European Union lays out how Apple must open its tech up to competitors under bloc's digital rules

The European Union on Wednesday outlined that steps that Apple must take to open up its iPhone and iPad operating systems to work better with competing technologies

The European Union on Wednesday outlined the steps that Apple must take to open up its iPhone and iPad operating systems to work better with competing technologies.

It’s the first time it has moved to compel a technology company to comply with the bloc’s digital rulebook, known as the Digital Markets Act.

The 27-nation bloc’s executive Commission had opened two “specification proceedings” last year to lay out the steps Apple needed to comply with the sweeping rulebook, also known as the DMA, which took effect last year.

In its decision, the commission detailed the measures that the iPhone maker has to take so that smartwatches and other devices have better access to Apple’s iOS operating system. It also laid out a second set of measures aimed at improving transparency and effectiveness of the process for software developers to request access to iPhone features.

The Commission also said Wednesday that Google wasn’t doing enough to comply with DMA. Despite making changes, Google was giving preference to its own services in search results, it said. Google is also failing to let app developers inform users of cheaper options outside its Google Play Store app marketplace, the commission said in preliminary findings.