Apple is set to file an appeal against the European Union and its Digital Market Act’s (DMA) designation of the App Store as a “gatekeeper” service, according to a new Bloomberg report.
The company is still in the process of drafting its appeal, the report adds, which it is set to file with the Union’s General Court. Apple has until the deadline of November 16 to file its motion with the Court, where it will argue that the EU should not place the entirety of the App Store under DMA regulations. Instead, Apple will argue that very specific and select parts of the App Store should be subject to the DMA rather than a blanket designation.
If the appeal gets rejected, Apple will be forced to comply with changes brought forward by the DMA. The company will have until March of next year to implement those changes on the App Store, which will likely be part of a future iOS 17 update.
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Moreover, Apple will continue its push to prevent iMessage from being placed under the DMA. In a prior statement, the company privately said that the user base of its messaging service in Europe is too small to be deemed a significant player in the market. Apple will reportedly reiterate this notion in its appeal after Google alongside other companies signed a letter urging the EU to place iMessage under the DMA anyway, according to the report.
In July, it was revealed that Apple confirmed its “gatekeeper” status to the EU. Under the DMA, companies will also be required to allow users to easily remove pre-installed apps, as well as end the prioritization of default apps and services over third-party ones. Finally, the DMA is set to force Apple to open up its platforms to third-party app stores and external payment providers.
Apple has confirmed its plans to incorporate some changes to the App Store in response to the DMA in financial forms revealed last week. The scope of these changes remains unclear, but the company could allow sideloading third-party apps from outside the App Store in addition to accepting payments from external third-party payment solutions rather than its in-house billing system.
