The EU will force Apple to open up iPadOS

Apple’s iPad added to EU DMA rules, . The European Commission officially under the DMA, along with the Safari web browser, the iOS operating system, and the App Store. The organization says that users are basically “locked in” to Apple’s iPadOS ecosystem and that this discourages people from switching to competitors. The company has six months to comply with various preventive measures.

This follows a months-long investigation into iPadOS to decide whether or not it qualifies as gatekeeper software. “iPadOS represents an important portal that many companies rely on to reach their customers,” wrote Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice President for Competition Policy at the European Commission. “Today’s decision will ensure that fairness and contestability are preserved on this platform as well.”

What does Apple need to do to ensure compliance with iPadOS? According to the DMA, gatekeepers are prohibited from favoring their own services over competitors and locking users into the ecosystem. The software must also allow third parties to interact with internal services, which is why the iPhone in Europe. The iPad is likely to follow suit soon. In other words, the DMA is lobbying for some serious stink bombs.

In a statement , Apple said it “will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission” to ensure that the services it designates are DMA compliant, including iPadOS. However, the company isn’t too happy and accused the legislation of creating “new risks to privacy and data security”. To that end, Apple before the EU General Court in Luxembourg, with hearings to take place later this year.

In happier tablet news for Apple, the company will soon introduce new iPads. We’ll likely see an OLED iPad Pro and a new iPad Air, in addition to updated peripherals.