The move is related to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), a set of market fairness and pro-competition rules. Last fall, the Commission shared a list of six tech companies that have been designated “gatekeepers”, as they operate so called “core platform services” (CPS). It’s since added a seventh.
For Apple, the Commission initially designated three products and services as CPS: its mobile operating system iOS, its app distribution marketplace the App Store, and its web browser Safari. Then, in April, it announced that it was adding Apple’s iPadOS to the list.