EU, not all of Europe
This guide uses EU for the 27 member states, including Estonia. The UK, Norway and Switzerland are separate markets. An English-language feature can work in one European country and be unavailable in another.
EU Digital Markets Act · Consumer guide · Checked 11 September 2026
Your device. Your choice.
A competitive market needs room for a better app, store or AI assistant to win. The DMA challenges the platform owner's power to decide which rivals get through.
Read alongside the EU AI Act and GDPR and cookie guides. The DMA concerns market power and access. An unavailable feature needs a specific explanation, not just the words “EU rules”.
The public interest
Capitalism needs competitors.
Owning the platform should not mean owning every market that depends on it.
A phone can be beautifully integrated and still put competitors at a disadvantage. If its maker controls installation, defaults, payments and privileged system access, a rival can build a better product and still struggle to reach you.
The DMA's purpose is to make important digital markets fairer and easier to enter. The intended beneficiaries are people choosing services and businesses trying to compete. It does not require you to dislike Apple, stop using Siri or install another store.
Legal basis: DMA, Article 1 and recitals 1-7.
More choice can mean setup decisions, different support arrangements and engineering work. Lower prices and better innovation are the aim, not a guaranteed result of every compliance screen. Judge implementation by whether switching and competing become practical.
The rulebook
Open the routes to customers.
The DMA regulates designated gatekeepers and specific core platform services. It is not a ban on large companies or AI.
| Rule | Plain-language effect | Relevant boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Alternative distribution Article 6(4) | Allow installation and effective use of other apps and app stores, including routes outside the gatekeeper's store. | Justified, necessary and proportionate integrity and security measures remain possible. |
| Defaults and switching Articles 6(3), 6(6) | Make relevant defaults easy to change and avoid obstructing switching between services. | The express first-use choice-screen duty depends on the service's designation. It is not an automatic chatbot ballot for every product. |
| Interoperability Article 6(7) | Give competitors free, effective access to the covered features the gatekeeper uses itself. | The law permits justified, strictly necessary and proportionate integrity protections. |
| Better offers Articles 5(4), 5(5), 5(7) | Let developers communicate offers, let customers use externally purchased content, and prohibit specified forced payment services. | These duties do not make every app, subscription or development service free. |
| Fair ranking and data mobility Articles 6(5), 6(9) | Restrict preferential ranking of the gatekeeper's own services and enable effective data portability. | Article 6(5) concerns ranking, indexing and crawling. It is not a blanket prohibition of every exclusive partnership. |
Read the enacted DMA, Articles 5, 6 and 13. Article 13 addresses circumvention, including conduct that undermines effective compliance.
DMA, AI Act and GDPR do different jobs
The AI Act addresses AI obligations and risks. GDPR governs personal-data processing. The DMA addresses gatekeeper power. Meta's AI-training dispute with privacy regulators belongs to the data-protection story; it is not proof of a DMA product ban.
Irish Data Protection Commission, Meta AI statement, 21 May 2025.
Apple's designated services are App Store, iOS, Safari and iPadOS. Siri is not separately listed; duties concerning designated operating systems can still matter to AI integration. Commission gatekeeper register.
Scope check · 7 gatekeepers · 23 services
It is not an Apple-only rulebook.
The Commission's register names companies and specific core platform services. Designation is a scope test, not a finding that every product is unlawful.
The current register covers Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft. The named service matters: a company can remain a gatekeeper while a different product falls outside the DMA designation. That is why a useful tracker follows the service, the obligation and the evidence separately.
| Gatekeeper | Designated services | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet | Google Play, Google Maps, Google Shopping, Google Search, YouTube, Android Mobile Operating System, Google Chrome and Alphabet's online advertising services. | Search ranking, Play steering, Android AI interoperability and access to anonymised Search data. |
| Amazon | Amazon Marketplace and Amazon's online advertising services. | Marketplace ranking, seller access and how advertising data interacts with retail visibility. |
| Apple | App Store, iOS, Safari and iPadOS. | App distribution, steering, fees, defaults, interoperability and the system access used by AI assistants. |
| Booking | Booking.com. | Supplier access and platform terms. One designated service does not make every Booking product a DMA service. |
| ByteDance | TikTok. | The obligations attached to TikTok and data portability. Do not assume every ByteDance service is covered. |
| Meta | Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Meta's online advertising services. | Consent-or-pay choices, messaging interoperability, advertising and data combination. |
| Microsoft | LinkedIn and Windows PC Operating System. | Defaults, switching and uninstall routes on Windows, plus the obligations attached to LinkedIn. |
European Commission gatekeeper portal and service designations; Commission decision on Apple Ads and Apple Maps, 5 February 2026.
