Email company Tuta must not become Apple's default app, complains to EU
The DMA should actually allow third parties to become the default app on the iPhone. In the case of Hanover-based Tutao GmbH, this only worked with pressure.
Tuta mail client: advertises with quantum-resistant encryption.
(Image: Tutao GmbH)
The European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA) makes it possible: since last year, Apple has allowed third-party providers to become the default app on the iPhone in various categories. The problem: sometimes this doesn't work because the company doesn't get in touch. This is what happened to Tutao GmbH from Hanover, which offers alternative e-mail and calendar apps with Tuta Mail and Tuta Calendar. As Tutao reports in its blog, it tried for a total of two and a half months to get a response from Apple –, including a public request via X. "To date, April 3, 2025, we have not received a single response from Apple - not even a confirmation that they have received our requests," the company wrote on Thursday.
Three emails and two posts
For apps to become the default on the iPhone, it is not enough to offer them in the App Store. They must also be integrated into Apple's selection dialog, which can be found in the system settings. Most recently, this was made possible for WhatsApp for telephony and text messages. However, if Apple does not react, there is nothing a provider can do – except try to contact the company. In Tutao's case, this resulted in a total of three emails (14.1., 4.3., 31.3.) and two X-Posts, but to no avail.
Videos by heise
"Our users have the right to choose any email provider as their default email app on iOS, including ours! Apple's refusal to address this issue and its inaction is making it difficult for our users to fully switch to Tuta Mail –, which is the opposite of fair competition," Tutao said on Thursday. The company finally decided to lodge a complaint with the EU Commission on the basis of the DMA.
Apple responds after all
However, the case had a happy ending. After Tutao sent out a press release on the case this week, a journalist contacted Apple. They actually took up the matter and contacted Tutao "within a few hours".
The company then decided to withdraw its complaint to the EU. It is now hoped that Tuta Mail can soon be offered as the standard mail app on iOS. According to Tutoa, the company has also had problems with other US Big Techs in recent years. For example, Tuta Mail was downgraded in Google searches and emails with a Tuta domain were classified as spam by Outlook for several weeks. The company also claims to have been blocked by providers in the USA and the UK. Each time, the problem had to be made public before it was resolved. "It's worrying to see how Big Tech treats and hinders other, smaller companies."
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
