Apple is considering making compeitors’ apps stand out on the iPhone and iPad, and has opened its HomePod speakers to third-party music services after it offered an unfair advantage over its in-house products. People familiar with the matter said the technology giant is discussing whether to allow users to choose third-party web browsers and messaging apps as the default options for Apple’s mobile devices to replace the company’s Safari and mail apps. Since the launch of the App Store in 2008, Apple has not allowed users to replace such preinstalled apps with third-party services. This makes it difficult for some developers to compete and has led lawmakers to explore potential antitrust violations in the technology industry. Web browsers and mail are the two most commonly used apps on iPhones and iPads. So far, rival browsers such as Google Chrome and Firefox, as well as messaging apps such as Gmail and Microsoft Outlook, have lacked the status of Apple products. For example, if a user clicks a web link sent to them on an iPhone, it will automatically open in Safari. Similarly, if a user clicks on an email address, such as an email address from a Text message or website, they are sent to the Apple Mail app without having to choose to switch to another email program. The Cupertino, California-based company is also considering relaxing restrictions on third-party music apps on HomePods, including Spotify Technology SA, its biggest streaming rival, people familiar with the matter said. Last year, at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives antitrust panel, Apple’s closed system that banned users from setting third-party apps as default apps was called into question. Lawmakers raised the question of whether iPhone users could make non-Apple apps the default category, including web browsers, maps, email and music. As a default app on the world’s best-selling smartphones, consumers are cleverly tricked into using more powerful software rather than substitutes. As demand for smartphones slows, sales of music, video, cloud storage and other subscriptions account for a larger share of the iPhone maker’s total revenue, and keeping users connected to Apple’s services is crucial to the company. Stockholm-based Spotify filed an antitrust complaint with the European Union, alleging that Apple was squeezing rival services by cutting subscriptions through the App Store by 30 per cent. Apple responded that Spotify wanted the benefits of the App Store without paying. As part of its complaint, Spotify said it couldn’t run on homePod and became the default music player in Apple’s voice-activated digital assistant Siri. Now, Apple is working to allow third-party music services to run directly on HomePod, people familiar with the matter said. Spotify and other third-party music apps can stream from the iPhone or iPad to HomePod via Apple’s AirPlay technology. This is much more cumbersome than streaming directly from the speaker. Opening HomePod for other music services may be a boon for the product. According to Strategy Analytics’ estimates last week, the speaker has lagged behind rivals such as the Amazon Echo since its launch in 2018 and accounts for less than 5% of the smart speaker market. Apple is also discussing whether to allow users to set competing music services as the default setting for Siri on iPhones and iPads, people familiar with the matter said. Currently, Apple Music is the default music app. If the company changes its schedule, users will be able to automatically play Spotify or Pandora music when requesting songs from Siri. People familiar with the matter said. If Apple chooses to move on, they could appear later this year with an upcoming iOS 14 software update and the corresponding HomePod software update, people familiar with the matter said. Apple typically releases major new iPhone and iPad software releases in June, and new iPhone models around September. For this year’s update, Apple also plans to focus on performance and quality, as the current version of iOS 13 is full of errors that make some users unhappy.
Apple weighed in on letting users switch their default iPhone apps to competitors.