Status check · 11 September 2026
Missing where, on what, and why?
A feature-level map of the major cases. “Delayed under a DMA dispute” is different from “prohibited by law”. Announced OS 27 restrictions are labelled separately from shipping features.
| Product or feature | EU status | What the evidence establishes |
|---|---|---|
| Siri AI on iPhone and iPad | EU launch withheld iOS 27 / iPadOS 27 | Apple's announced rollout excludes EU iPhones and iPads, with no EU date. Apple attributes this to the DMA; the Commission disputes that the law prevents launch. Read both positions. |
| Siri AI on Apple Watch | Same EU launch gap watchOS 27 | Apple says it requires a paired iPhone with Siri AI. This is a dependency of the new assistant, not a ban on all Watch features. Apple's announcement. |
| Siri AI app, enhanced Visual Intelligence, writing tools and Siri Camera mode | Included in the new Siri gap | Apple lists these among the withheld capabilities. Do not confuse the new versions with earlier visual intelligence or Writing Tools. Scope of the announcement. |
| Siri AI on Mac and Vision Pro | EU access announced macOS 27 / visionOS 27 | Apple's announcement includes EU users on these platforms. This distinguishes a platform-specific dispute from a Europe-wide Siri prohibition. Apple's platform split. |
| Existing Apple Intelligence on iPhone and iPad | Available, with requirements | Apple says most features are available to EU residents from iOS/iPadOS 18.4 on supported devices. A missing language or unsupported chip is a different limitation. Apple support. |
| iPhone Mirroring on Mac | Unavailable in the EU | Apple's support page still excludes the EU. Apple cites DMA-related work in its policy statement. This is remote control of an iPhone from a Mac, not an AI feature or every form of screen sharing. Availability; Apple's explanation. |
| AirPods Live Translation | Earlier delay resolved | Apple announced EU expansion in November 2025 and attributed the delay to extra DMA engineering. What changed technically, and how the DMA affected the release, remain unclear. The cited materials do not establish equivalent third-party headphone access to this feature; Apple's support list still names AirPods. Shipping in the EU is not evidence that rivals received access. EU announcement; current requirements. |
| Apple Maps: Visited Places and Preferred Route | Restricted regional rollout | Apple cited both in its DMA-delay statement. Its current feature lists remain geographically limited; check your territory separately. These personalised Maps features are not the whole Maps service. Country lists; Apple's attribution. |
| Ray-Ban Meta glasses: voice and visual AI | Country-gated AI access EU coverage is incomplete | Meta expanded voice and visual AI in supported EU countries. Users in unsupported EU countries report actively blocked AI access, even with the hardware in hand. The official rollout notice does not establish identical blocking in every other country or for every feature. See the country and legal distinction. Meta's dated update. |
| Meta Quest: built-in Meta AI and vision | EU rollout unconfirmed Evidence is incomplete | Meta's published launch covered the US and Canada. A current primary EU expansion notice was not established in this review. Do not buy on the assumption that glasses or WhatsApp availability includes Quest, or label the gap a proven DMA ban. Meta's launch scope. |
| Meta AI in WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger | EU rollout began in March 2025 | Meta announced text chat across 41 European countries. This is not a promise of every US multimodal feature on every surface. Meta's European launch. |
| Llama 4 multimodal model rights | EU licence restriction Developer use | Meta's use policy excludes the specified multimodal licence rights for EU-domiciled individuals and EU-based companies, with an exception for end users of incorporating products or services. This is Meta's licence condition, not a DMA clause banning model weights. Read the exact policy. |
| MiniMax H3 open weights | EU excluded from community licence | The August 2026 licence excludes the EU, UK, South Korea and US from its territory, including restrictions on use of outputs. MiniMax offers a separate licensing route and describes its own H3 API as globally available. This is not a ban on every MiniMax model. H3 licence; MiniMax's API and licensing explanation. |
| Gemini Personal Intelligence with connected Google apps | Unavailable in the EEA | Google explicitly excludes the EEA, UK, Switzerland and Nigeria. This concerns personalisation using connected apps, including Gmail and Photos, rather than all Gemini chat or every integration. The eligibility page does not establish a DMA prohibition. Google's current requirements. |
| Gemini in Chrome: auto browse | US-only eligibility | Google requires US location, age 18+, English, a personal account and an eligible Pro or Ultra subscription. Buying a subscription in the EU does not by itself unlock this browser automation. Auto browse requirements. |
| Search Labs: agentic capabilities in AI Mode | US experiment | Google lists this experiment for Ultra subscribers aged 18+, in English, in the US. This restriction does not describe ordinary AI Mode or AI Overviews as a whole. Search Labs experiment availability. |
A delivered DMA change
You can uninstall Edge.
