Why don't Facebook and Apple like each other?

Big corporate rivalries - Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Boeing and Airbus, McDonald's and Burger King - tend to have one thing in common: competition for the same business.That's why Facebook and Apple's feud is so intriguing.They're both big technology companies, and that's where the similarities end.Almost all of Facebook's revenue is from advertising but it provides only a small fraction of Apple's, which comes mostly from devices and its App Store.The two companies don't really compete with each other - they just don't like each other.For years, Apple's Tim Cook has said Facebook treats its users as a product - to make money from advertising - and plays fast and loose with their privacy.Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, says Apple's products are expensive and it has ulterior motives for criticising Facebook.Last year, according to the New York Times, Apple even cut off Facebook's developer tools.The latest chapter in the feud, last week, has made relations even worse.Rubbing saltEarlier this year, Apple announced it would introduce a feature called App Tracking Transparency, to give people more control over their data.Crucially, customers would have to opt in for their data - previously handed over by default - to be used by apps such as Facebook's.That is a massive problem for Facebook, which sells targeted adverts to make eye-watering profits. It says openly that this will damage its business.Apple has postponed the proposed changes until next year, to give developers time to prepare.In a letter outlining why the change was delayed last week, Apple's Jane Hovarth couldn't resist a pop at Zuckerberg: "Facebook executives have made it clear their intent is to collect as much data as possible."This disregard for user privacy continues to expand."Facebook hit back, saying: "They are using their dominant market position to self-preference their own data collection, while making it nearly impossible for their competitors to use the same data."They claim it's about privacy - but it's about profit."That is like rubbing salt into an open wound for Apple, which takes genuine pride in its belief it has a loftier business model than Facebook.As far back as 2010, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs reportedly warned Facebook about privacy.And in 2018, Mr Cook, Apple's current boss, said he could have followed Facebook by using data to sell ads but "we elected not to do that".