Apple Says Some iOS 26 Features Will Skip the EU

Apple has confirmed that some of its upcoming iOS 26 features will not be available in the European Union when the update rolls out later this year, citing regulatory complications stemming from the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) — reports The Wall Street Journal.

Speaking at a recent workshop with EU officials and developers in Brussels, Kyle Andeer, Apple’s Vice President of Legal, said:

“We’ve already had to make the decision to delay the release of products and features we announced this month for our EU customers.”

One of the delayed features is reportedly a new “visited places” tool designed to track and log locations a user has visited (in encrypted form), which they can later search through and share. Per Apple, the DMA has made it harder to bring such features to the European market in a timely or safe manner.

The Digital Markets Act is part of the EU’s broader effort to curb the influence of tech giants and level the playing field for smaller developers. Among other things, it requires companies like Apple to improve interoperability with third-party devices and grant developers greater access to platform software and hardware.

However, Apple continues to push back against the law, warning of privacy and security trade-offs. “Changes the company has had to make to bring its products in line with the rules since last year create real privacy, security, [and] safety risks to our users,” said Andeer.

Apple said it is “still analyzing” which iOS 26 features may be impacted in the region, adding that it’s working to deliver as many of them to EU users “as quickly as possible.”

An EU official at the meeting noted that Apple and the European Commission are at odds on the scope of the DMA and on whether the required changes genuinely pose security risks.