Spotify, Epic and some other companies complaint against Apple to EU

In a letter to the European Commission, Spotify, Epic, Proton, and numerous other companies have demanded that the organization investigate Apple’s noncompliance with the Digital Markets Act. A sum of 34 businesses and organizations wrote an open letter to the European Commission on March 1. Concerns regarding Apple’s purported non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is scheduled to take effect on March 7, are addressed in the letter.

The signatories object to Apple’s requirement that developers adhere to new terms or remain within the current App Store ecosystem. They contend that this is a “false choice” that overcomplicates an otherwise straightforward option. In their opinion, the new price schedule is also intended to “amplify Apple’s exploitation of its dominance over app developers.” They contend that the purpose of the Core Technology Fee and Transaction Fee is to discourage developers from choosing to use stores other than the App Store.

Additionally, the signatories think that Apple’s intentions to employ disclosures and controls, or “scare screens,” will “mislead and degrade the user experience.” They contend that doing so will rob users of their real choice and their capacity to profit from any DMA-provided advantages. “The European Commission’s response to Apple’s proposal will serve as a litmus test of the DMA and whether it can deliver for Europe’s citizens and economy,” the letter continues. The European Commission is urged in the letter to act against Apple with promptitude, timeliness, and decisiveness ideally by March 7. “This is the only way to guarantee the DMA remains both credible and delivers competitive digital markets,” according to the organization.

Among the signatures are

• Spotify
• Epic Games
• Proton
• Blockchain.com
• Deezer
• Threema
• European Publisher’s Council
• European Games Developer Federation
• European Fintech Association
• News Media Europe
• France Digitale

Apple released a whitepaper on Friday that outlined its efforts to safeguard customers in the European Union and emphasized the dangers of opening up the iPhone to other App Stores. After purposefully breaking progressive web apps for a month in the iOS 17.4 betas, they later declared that everything will return to normal in the EU. The business also included numerous emails from customers expressing their disapproval of sideloading and the third-party app store on the iPhone.