Windows provides a concrete example of the DMA changing what the owner of a PC can remove.
Remove the browser you do not use
Microsoft added Edge uninstallation to Windows 10 and Windows 11 for eligible PCs in the European Economic Area as part of DMA compliance. The EEA includes the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. On an eligible, updated Windows 11 PC, open Settings → Apps → Installed apps → Microsoft Edge → Uninstall. Windows 10 uses Apps & features. Managed-device policies can limit changes.
Choice should survive the next click
Microsoft's June 2025 update also documents broader default-browser settings, Windows Search links opening in the default browser, and limits on prompts to reinstall Edge. It retains an exception for Store-distributed PWAs that use Edge technology. Removing Edge is distinct from removing the WebView2 runtime used inside other apps.
One market, uneven access
A pair of glasses can cross a border. Its AI may not.
Hardware availability, cloud-feature eligibility and model licensing are three separate barriers.
Ray-Ban Meta: supported does not mean EU-wide
Meta's current Ray-Ban support list includes Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden. Estonia and the other 15 EU countries are absent. That list establishes support coverage, not a complete feature-by-feature test.
Users report AI access being disabled because their country is unsupported. This is an access restriction, not merely a missing local shop. Reports do not establish that every AI function is blocked in every unsupported country; availability can depend on the account, location, language, software and glasses generation.
Meta's current country list; user report reproducing a support response, not an independent country audit.
Does that violate the single market?
It raises a question, not an established infringement. The relevant starting point is the EU Geo-blocking Regulation (2018/302), alongside consumer and competition law. There is no general requirement under a “Single Digital Market Act” that every feature launch everywhere at once.
The regulation addresses nationality- or residence-based discrimination in specified situations, including access to online interfaces and some electronically supplied services. Its scope, exceptions and any legally required restriction matter. It does not require sellers to deliver physical goods to every country. Whether a bundled glasses AI service falls within a particular duty needs a case-specific assessment.
Geo-blocking Regulation, Articles 1, 3 and 4. No decision establishing an infringement by Ray-Ban Meta's country restrictions was identified in this review.
MiniMax needs the same precision. H3's community licence has territorial exclusions. The checked M3 licence instead sets commercial notice, attribution and revenue-based authorization conditions without the same EU exclusion. A model's downloadable weights, a third-party host and the vendor's own API can have different terms.
The disputed explanation
A delay is real. Its justification is contested.
There are three separate questions: what Apple is shipping, what the law requires, and whether Apple's proposed safeguards meet it.
Apple's position
Apple argues that the required access would expose private data and app control. It says regulators rejected its Trusted System Agent intermediary and an 18-month staged implementation. The announcement covers both on-device processing and Private Cloud Compute; “on-device” alone does not describe the whole system.
Apple's statement, 8 June 2026. This is the company's account.
The Commission's position
The Commission says Apple can launch if competitors receive equivalent access with user consent. It describes Apple's request as an exemption of at least 18 months, rather than a compliant proposal, and argues that this would entrench Apple's position in AI.
Commission citizens' Q&A, Siri AI section. This is the regulator's account.
