A new mandate from the EU may force Apple to open AirDrop and AirPlay, among other features, to Android and other platforms.

EU regulation has led to Apple being forced to open up iOS in ways that many never expected, but it’s not done just yet. In an effort to ensure “effective interoperability” with other platforms, the EU wants Apple to make native features of iOS being compatible with Android, including the likes of AirDrop and more.

  • emax_gomax@lemmy.worldEnglish
    73·
    14 hours ago

    Can they add chromecast as well. Absurd that it’s a closed source protocol that still doesn’t work well with Firefox and other browsers.

    • king_tronzington@lemm.eeEnglish
      171·
      13 hours ago

      Chromecast is the only reason I keep chrome installed on my laptop. Would love a better alternative

      • kivulallo@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        2 hours ago

        I use fx_cast extension, it’s been working great for years. Although it needs the “bridge” to be installed, which is some minimal headless chromium thing.

        It’s not a seemless experience, as it has a domain whitelist enabled by default, so you need to mess with it in the extension settings first, but once it’s been set up, it’s fine.

        Sometimes it can mix up old/expired sessions, so the website would say you’re casting but you’re not. You can just press the “active” cast button and disconnect, then reconnect again.

        Some other times (rarely) it fails to mock the casting feature and you won’t see the cast button or it would be disabled. Refreshing the page helps. If not, double check your whitelist.

    • lemmus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      491·
      12 hours ago

      Whenever they want to. The EU is entitled to protect its citizens from anticompetitive behavior and companies are free to stop doing business there if they don’t like it.

      • lolrightythen@lemmy.worldEnglish
        17·
        12 hours ago

        Truth.

        Corpos might cave to pressure. Another politician might get elected.

        Or your consumer/voter base might get dumb and complacent.

        Good luck, all

    • Pup Biru@aussie.zoneEnglish
      7·
      7 hours ago

      i’m not sure of the issues that you’re having, but it almost always works perfectly for me - screen mirroring, media control (streaming from device as well as remote control of existing media - even streamed from 1 device to eg a homepod and then using another device to skip etc), airdrop files and photos etc to my own device or others’ devices, even the new ability to walk away and have the transfer continue over the internet

      can’t remember the last time i had an issue that wasn’t solved immediately by a retry, and even those issues are very rare

      … in my experience at least

      • Lucy :3@feddit.orgEnglish
        3·
        5 hours ago

        600 students, ~100 teachers, everyone has an iPad (plus many have an iPhone). ~20 students per class.

        AirPlay often didn’t work with the ‘smart’ boards, and not even much better with the extra AppleTVs we got.
        AirDrop only showed ~50% of the students, of course including ones in other classrooms, so that isn’t due to distance. Even if you were displayed, again 50% that the file actually got to you. A restart ‘fixed’ that - but restarting every 1.5 hours for a new class because Apples AirDrop team is apparently just as incompetent as its MDM team is pretty annoying. Then, sometimes, WiFi was way too unstable, but still used by AirDrop normally, which meant nothing worked.

        We resorted to teams, which was perfect for me, as I was using a laptop at that point, as it was much better suited for basically everything done in class.

        It may work in small groups, eg. one to one, but only if both have an Apple device, which isn’t really likely. And in larger groups, eg. schools, it scales very badly.

        • Pup Biru@aussie.zoneEnglish
          1·
          33 minutes ago

          yeah i’m not sure about the scale issues. i’m a software engineer, so use it in teams of ~6-10 (more in the building, but not as close as classrooms) where everyone gets a macbook and iphone

          it works close to perfectly in those situations

  • viking@infosec.pubEnglish
    74·
    13 hours ago

    Is airdrop more than just some random gimmick? All I heard was that people use it to spew memes and dick pics onto unsuspecting passengers in the same subway car and the likes.

    • coronach@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      4·
      5 hours ago

      It’s very, very useful for people to share videos instantly. For instance, someone takes a video at the end of a dance class and then sends it to the teacher for them to post online after. Or two people want to practice something so they record a small thing and send to the other person. It’s seamless and really quick.

      Android users end up having to wait for someone to upload to e.g. Dropbox and then share a link.

  • DominusOfMegadeus@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    622·
    11 hours ago

    I thought competition was about HAVING features that differentiate you from the others; Not forcing everyone to give their good ideas to everyone else?

    • lengau@midwest.socialEnglish
      1·
      1 hour ago

      If the fuel for your car were specifically tied to the manufacturer, would that increase or decrease competition?

    • jmcs@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
      3·
      2 hours ago

      When something is subject to the network effect, competition requires interoperability. This applies almost universally to technical standards.

    • x00z@lemmy.worldEnglish
      183·
      11 hours ago

      File sharing using bluetooth and wifi are not Apple’s ideas.