Apple held accountable under the DMA - A victory for developers and computer users!
The Court of Justice of the European Union has rejected Apple's challenge to the interoperability obligations under the Digital Markets Act.
The Court also confirmed the App Store as a core platform service. The
FSFE hails this as a major win for computer users and
developers.

Today, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled in
the case Apple
v. European Commission (T-1080/23), in which the Free Software
Foundation Europe (FSFE) intervened to defend the rights of developers
and users under the Digital Markets Act
(DMA).
Apple had challenged the interoperability obligations applicable to
its mobile operating systems, the designation of the App Store as a core
platform service (CPS) and the original designation of its messaging
service as a number-independent interpersonal communications service.
The FSFE intervened to hold Apple accountable under the DMA in a
developer-friendly way.
With this judgment developers and users will enjoy a less restrictive
environment to access and be able to distribute their software in
environments controlled by Apple. This includes unfettered software
installation (sideloading) and effective and free-of-charge
interoperability between their software and Apple’s software and
hardware controlled by Apple’s operating system.
This ruling confirms what we have argued from the start:
interoperability is not optional under the DMA, it is the law.
Developers finally have legal certainty to build competitive
alternatives to Apple's ecosystem, and we remain committed to monitoring
enforcement of today’s decision,says Lucas Lasota, FSFE's Senior Programme Manager Legal
In its press release, the Court states that Apple’s challenge
against “the provision of the DMA relating to the interoperability
obligations imposed on undertakings which are designated as gatekeepers”
was inadmissible. The Court also confirmed that the different versions
of Apple’s App Store “constitute a single CPS”, because they share the
same purpose: “to connect app developers with end users in order to
facilitate the distribution of software applications.” For the FSFE,
this confirms the central role of interoperability and software
distribution in the DMA’s regulation of Apple’s ecosystem
The future of software interoperability
The FSFE will closely monitor of the implementation of today’s
decision, starting with an in depth analysis of the ruling. It will be
available in the upcoming days at fsfe.org.
Besides, Apple has initiated another litigation against the European
Commission on questions concerning the technical and procedural aspects
of interoperability (T-359/25). The FSFE is also
intervening in this second case and we will again demonstrate to the
court the importance of interoperability for fair digital markets.
Support FSFE