The public statements do not disclose enough technical detail to independently validate every disputed design choice. The useful question is whether a safe competing assistant can obtain equivalent capabilities with your permission, without waiting behind Apple's assistant indefinitely.
Before the new Siri dispute
Where is the promised choice of AI?
Choosing which model answers inside Apple's interface is different from downloading another chatbot app.
At WWDC 2024, Apple stated: We also intend to add support for other AI models in the future.
That was an explicit direction, without a delivery deadline. Apple's iOS 26 guide still documents ChatGPT as the external extension; this review did not establish a shipped equivalent selector for rival providers. Reports about future integrations are not delivery evidence.
Apple's WWDC 2024 keynote transcript; Apple's iOS 26 ChatGPT integration guide.
Three different kinds of choice
- App choice: open a rival assistant as its own app.
- Integrated provider choice: choose the outside model used by Siri or system writing tools.
- System assistant choice: let a rival handle comparable device and app actions through effective OS access.
A model supplier powering Siri behind the scenes would not, by itself, give you either of the latter two choices.
Is ChatGPT-only integration unlawful?
A credible question, not an established verdict. Examine whether equivalent access is withheld under Article 6(7), whether relevant defaults and switching work under Articles 6(3) and 6(6), and whether restrictions circumvent those duties under Article 13.
The DMA does not simply require Apple to sign a commercial deal with every AI company. A finding would need the designated service, requested capability, treatment of rivals and any justified limitations. Siri's absence from the designation list also matters to claims about a compulsory assistant choice screen.
Legal framework: DMA Articles 6 and 13; current designations. No specific ChatGPT-integration infringement decision was established in this review.
Our assessment: the competition question already exists for today's integrated access. It need not wait for more personalised Siri. A second model deal would be progress on provider choice, but would not by itself prove that competing assistants can operate on equal terms.
A concrete alternative
AltStore opens a door. Apple still sets conditions.
Separate the app's licence, Apple's distribution agreement, the marketplace's price and the price of apps inside it.
What AltStore PAL does
PAL is an alternative marketplace for notarized apps, including apps outside the App Store. It does not require a computer, seven-day refreshes or your Apple Account password. It supports third-party sources, but is not an arbitrary IPA installer and does not support JIT.
AltStore Classic is a different distribution method with different limitations. Current PAL documentation lists the EU, Japan and Brazil; those regions do not all get their access through the EU DMA.
The EU conditions you still encounter
Apple requires an EU Apple Account region and physical presence in the EU for new alternative installations. Existing apps keep working after travel; updates remain available for up to 90 days outside the eligible region. Apple notarization still applies.
Purchases and refunds go through the relevant distributor or developer. Some Apple purchase features, including Ask to Buy and purchase sharing, do not apply. You can continue using the App Store alongside PAL.
The licensing catch for developers
AltStore's distribution instructions still require a paid Apple Developer account, App Store Connect submission and agreement to Apple's Alternative EU Terms Addendum. The app author's copyright licence and permission to distribute through Apple's platform are different things. Open source does not remove platform signing, review or contractual requirements.
AltStore's developer workflow. Read this alongside the dated change to Apple's agreements below.
A marketplace is still a licensed platform participant. Apple requires authorization to operate one. Its October 2026 rules broaden eligibility to routes such as audited finances, venture funding or public ownership; a USD 1 million letter of credit is one option, not a universal fee every PAL user or app developer must pay.
Apple's marketplace eligibility changes. Do not confuse financial qualification to run a store with a charge to install an app.
Follow the money
An Apple fee is not an EU tax.
The DMA opened the distribution route. Apple chose the commercial terms, which have changed under regulatory pressure.
- 2024 launch
€1.50 a year, plus tax
PAL initially charged users to cover Apple's Core Technology Fee. In August 2024, an Epic MegaGrant enabled PAL to become free to download, with no subscription renewal. That removed the user's PAL charge, not necessarily Apple's underlying fee or individual app prices.
Contemporaneous report reproducing AltStore's announcement; AltStore's recognition of original paying users.
