing for the deadline of March 6th.
German IT service provider Mobivention will launch its corporate-focused Mobivention App Marketplace on March 7th, the same date that the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) comes into force.
Alternatives to Apple’s iOS App Store have also been announced by Epic and MacPaw, though it seems Mobivention will beat both to market. The company says its App Marketplace is focused on enterprise app distribution, and provides:
Simplified rules for the publication of apps, alternative billing models, a reduced revenue share for in-app purchases and the option of integrating alternative payment solutions.
Apple is preparing to release iOS 17.4 soon with many changes, including those meant to comply, to some degree at least, with Europe’s Digital Markets Act.
According to Bloomberg today, the company has told support staff not to engage with customers about whether or not the iPhone will get changes like third-party app stores outside of the EU.
The Android beta (version 2.24.6.2) for WhatsApp includes a way to manage third-party chat app interoperability, which is coming soon as Meta works to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act next week.
That’s according to WABetaInfo, which reported that users will be able to approve specific apps for the integration (or turn it off entirely).
