Owners of Amazfit smartwatches in European Union countries have gained something they couldn't get for years: the ability to reply to messages from iPhone directly from their wrist — without Apple Watch, without workarounds.
This became possible after Apple opened the corresponding API for third-party manufacturers in iOS 18.5. It didn't do this voluntarily — under pressure from the requirements of the Digital Markets Act, which obligates technology giants to provide compatibility with competing devices.
What changed technically
Previously, third-party brand smartwatches on iOS could only display notifications — responding to them was impossible. Apple kept the reply function closed within its own ecosystem. Now Amazfit has integrated support for the new API into its Zepp app, and users in the EU can type or dictate replies to messages directly from the smartwatch.
The feature works through a Bluetooth connection to an iPhone — the same way Apple Watch does. The only difference is that the smartwatch costs significantly less.
The regulatory lever that worked
The DMA took effect in 2024 and applies to so-called "gatekeeper" platforms — companies with a dominant position on the market. Apple fell into this category, and the European Commission has already opened proceedings regarding iOS compatibility with third-party devices.
Opening APIs for smartwatches is part of a broader package of concessions that Apple made specifically in Europe. Outside the EU, these changes do not apply: users in the United States, Ukraine, or Japan remain under the old conditions.
What this means for the market
Amazfit is not the only manufacturer that can take advantage of the new API. Garmin, Samsung with its Galaxy Watch line, Fitbit, and others technically have the same capabilities. It's only a question of how quickly they will update their own software.
For consumers, this is a real change: the lock-in to Apple Watch as the only "full-featured" smartwatch for iPhone is now regulatorily broken — at least on one continent.
Apple, for its part, does not comment on whether it plans to extend these changes beyond the EU. What exactly the company considers "sufficient" compliance with the DMA — and whether the European Commission will agree with this — will become clear when the regulator assesses the first results of the law's implementation at the end of 2025.
If the open API really works without hidden restrictions from Apple, this will set a precedent: for the first time, an ecosystem that the company built over decades as a closed one will have a real hole — drilled not by hackers, but by lawmakers.
The question is different: will Apple keep this API technically functional after regulatory pressure eases — or will it find a way to make compatibility only nominal?
