European Union determines that Apple doesn't need to open up iMessage to competitors

European Union determines that Apple doesn’t need to open up iMessage to competitors،

The discussion over whether Apple should be forced to make iMessage work with competing messaging apps in the EU has now come to an end. The European Union has formally chosen not to classify iMessage as a “gatekeeper” under the new Digital Markets Act. Additionally, the Bing search engine, Edge browser, and Microsoft's advertising network are also not held responsible.

The EU decision was announced via a blog post today (via The edge), putting an end to this long investigation, from which Apple emerged victorious. Based on this decision, Apple and Microsoft will not be required to make iMessage, Bing and other services available to their competitors.

During the investigation, the EU sought to determine whether these platforms exercised too much market power, which explains the “gatekeeper” label. If they had been recognized as such, they would have to follow a series of additional laws, including ensuring that competitors had a seat at the table.

Yesterday, the Commission adopted decisions closing four market investigations launched on September 5, 2023 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), concluding that Apple and Microsoft should not be appointed as gatekeepers for services of the following core platforms: Apple's messaging service iMessage, Microsoft's Bing online search engine, the Edge web browser, and Microsoft Advertising's online advertising service.

However, things don't end there. The EU already views Apple and Microsoft as gatekeepers in areas such as app stores (Apple) and operating systems (Microsoft). This part remains unchanged with this decision and both companies will have many new rules to follow between now and March 2024 when the DMA becomes operational.

One of the biggest changes expected if the decision went against Apple was opening up iMessage to competitors and requiring it to interact with Android. Since that's not what happened, all we can expect for now is for Apple to follow through on its promise to add RCS functionality to iOS's Messages app.

It's a solution we'll have to live with for now, and it's certainly better than having to deal with texting when texting on iOS and Android, but it's also not as great that it would have been with total interoperability and possibly — dare I say it: the end of the green bubbles versus blue bubbles debate. Apple wins this time, however, this probably isn't the last time we hear about tech regulation on major platform services like iMessage.