AirDrop For Android? EU Wants Apple To Share iPhone's Exclusive Feature

Apple vs EU has been a one-sided rivalry going on for ages! Whatever the EU says, Apple has to follow, even if it's against the brand's principles. For those who don't know, the EU stands for the European Union and is an alliance of 27 countries that promotes the well-being of its citizens.

The EU has always been vocal about Apple’s limitations for its customers. It forced Apple to convert from Lightning to Type-C ports on iPhones and bring third-party app stores to Apple devices, both of which Apple had to fulfil.

The EU now has new demands from Apple. It wants Apple to open AirDrop and AirPlay for every other platform, including Android devices. Apple has also responded to the EU's requests and criticised one of its biggest competitors amid this controversy. Here is everything you need to know. 

Why is the EU targeting AirDrop and AirPlay?

AirDrop is a crucial feature for users who own more than one Apple product. It allows users to share their files, photos, videos or any document between two Apple devices like iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. AirDrop works nicely and, most importantly, reliably. 

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The EU now wants Apple to open it up for all platforms, including Android. This could likely ease up the process of transferring files between an Apple device and an Android smartphone, or to a Windows laptop. Android’s Quick Share has already shown how an open-source system of file transferring between Android and Windows benefits users. With AirDrop, things will only become easier. 

The EU note mentions that:

"Apple shall provide a protocol specification that gives third parties all information required to integrate, access and control the AirDrop protocol within an application or service (including as part of the operating system) running on a third-party connected physical device in order to allow these applications and services to send files to, and receive files from, an iOS device."

Then there's AirPlay, a feature that allows you to stream your Apple device’s content to other streaming devices. If you are streaming to another Apple device, you get additional options like playing games together. The EU wants Apple to open AirPlay to all.

However, Apple has already opened AirPlay for third-party devices, with most of them being smart TVs.

The EU says that Apple should “make available the possibility for a third-party connected physical device to become an AirPlay sender.”

ALSO READ: Apple AirTag 2 Reportedly Set to Launch in 2025 With 3 New Features

EU wants more from Apple

The EU also wants Apple to bring several changes to iOS. The EU wants Apple to bring notifications to third-party smartwatches, which is currently limited to Apple Watches. It also wants Apple to let other apps, including third-party smartwatch apps, work in the background just like Apple’s first-party apps.

Apple already has a response

In a published document, Apple has responded to the requests made by the EU, alleging that if these requests are accepted, companies can access your personal information directly.

Apple has cited Meta to respond to EU requests, stating that Meta has made more ‘interoperability requests’ than anyone else. The brand claims that Meta’s request concerns the privacy and security of users and is completely unrelated to the actual use of Meta’s external devices. If AirDrop and AirPlay are opened for companies like Meta, then this could create an issue for users’ personal information.

Apple says that opening services like AirPlay would give Meta access to users’ TVs and speakers, including the content they are watching, which could pose a new class of threat to users’ privacy.

It’s clear that Apple has no intentions to fulfil the EU’s wishes. The EU is taking this case on January 9 2025 for consultation and might put a hefty fine on Apple if it doesn’t agree to the new policies.