The European Commission opened antitrust probes into Apple’s business practices in relation to their App Store and iPhone restrictions. The probe was just preliminary and didn’t need to go too far as the commission accepted the response to their concerns. The Wall Street Journal brings us an update on the end of the antitrust probe,

The commission said it was able to abandon its probe following announcements by Apple that the company will relax its restrictions on the development tools for iPhone and iPad applications, as well as introduce cross European warranty repair services for the devices.

“Apple’s response to our preliminary investigations shows that the commission can use the competition rules to achieve swift results on the market with clear benefits for consumers, without the need to open formal proceedings,” Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said.

The commission’s probe started in Spring 2010 and covers the Apple App Store and iPhone restrictions. Apple had started a rumble with Adobe over restrictions on what 3^rd party software developers could use for Apple devices—primarily by hampering App Store applications for developers who used non Apple native development platforms. This meant that Adobe Flash developers wouldn’t be able to publish Apps for the iPhone at the store even though they can write Apps for the iPhone.

Apple has since relaxed those restrictions.

Also as a result of the new guidelines will permit developers to run their apps on competing platforms such as Google’s Android and Nokia developed Symbian. Software written using the Adoble Flash development platform can be readily converted for iPhones and iPads while only minor changes are needed for other smartphones; thus generating a broader app ecology and appeal for the entire smartphone marketplace.