This article may contain affiliate links. Learn more on our Partner Program page.
It's that time again. Apple is once again accused of anti-competitive business practices. The tricky part is that the AirTags haven't even been officially introduced yet.
What are AirTags? Who or what is Tile? Here's a brief explanation: Tile is a small Bluetooth tracker that can be attached to handbags, jackets, wallets, or other items to help find them if lost. Apple AirTags are essentially the same thing—only significantly better. They have more features and are, of course, better integrated into Apple's ecosystem. The product hasn't been officially unveiled yet, though; the information we have so far, as well as how it works, has been revealed through several leaks from previous iOS 13 versions. A link to the article "AirTags—What we know about Apple's new product," can be found at the end of this article. Now for the actual content.
No access to Apple's hardware
Tile is of course already concerned about the future of its own product and is now trying to fight against Apple's AirTags through the US Congress. The accusation: anti-competitive business practices because Tile does not have access to Apple's hardware. Accordingly, the manufacturer is basing its claim on previous leaks and is demanding access to Apple's hardware in order to be able to integrate its own product into Apple's ecosystem as best as possible in order to remain competitive.
The accusation is not new
Over the past year, concerns about anti-competitive business practices by Apple have increased significantly. 9to5mac author Ben Lovejoy:
In addition to the congressional hearings, the Justice Department has launched its own investigation. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the legality of a deal between Apple and Amazon; a number of US states are conducting extensive antitrust investigations of their own; there are a number of cases in other countries and a number of lawsuits.
Ben Lovejoy, 9to5mac
Tile's testimony before Congress
The Verge journalist Nilay Patel was present at the hearing in Congress and was able to publish some passages of Tile's statement via Twitter. According to the tracking manufacturer, Apple would prevent other companies from making the same software integrations as Apple itself. This would degrade the overall user experience. The current iPhone generation was used as an example. Tile products are not allowed to access the UWB interface of the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max - a feature that the AirTags will receive. But that's not all. Tile recalls the first AirTag leak by 9to5mac editor Guilhermo Rambo and its consequences. Shortly after the leak became public, Apple is said to have removed Tile's products from its own stores.
Apple comments on the allegations
But Apple has already commented on the latest accusation. The statement was delivered directly to Kif Leswing of CNBC. It says:
Apple designs its hardware, software, and system-level applications to protect user privacy and provide the best products and ecosystem in the world. Apple has not built a business model around knowing a customer's location or the location of their device.
When setting up a new device, users can enable Location Services to locate a lost or misplaced device using Find My iPhone, an app that users have relied on since 2010. Customers are in control of their location data, including the location of their device. If a user does not want to enable these features, there is a clear, easy-to-understand setting where they can choose exactly which location services they want to enable or disable.
When it comes to third-party apps, we designed the App Store with two goals in mind: to be a safe and trusted place for customers to discover and download apps, and a great business opportunity for developers. We continually work with developers and take their feedback to protect user privacy while providing the tools developers need to create the best app experiences.
We are currently working with developers interested in enabling the “Always Allow” functionality to enable this feature at setup time in a future software update.
Apple
Whether Tile will ultimately achieve anything and be successful with this step remains to be seen. One thing is clear - although the case is already dividing the Apple world, the reaction to a previously unreleased Apple product is still exciting. (Image: Tile)
