In early 2022, the European Union (EU) adopted the Digital Services Act. Under this law, various major platforms must comply with a range of new obligations. The law is designed to help tackle disinformation more effectively among major tech companies.
The EU has recently designated the first companies as 'very large online platforms' that fall under this legislation. With 100 million active users, Apple certainly qualifies with its various online platforms.
What does this mean for Apple? Well, Apple is now required to publish the average number of active users of its services, including the iOS App Store, iPadOS App Store, and Apple Books. They've just released these figures:
- iOS App Store: 101 million
- iPadOS App Store: 23 million
- macOS App Store: 6 million
- tvOS App Store: 1 million
- watchOS App Store: under 1 million
- Apple Books: under 1 million
- Podcasts paid subscriptions: under 1 million
These figures are calculated as an average over a six month period ending January 31, 2023. Apple will be required to update this information on a regular basis.
Making these figures public is significant, as it provides greater transparency into Apple's performance in the European market. It's also expected to have a positive impact on App Store Optimization.
Major platforms covered by this law are required to undergo external audits, implement additional risk management measures, share data with authorities and researchers, establish a code of conduct, and be transparent about their recommendation algorithms.
These rules apply to platforms with more than 45 million monthly active users within the European Union. The law takes effect on August 25, 2023.
