The European Union has today announced that iPadOS satisfies new criteria that place the iPad’s operating system as a “gatekeeper.” As such, iPadOS will now be subjected to regulations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) like Safari, iOS, and the App Store (via Reuters).

The EU’s decision comes after the conclusion of an investigation into iPadOS that commenced last September. “Our market investigation showed that despite not meeting the thresholds, iPadOS constitutes an important gateway on which many companies rely to reach their customers,” EU’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager stated following the announcement.

In its investigation, the EU states that the number of iPadOS business users exceeds the DMA’s qualification threshold by over 11 times. While the number of non-business users doesn’t currently meet the threshold, the EU predicts that it will cross the required threshold very soon anyway despite falling iPad sales worldwide. Just like iOS, the EU adds that iPadOS is locking customers into Apple’s ecosystem, forcing an intervention via the DMA.

Apple now has six months to introduce changes to iPadOS to comply with the DMA, meaning that we are likely to see changes introduced in iOS 17.4 on the iPad as soon as iPadOS 18. In response to the EU’s decision today, Apple says that it will “continue to constructively engage with the European Commission to comply with the DMA across all designated services”.

iPadOS 18 will likely allow users based in the EU to download apps via web distribution and alternative app marketplaces. The update will also enable features like easier alternative browser selection for a default web browser other than Safari.