The company behind the Tile tracker has accused Apple of anti-competitive behaviour, saying the relationship between the two companies is getting worse, not better. Tile implied this was in the light of Apple launching a competitor product to Tile, which we believe will be called Apple Tag

"Unfortunately...Apple’s anti-competitive behaviors have gotten worse, not better," Tile said in a statement to a panel of the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

The submissions, reported by Reuters, are quite staggering but there are several issues at play here. Chief among Tile's gripes is that iOS 13 asks you to enable location in the background, but even though you make the choice once it then repeatedly asks you again at seemingly random intervals. This was introduced as part of an increased security drive in iOS 13. 

Background access for apps like Tile is essential so they can alert you even when the app isn't open. Other apps, like Dropbox, also insist on regular location access to enable things to run along in the background. 

 

Tile claimed that Apple had reneged on a promise to stop users being asked repeatedly "despite Apple’s multiple promises to reinstate ‘Always Allow’ background permissions option for third-party apps’ geolocation services, Apple has not yet done so.

Users are not repeatedly asked about giving location access to the Find My app, which is reportedly where Apple will enable Apple Tag tracking.