France

French regulators today fined Apple €8 million for breaching France's data protection rules with targeted App Store ads. France's National Commission for Informatics and Liberty (CNIL) says that Apple did not get the consent of French iPhone users before using identifiers to present targeted ads in the iOS 14.6 update. Apple was collecting information and using that data for ads by default,...

The French Commercial Court in Paris today fined Apple $1 million for abusive App Store practices, reports Reuters. Apple imposed unfair commercial clauses on French app developers for access to the ‌App Store‌, according to the ruling. The decision is the result of a multi-year investigation by France's consumer affairs and fraud watchdog (DGCCRF), overseen by the French ministry of...

Apple today announced the expansion of Emergency SOS via Satellite and Find My via satellite functionality to the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Ireland. iPhone 14 users can now connect with emergency services when cellular and Wi-Fi coverage are not available, and calls from the Emergency SOS via Satellite feature will be routed to local emergency services facilities. Apple's...

The iPhone 14 lineup's Emergency SOS via satellite and Find My via satellite features will launch in four additional countries next month, Apple today announced. In its press release announcing that Emergency SOS and ‌Find My‌ via satellite for the ‌iPhone 14‌ and iPhone 14 Pro models will roll out later today, Apple mentioned that the feature will be coming to France, Germany, Ireland, and...

Apple has confirmed it no longer provides customers with complimentary EarPods in the box with every iPhone sold in France, citing the environmental benefits of having a thinner ‌iPhone‌ box thanks to the lack of a charger and earphones. In an update on Apple's French website, the company no longer states that EarPods will be included in the box for any of its iPhones. Apple now lists only...

Apple will no longer include EarPods with every iPhone sold in France, starting on January 24, according to a notice posted by a French carrier (via iGeneration). Apple was previously required to include EarPods in the box with the ‌iPhone‌ due to a French law that required every smartphone sold in the country to come with a "handsfree kit," but the law has now been changed in favor of reducing...

Apple is today celebrating 40 years in France and announced the launch of a new Apple Music studio in Paris. In a post on its French newsroom site, Apple highlighted its achievements in France over the past 40 years, aiding artists, designers, and developers in particular. Apple CEO Tim Cook said:France occupies a special place in my heart. Every time I go there, I am inspired by this...

All four iPhone 13 models still ship with EarPods in the box in France due to a law in the country that requires all smartphones to include a "hands-free kit" in order to protect children under 14 years of age from potential electromagnetic radiation. Photo shared by MacRumors forum member Recklessss Apple's website in France confirms the inclusion of EarPods with a Lightning connector with...

Apple is once again closing all of its retail locations in France due to the ongoing health crisis, the first time since last year where all 20 locations have been closed, MacGeneration reports. France currently remains on heightened alert due to the pandemic, with some regions under stricter lockdowns than others. The majority of Apple Stores in the country have remained closed, while...

Apple will face a French antitrust probe into its upcoming App Tracking Transparency feature, following a complaint from advertisers in the country that the planned changes are anticompetitive. Starting in iOS 14.5, Apple will require apps to get opt-in permission from users to collect their random advertising identifier, which advertisers use to deliver personalized ads and track how...

Apple is to be investigated by France's data-protection watchdog following allegations that the company's personalized advertising feature violates European Union data protection and e-privacy rules (via Bloomberg). The National Commission on Informatics and Liberty, known as "CNIL," is France's regulator that oversees privacy and data. CNIL is now examining antitrust allegations from...

Apple's advertising system for monetizing its apps and services is the target of a new complaint in France that has been brought against it by a lobby group representing startups and venture capital firms (via Bloomberg). Submitted on Tuesday by France Digitale to the country's National Data Protection Commission (CNIL), the complaint focuses on an Apple feature called Personalized...

Apple has begun adding repairability scores to its website and Apple Store app in France to meet the demands of new Right to Repair laws (via MacGeneration). The scores, displayed on purchase pages for a range of Apple products, give devices a rating out of ten for how easy it is to repair, much like iFixit repairability ratings. The scores are intended to inform customers about "whether...

Vivid Money now supports Apple Pay in France, the neobank has announced. As spotted by iGeneration, the Russian-German mobile bank announced the development on its Twitter account, and users have already confirmed that they're able to add their Vivid Visa card to Apple's Wallet app this morning. Launched in France last November, the neobank offers 25% cashback on daily expenses as well as ...

France is pushing for changes to the EU's upcoming regulations on big tech companies, including Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook, that would make it easier for governments to penalize bad behavior and widen controls on content, according to a new report by the Financial Times. The Digital Services Act, presented in December 2020, is designed to tackle illegal online content in the...

Apple this week shared a short film on its YouTube channel in France called "Le Peintre," which translates to "The Painter." Shot on the iPhone by Paris-bared director J.B. Braud, the video depicts a house painter who rings the doorbell of a large house and gradually realizes that he is the victim of a misunderstanding, according to Apple. Apple has highlighted the video on a new page on its ...

Navigo cards for travelling on the Paris metro and bus network are now supported on iPhone, with the ability to "recharge" passes using Apple Pay (via iGeneration). Last week, it was rumored that Apple had reached an agreement for Navigo cards to work with NFC on ‌iPhone‌, and now the feature has arrived with the latest update to the Navigo app from Paris's transport authority,...

Apple has reached an agreement to bring support for the Paris Metro system's Smart Navigo cards to Wallet, allowing users to roam Parisian public transport with just an iPhone or Apple Watch, according to a Le Parisien report. After talks with Île-de-France-Mobilités, France's transport authority that coordinates the different transport companies operating in Paris, Apple is said to have ...

Apple appears to be rolling out its Safari webpage translation to more countries. According to iPhoneSoft, iOS users in France have reported gaining access to the feature, and tips sent to MacRumors suggest Mac users in Sweden are also seeing it show up for the first time. Apple introduced Safari's machine translation earlier this year when it debuted iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur at WWDC in...

Apple is still including EarPods in the box of every iPhone in France due to legal obligations. According to Apple's regional French online store, every ‌iPhone‌ including the iPhone 12 comes with both a USB-C to Lightning cable and EarPods with a Lightning connector. The inclusion of earphones is likely due to legislation in France that requires all smartphones to include a "handsfree...