The EU’s new Digital Markets Act (DMA) is truly the gift that keeps on giving. That is, if you’ve always wished Apple was more open and less restrictive about what you can do on its mobile devices.
We’ve already mentioned how DMA forced Apple to (reluctantly, yet) allow third-party app stores on iOS, browsers that could use their own rendering engines, and alternative payment systems for apps, but it turns out that’s not DMA All that Apple did. The company is also working on a way to make it easier for users to switch from iPhone to Android phones.
Yes, you read that right. By fall 2025, Apple will offer a more “user-friendly” way for you to transfer dates to “non-Apple phones.” This comes from a new compliance document released by Apple outlining all the ways it complies with the DMA.
But wait, there’s more. There will also be a way to transfer data between browsers on the same iOS device, which will be available in late 2024 or early 2025. Until March 2025, only in the EU, you can also change your default navigation app!
Oh, and you can also uninstall Safari entirely if you’re using a different browser and no longer need it. This feature will be launched by the end of this year.
This is where the problem lies. All these features will probably only be rolled out in the EU, as that’s where DMA applies. So far, all the measures Apple has implemented to comply with the DMA have been limited to the EU – very much so, in fact, since these third-party app stores won’t work if you travel outside the EU “for too long,” for example.
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