What you need to know
- Tile says that Apple's anti-competitive behavior has gotten worse.
- It testified to a congressional committee on Wednesday.
- Tile claims Apple's software updates hurt the company's core business.
In January, Tile testified against Apple, claiming that the company was being anti-competitive towards the company. Apple has stopped selling its trackers in its stores, hired one of their engineers, and is rumored to be close to launching its own product and service similar to what Tile currently offers.
Reported by Reuters, Tile testified that Apple has failed in resolving its dispute and has also introduced restrictions in iOS that directly harms their business. In a statement to the congressional committee, the company says that "unfortunately, since that hearing (in January), Apple's anti-competitive behaviors have gotten worse, not better."
With iOS 13, users are regularly asked if they want to continue to allow an app access to their location. While Apple says that this change is to bring transparency to its customers and protect their privacy, Tile says that it is prohibitive to their business. The company says Apple has promised to bring the "Always Allow" setting back for third party developers but still has not done so.
"Despite Apple's multiple promises to reinstate 'Always Allow' background permissions option for third-party apps' geolocation services, Apple has not yet done so."
In contrast, Apple's Find My app tracks a user's location in the background without having to regularly accept it. Apple is also rumored to be launching a competitor to Tile, which will theoretically also operate outside of the requirements that Tile must adhere to.
The lawsuit is one of many against the larger technology companies and is being carried out by the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission.
