U.S. Senator Calls AirTags Release 'Timely' as App Store Antitrust Hearing Kicks Off

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is spearheading an antitrust hearing on competition in App Stores, today called Apple's AirTags release "timely" because it is the type of conduct that she plans to examine, reports Reuters.

f1618938547
"It's timely given that this is the type of conduct that we'll be talking about at the hearing," she said, while also mentioning that criticisms of the App Store and Play Store have not received enough attention.

The "Antitrust Applied: Examining Competition in App Stores" hearing takes place today to examine App Stores and mobile competition. Executives from Apple, Google, Tile, Spotify, and Match Group will be participating. Apple initially did not plan to send anyone to attend, but agreed to provide Chief Compliance Officer Kyle Andeer after senators complained.

Tile General Counsel Kirsten Daru will also be attending, and yesterday, Tile said that it intends to bring up the AirTags launch. Tile CEO CJ Prober said that the company is "skeptical" about Apple's aims with AirTags, given its "history of using platform advantage to unfairly limit competition."

We welcome competition, as long as it is fair competition. Unfortunately, given Apple's well-documented history of using its platform advantage to unfairly limit competition for its products, we're skeptical. And given our prior history with Apple, we think it is entirely appropriate for Congress to take a closer look at Apple's business practices specific to its entry into this category. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further in front of Congress tomorrow.

Tile has known about Apple's work on the AirTag for some time now and has brought it up in prior legal proceedings as it is unhappy to have Apple as competition in the item tracking space. To avoid antitrust complaints, Apple waited to launch AirTags until it had already debuted the Find My Network accessory program, which allows third-party Bluetooth devices like item trackers to integrate into the ‌Find My‌ app alongside AirTags.

The ‌Find My‌ network is open to Tile, but it does require item trackers to work exclusively with ‌Find My‌, and Tile already has an established item tracking app and its own network that uses smartphones for crowdsourced tracking purposes.

Apple in a statement said that it has worked to build a platform that enables third-party developers to thrive.

"We have always embraced competition as the best way to drive great experiences for our customers, and we have worked hard to build a platform in iOS that enables third-party developers to thrive," Apple said in a statement.

Other companies that have long had competitive issues with ‌App Store‌, such as Spotify and Match will participate, and will complain about the restrictive rules employed by Apple and Google and the ‌App Store‌ fees.

With the ‌App Store‌ competition hearing kicking off today, Fight for the Future launched an "Abolish the App Store" initiative that calls on people to sign a petition to demand that Congress "end the ‌App Store‌ monopoly."

Fight the Future believes that iOS should work like other "general purpose" computing systems, giving users the freedom to install software directly onto their devices without Apple's permission.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...

Top Rated Comments

BvizioN Avatar
43 months ago
If you can't compete, you can always sue.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fwmireault Avatar
43 months ago
The Find My network is open to anybody. If Tile doesn’t want to use it, it’s not Apple fault and it is not unfair competition
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Realityck Avatar
43 months ago
Apple is bringing new solutions to consumers. Can’t have that now?
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
spiderman0616 Avatar
43 months ago
I still really don't understand the logic. When the competition complains you have to talk to Congress? Did Google have to do that when they made Android smartphones? They weren't first--neither was Apple for that matter. Is this to say that since Blackberry made the first truly mainstream smartphone that nobody else is allowed to make one? Or since Samsung made their smartwatch before Apple that Apple isn't allowed to have the Apple Watch on the market?

What's the point? This is such a gigantic waste of time and resources. Tile is mad because they know that even if Apple's original offering is not as good as Tile's current lineup (I think version 1 will be better out the gate, honestly) the 2nd, 3rd, 4th iterations most certainly will be higher quality, easier to use, and Apple's solution ALREADY doesn't require me to buy new AirTags every single year like Tile's does. Nor does it require me to pay a yearly subscription for the privelege. So which company is really extorting its users here? Apple who charges $29 per AirTag with no additional recurring fees other than batteries that the user can replace, or Tile who makes you buy all new hardware every single year? Why isn't TILE talking to Congress too?
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GadgetBen Avatar
43 months ago
Timely?

Shows just how dumb government officials can be.

Apple launches the software support first to allow third party access, before launching its own products afterwards.

Apple could have launched AirTags first (and beaten Samsung) when we first saw the Tag design last year and software leak.

Instead, they opted to open the software first and invite other companies in.

In normal terms, this is a crazy business practice in a Capitalist market.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
javanate Avatar
43 months ago
#ImwithAmy

Why does my AMD processor only work with an AMD motherboard! Unacceptable.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)