Meta has spent nine months pressing Apple to open up to rivals the way it pairs devices like AirPods, and won't take Apple's excuses for an answer.
Facebook owner Meta has previously been trying to use European Union regulations to get it access to iPhone user data that it cannot possibly have a legitimate use for. But now it's been revealed that the company has also pressed for potentially more reasonable help on pairing its devices.
"We would like to be able to pair a Meta device with an iPhone or iPad," writes the company in its formal EU interoperability request, "and have it automatically available and paired on other iPhones and iPads associated with that user by coordination via Meta's own cloud services."
It's specifically for Facebook's Ray-Ban Meta glasses and Meta Quest headsets. It would mean that once such a device has been paired to a user's iPhone, it is automatically paired to their iPad.
Against Apple's objections, the EU announced in 2024 that it must share its technology, with the first such interoperability request being filed on May 8, 2025.
In the entry for Meta's pairing request, initially dated October 31, 2025, there is a series of formal exchanges between Meta and Apple. Behind the professional politeness, though, there is Apple wanting to close the case and Meta refusing to allow it.
- October 31, 2025: Meta requests cloud pairing
- November 3, 2025: Apple says it is reviewing the request
- November 28, 2025: Apple says the request has passed the first stage, but cautions it may still not be possible to do
- February 4, 2026: Apple reveals it plans an API that would offer firms exactly this access, so Meta will have to wait for that
- February 11, 2026: Meta says Apple is limiting this access to the EU by using certain APIs that are not worldwide
- February 18, 2026: Apple says other firms have used these APIs outside of the EU
- March 18, 2026: Meta says it needs more
That's where the published correspondence ends so far. Those last points from Apple are effectively telling Meta that you asked for X and you've got it, it's your problem that you really wanted Y. Then it's Meta saying that Apple should know everyone needs Y.
The discussion turns on the use of Apple's AccessorySetupKit (ASK) instead of the Core Bluetooth scanning APIs that Meta already uses. Consequently, Meta says that "relying on ASK outside the EU would significantly undermine our global pairing logic and the high-quality user experience we seek to provide."
In other words, it would cost Meta time and money to change its systems. Apple is already committing "significant engineering effort" to this ASK requirement, which it says should be ready by spring 2027.
This is all another example of how EU laws appear reasonable on the surface, but in use are impractical. The EU is demanding that Apple hand over its technology to its rivals for free, and is not making that demand of any other company.
So there will not be an EU intervention that sees it telling Meta to make this investment in ASK. But there may yet be an EU demand that Apple re-engineer its systems.
Once again, Apple does seem to be looking at the letter of the law, as it currently stands, rather than the spirit of it. And for once Meta's request does seem to be in order to make its devices more convenient for users.
