The discussion over whether Apple should be forced to make iMessage work with rival messaging apps in the E.U. has now reached its conclusion. The European Union has formally chosen not to classify iMessage as a “gatekeeper” under the new Digital Markets Act. Additionally, Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Edge browser, and advertising network are also not held accountable.
The E.U.’s decision was announced via a blog post today (via The Verge), putting an end to this long investigation, where Apple has emerged as victor. Based on this decision, Apple and Microsoft will not be required to make iMessage, Bing, and other services available to competitors.
Yesterday, the Commission has adopted decisions closing four market investigations that were launched on 5 September 2023 under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), finding that Apple and Microsoft should not be designated as gatekeepers for the following core platform services: Apple’s messaging service iMessage, Microsoft’s online search engine Bing, web browser Edge and online advertising service Microsoft Advertising.
However, this is not where things end. The E.U. already regards Apple and Microsoft as gatekeepers in areas like as app stores (Apple) and operating systems (Microsoft). That part remains unchanged with this decision and both companies will have a lot of new rules to follow by March 2024, when the DMA goes operational.
One of the biggest changes that were expected should the decision have gone against Apple, was for iMessage to be opened up to competitors and forced to interoperate with Android. Since this is not what transpired, all we can expect right now is for Apple to follow through on its promise to add RCS functionality to iOS’s Messages app.
This is a solution we will have to live with for now, and it sure is better than having to deal with SMS when texting across iOS and Android, but it’s also not as great as it would have been to have full interoperability and possibly — dare I say it — the end of the green bubbles vs blue bubbles debate. Apple wins this time, however, this is not likely to be the last we hear about tech regulation on major platform services like iMessage.
