There were five points from the US lawsuit against Apple
Apple and the US Attorney General’s Office of State: How much do we really care about what we do and how we can protect ourselves?
“Over many years, Apple has repeatedly responded to competitive threats by making it harder or more expensive for its users and developers to leave than by making it more attractive for them to stay,” the government wrote in the first paragraph of its complaint. Apple’s conduct, the Justice Department claims, has “locked in users and developers while protecting its profits.”
The company’s exclusive software features, like the non-Interoperable aspects of iMessage, make the phones seem inferior to a lot of people, even if they don’t have anything to do with Apple’s business and how it conducts business.
During Thursday’s press conference, US Attorney General Merrick Garland went off on Apple’s messaging strategy. “iPhone users perceive rival smartphones to be of lower quality,” he said, noting that conversations with Android users (green bubbles) lack encryption, result in subpar media sharing, and don’t include features like typing indicators.
Tim Cook made headlines when he spoke at the Code Conference. “I can’t send my mom certain videos,” an audience member told Cook when complaining about the cross-platform messaging quagmire. “Buy your mom an iPhone,” Cook responded.
People are less likely to switch phones if they buy the Apple watch, according to the DOJ. But on top of that, it cites the fact that a third-party smartwatch misses out on features like quick replies to texts, accepting calendar invites, and interacting with app alerts in the same way as with an Apple Watch.
Why Apple landed in hot water: The US Department of Justice is not happy with the EU restrictions on cross-platform messaging, smart watches, and digital wallets
“They definitely don’t go far enough to open up competition on the world’s largest gaming platform,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer recently told The Verge when addressing Apple’s plans to allow third-party app markets on the iPhone and make the App Store more “open” in the EU.
It’s no secret that Apple products work best if you stick with an iPhone. It turns out that’s a big reason why Apple landed in hot water today with the US Department of Justice, which alleges that the company went too far in locking down messaging, smartwatches, and digital wallets to intentionally hobble its rivals.
The DOJ also notes that Apple limits third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp, Signal, and Facebook Messenger in comparison to iMessage. You have to get permission to allow the background apps to operate or you will lose access to the camera. They also can’t incorporate SMS, meaning you have to convince friends to download the same apps if you want to use them. iMessage, however, does all this natively.
And while Apple recently agreed to support RCS to make cross-platform messaging better, the DOJ isn’t buying it. It notes that Apple not only hasn’t adopted it yet but that third-party apps would still be “prohibited from incorporating RCS just as they are prohibited from incorporating SMS.” The DOJ takes issue with the fact that Apple only agreed to adopt the 2019 version. RCS could be broken on the phones unless Apple supports future versions.
Another issue is Bluetooth connectivity. While the Apple Watch can maintain a connection if a user accidentally turns off Bluetooth on the iPhone, third-party watches can’t. As with third-party messaging apps, users have to dive into separate permissions to turn on background app refresh and turn off low power mode if they want the most stable and consistent Bluetooth connection. This affects the updates like weather or exercise tracking.
With digital wallets, the DOJ’s beef with Apple is that the company blocks financial institutions from accessing NFC hardware within the iPhone. There are new regulations in the EU that allow Apple to allow access in much of Europe. That, in turn, limits them from providing tap-to-pay capabilities and, again, funnels iPhone users into Apple Pay and Apple Wallet.
Banks have to pay 0.15 percent for Apple Pay credit card transactions. It is free for banks that utilize the payment apps from both companies. The US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that Apple got more than $200 billion in US transactions. The same agency estimates that digital wallet tap-to-pay transactions will increase by over 150 percent by 2028.
