Apple iPhone's AirPlay monopoly said to fall with iOS 27

The European Union has forced Apple to make numerous big changes over the past few years. Due to EU regulations, the iPhone 17 ($789 on Amazon) not only has USB-C instead of Lightning, but also allows apps from third-party stores to be installed, standard apps to be changed and a third-party smartwatch to respond to incoming messages.

According to Bloomberg the update to iOS 27, which is expected to be released in September, will bring another major change. This is because Apple will allow third-party providers to offer alternatives to AirPlay in such a way that they are available system-wide. This is a big step, because until now AirPlay alternatives were usually limited to individual apps and were therefore only available if the same app was open on both the iPhone and the receiving device. iPhone users will be able to choose between AirPlay, Google Cast and other services by selecting the default service in the system settings.

On the one hand, this means that it will be easier to stream music, photos and videos from an iPhone to devices that do not support Apple AirPlay. On the other hand, this change would also open the door for an open standard that is supported on iOS as well as on Android, Windows, macOS and Linux to put an end to fragmentation. As this change is likely to be limited to iPhones used within the European Union, it remains to be seen whether an alternative can be established.