iOS 17.4 came out last month with monumental changes for iPhone owners in the EU, including the ability to use third party app stores, and pay for apps and services outside of Apple's App Store. This was made possible by force - namely, the European Digital Markets Act made Apple allow these things, otherwise they never would have happened. A similar case of a 'walled garden' impenetrable to third parties has so far been the ability to pay for stuff using the iPhone's NFC functionality, which the company restricts to only its own service, Apple Pay. That, however, will change in the EU,...

Today the European Commission (EC) has fined Apple a whopping €1.8 billion for abusing its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iOS and iPadOS users through its App Store. The Commission found that "Apple applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app", so-called 'anti-steering provisions'. This, according to the EC, is illegal under EU antitrust rules. The EC's investigation of the matter found that "Apple bans music streaming...