EU forces Apple to also allow alternative app stores on iPads

Apple has already had to open up its iPhone to alternative app stores under new EU laws. Now EU officials say the tech giant needs to do the same with the iPad. — Photo: Franziska Gabbert/dpa

BRUSSELS: EU officials have told Apple to also authorise alternative marketplaces on the iPad, in a new European Commission decision that also categorises Apple's iPadOS operating system as a "gatekeeper" technology.

Apple now has six months to implement the far-reaching rules of the European Union's Digital Markets Act. The decision comes after the EU previously forced Apple to allow rivals to the App Store on iPhones in Europe.