Apple to appeal EU ruling that forces company to make changes to the ‘gatekeeper’ App Store and iMessage

In a perhaps unsurprising move, Bloomberg reports Apple is set to appeal to the European Union about the inclusion of its App Store and iMessage services in the Digital Markets Act.

The EU has deemed the App Store and iMessage as gatekeeper monopoly services, which will require Apple to make changes like allowing alternatives to In-App Purchases, app sideloading, and more.

Bloomberg says Apple will object to the inclusion of iMessage as a gatekeeper service (following earlier comments that the service is not big enough in Europe to qualify), and debate exactly what slice of the App Store is under regulation.

The appeal has not yet been formally filed; the deadline for companies to challenge is next Thursday, November 16. We’ll know about Apple’s counterarguments then.

Whether valid or not, an appeal does not delay the implementation of the rules. The Digital Markets Act requires Apple to bring its services into compliance by March 2024. As noted by TechCrunch earlier this week, Apple admitted in a Form 10-K filing that it expects to make changes that will materially impact the App Store business model.

Late last year, it was reported that Apple engineers were already preparing for the new legislation with software changes planned for the iOS 17 release cycle. This includes supporting third-party app stores and iOS app sideloading for the first time, at least for Apple customers in the European Union.