Developers Call Apple Privacy Changes Anti-Competitive

Aaron Tilley, writing for The Information:

In an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook last Friday, the leaders of seven app developers outlined their concerns about the company’s new restrictions on location-tracking apps in a forthcoming version of the iOS operating system, according to a copy of the email reviewed by The Information. They accuse Apple of having a “double standard” for how apps can use location data in its new operating system.

This isn’t anticompetitive, it’s anti-abusive. Very few companies truly need access to your location all the time, and we should be extremely judicious when deciding whether or not to grant such permissions.

And of course, Life360, one my most despised apps on the App Store, is one of the seven companies complaining about this change.

Also on the list: Tile (this one has a reasonable argument for always wanting location access, but that still doesn’t make this move anticompetitive), Happn (a dating app with a unique approach but tiny user base), Arity (an insurance company who is in bed with the Life360 folks), Zenly (Snap’s location sharing app), Zendrive (a company that makes driver assessment apps) and Twenty (a social network for finding friends nearby).