# Apple's Dispute With the EU Over DMA Compliance and Browser Competition

DevFeed: [Apple's Dispute With the EU Over DMA Compliance and Browser Competition](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/apple-s-antitrust-playbook-26556.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://infrequently.org/2025/09/apples-antitrust-playbook/>)

Author: Alex Russell

Published: 2025-09-25T00:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Alex Russell](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/alex-russell.md>)

Topics: [browser](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/browser.md>), [Security](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/security.md>), [iOS](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ios.md>), [PWA](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/pwa.md>), [push-notification](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/push-notification.md>), [Web](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web.md>)

Tags: [apple](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/apple.md>), [browser](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/browser.md>), [browsers](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/browsers.md>), [competition](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/competition.md>), [dma](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/dma.md>), [eu](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/eu.md>), [geofencing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/geofencing.md>), [ios](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ios.md>), [iphone](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/iphone.md>), [pdf](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/pdf.md>), [push-notification](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/push-notification.md>), [pwa](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/pwa.md>), [sdk](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/sdk.md>), [security](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/security.md>), [webdev](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/webdev.md>)

## AI overview

The article argues that Apple is misrepresenting the European Union's enforcement of the Digital Markets Act and shifting responsibility for its own compliance decisions onto regulators. It focuses on alleged barriers affecting browser competition on iOS, including geofencing, restricted PWA and Push Notification APIs, SDK bugs, and difficult development entitlements.

## Source excerpt

Contents Lies by Any Other Name Great Artists Steal Dear Tech Reporters: Access Is Not A Beat This blog is failing on several levels. First, September 2025 is putting the "frequent" in "infrequently", much to my chagrin. Second, my professional mission is to make a web that's better for everyone, not to tear Apple down. But just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. Over the past 24 hours, Cupertino has played the hits from its iPhone-era anti-user, anti-business, anti-rule-of-law power trip. To recap: Apple sent a demand that the EU give up on DMA enforcement in a petulant and utterly misleading press release that mostly served to catalogue Apple's own failures to comply. Cupertino's kept astroturf outfit -- ACT | The App Association -- penned unhinged misinformation for consumption by US regulatory types (h/t Damien Geradin). The EC then called Apple's bluff. Make no mistake about what's going on: Apple is claiming that the EU is forcing Apple to adopt interpretations of the DMA that no other party has, which the EC itself has not backed, and which are "forcing" Apple to avoid shipping features in the EU. Or, put another way, Apple wants to launder the consequences of its own anticompetitive, anti-user choices through a credulous tech press. The goal is to frame regulators for Apple's own deeds. Lies by Any Other Name If this smells like bullshit, that's because it is. Apple tried similar ploys last year when it sprung a blatant attempt to kill PWAs on the EU as a price for having the temerity to regulate. The plan, it seemed then, was to adopt an exotic reading of the DMA and frame the EC for killing PWAs. What Apple's attempting now is even more brazen, particularly after 16+ months of serial non-compliance since the DMA came into force (h/t OWA). Remember that: Apple's browser, and by extension every iOS browser, fails on basic security and privacy controls, putting users at risk constantly. Apple serially misrepresents this situation to anyone who will