- Terms before 1 October 2026
Marketplace installs were charged from the first user
Under Apple's alternative terms, the CTF is €0.50 per first annual install. Ordinary apps generally have a one-million-install allowance; marketplace apps pay from the first annual install. Exemptions and small-developer arrangements complicate liability. A free-to-download app with monetisation is not automatically a no-revenue exemption.
- Announced 18 August · Effective 1 October 2026
From install fees to a 5% digital-sales commission
Apple announced a single EU agreement, replacing CTF with a 5% Core Technology Commission on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store. It also announced removal of the Initial Acquisition Fee and Store Services Fee, plus broader marketplace eligibility. This is a scheduled transition at this page's review date, not a change already in force.
Apple's August 2026 announcement. Check the applicable signed agreement and effective date before estimating liability.
Both obligations matter
Safe access can also be fair access.
Interoperability means products working together. It does not mean every developer silently receives every message.
Article 6(7) permits justified, strictly necessary and proportionate integrity measures. Privacy law continues to apply. The GDPR guide explains lawful processing, consent and your rights. The Commission describes competing AI access as subject to user consent. Neither a security slogan nor a demand for openness settles the engineering question.
Ask for specific protections
Which capability is exposed? Who authorises it? Can permission be revoked? Can the system limit scope and require confirmation for sensitive actions? Can an independent reviewer test whether the safeguard actually works?
Apply the same standard to rivals
If an alternative assistant can operate safely under comparable controls, an indefinite refusal deserves scrutiny. If a concrete risk remains, the restriction should be explained and proportionate. Better privacy should be something providers compete on.
DMA Article 6(7); Commission's consent and interoperability explanation.
Fine record · Checked 11 September 2026
Three gatekeepers now have Commission-issued DMA fines.
A fine is a finding about specified conduct. It is not a verdict that every product from the same company is unlawful.
The Commission's published enforcement record includes Commission-issued fines against Apple, Meta and Alphabet. Unlike GDPR, the DMA is enforced at EU level by the Commission. The table separates the conduct that was found from the wider product questions that remain open.
| Gatekeeper and date | Fine and finding | What it does not prove |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabet / Google 23 July 2026 | €890 million total. The Commission split the amount into €460 million for self-preferencing Google's own services in Search and €430 million for restrictions on steering users to alternative offers through Google Play. | It is not a blanket finding against Google AI or every Search result. Read the decision's specified ranking and Play practices. Commission decision. |
| Apple 23 April 2025 | €500 million. The Commission found an anti-steering breach involving restrictions on developers informing and directing users to offers outside the App Store. | It is not a ruling on ChatGPT integration, Siri AI or every later fee. It is a specific App Store conduct finding. Commission decision. |
| Meta 23 April 2025 | €200 million. The Commission found that Meta's consent-or-pay choice did not give users a service option that used less personal data as required by the DMA. | It is not the same as the GDPR cases about Meta's advertising legal basis, transfers or AI training. It addresses the DMA choice presented to users. Commission decision. |
Track proceedings separately from fines
Amazon, Booking, ByteDance and Microsoft can be in the designation register without a final fine in this record. The Commission has also used specification proceedings to define how Google should provide Android AI interoperability and anonymised Search data access. A specification decision sets compliance measures; it does not by itself establish an infringement.
Android AI interoperability measures; Google Search data specification decision; Commission interoperability portal.
Our assessment: the pattern is broader than Apple's ecosystem. The useful question is not whether a company is famous or unpopular, but whether a named service uses control over access, ranking, defaults, data or payments to weaken a realistic rival route.
Put choice to work
Expect access, clarity and accountability.
You can like Apple's products and still want Apple to face stronger competition.
- Check before buying. Ask the seller to confirm the exact feature in your country and language on the device and OS you will use. Save the answer and the advertised claim.
- Use the choices that exist. Compare stores, browsers, payment routes and assistants. Keep the default if it suits you; a choice is useful even when you decline it.
- Ask what blocks a missing feature. Request the legal provision or technical requirement, the available alternative and a realistic delivery status. “Europe” is not a diagnosis.
- Report a concrete barrier. Record the device, region, OS, dates, steps and response. Send market-access concerns to the Commission or your national competition authority; product-advertising and refund disputes may need a consumer-protection route.