EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager says Apple may have to allow iPhone owners to remove Photos app .
Although this possibility had not previously been discussed, Vestager mentioned in a brief speech that this is one of the things Apple failed to do in its response to DMA – and it would obviously involve a massive change in the way iOS works…
John Gruber of Daring Fireball noticed the remarks Vestager made last week.
Under Article 6(3) of the DMA, gatekeepers are required to ensure that applications can be easily uninstalled and default settings can be easily changed. They should also display a selection screen. Apple's compliance model does not appear to meet the intent of this commitment […]
Apple also failed to make several apps uninstallable (photos would be one of them).
As Gruber notes, this will require a massive rewrite of iOS to support alternative apps for managing photos by default.
Photos isn't just an iOS app; it is a system interface for photographic film. The feature is integrated throughout iOS, with permissions requested for each app to provide different levels of access to your photos.
Vestager says that to comply with Apple's DMA, it needs to allow third-party apps to act as a system-level image library and photographic films. This is a huge requirement, and I honestly don't even know how such a requirement can be reconciled with system-wide photo permissions.
Some commentators, including Gruber, have raised the unlikely possibility that the scope of the EU requirements could lead to Apple stopping selling iPhones in member countries. The logic put forward is that, with potential fines amounting to up to 10% of global revenue and EU sales representing approximately 7% of this, this could be a cheaper option.
EU Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton rejected this possibility.
In a market with 450 million customers, it is simply unthinkable that someone would not be present.
Where digital giants could pay fines of several billion dollars without blinking an eye — by the way, when they had to pay them after years of procedures that were not systematic, this is far from the case — today none of them can afford not to pay to be in our market.
Opinion 9to5Mac
Best comment from an expert (retired)
The European Union has done a lot of good over the years, but they have really crossed the line with some things. This is a perfect example.
It's crazy. The Photos app really can't be removed from the system, and it doesn't prevent you from using a third-party album at all. Thousands (if not millions) of iPhone users also use Google Photos.
I've had dozens of clients whose phones wouldn't display their iCloud-synced photos, and they'd say don't worry, they're all in Google Photos.
Too many EU bureaucrats know absolutely nothing about modern technology and prove their ignorance every day with such madness.
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As with the US Department of Justice's antitrust suit, the DMA's interpretation in some areas appears to push the boundaries of what would be reasonable and practical, and this is certainly one of them. Of these.
Photos are perhaps the most sensitive form of personal data, and Apple goes to great lengths to ensure they are properly protected. If a third-party app wants to access our photos (that is, wants to access the Apple Photos app), it must ask the user for permission. Apple allows us to grant permission only to certain photos or to all photos. iOS also reminds us in advance from time to time that certain apps still have access to our photos, and checks whether we want that permission to remain in effect.
Allow a third-party app to take over role For me, photographs would be too risky.
As for Apple leaving the EU market, I agree with Breton that this is an unrealistic prospect. But I'd say the same thing if Apple were fined 10% of global turnover: that's a scary prospect, designed to shock companies into compliance. The EU has had the power to levy similar percentage fines, such as 4% of global turnover, for breaches of the GDPR privacy law for many years, but none of the fines imposed have ever come close to the maximum.
