The mobile app industry really only has two platforms to use. Apple’s App Store for its iPhones and iPads, and the Google Play Store for all the various Android-based smartphones and tablets. However, the Biden administration claims that “the current mobile app store model is harmful to consumers and developers.”
In a ___ The report was published today. Through the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the government agency says mobile app users generally can’t download apps outside of Apple and Google’s digital stores. Also, developers who have to use these stores to sell their apps are handcuffed by a number of rules dictated by Apple and Google.
The agency recommended allowing users to download and use alternative mobile app stores on their devices, with the ability to hide or delete any pre-installed apps and choose their own default apps. With right.
The report also recommends that developers not be banned from using Apple and Google’s own in-app payment systems. This was the main problem with Epic Games when it tried to launch its own in-app payment system for its game Fortnite a few years ago, only to be killed off by the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. In 2021, a court ruled that Apple must allow external payment methods for its mobile devices. So far, that has yet to happen, as Apple is appealing the decision.
According to the report, Apple and Google will also have to allow mobile devices to accept features such as sideloading, alternative app stores and web apps. Android devices can support sideloading to a certain extent, and it allows some third-party stores, such as the Samsung Galaxy Store, on the company’s smartphones. However, Apple’s strict hardware and software policies have not allowed iPhone or iPad owners to sideload apps or use different app stores. Finally, the report states that Apple and Google should not be allowed to give their mobile apps any priority in search results or “discriminate against other apps that are similar to their own.”
The agency acknowledges that to make these kinds of changes, “new legislation and additional antitrust enforcement measures are necessary to increase competition in the app ecosystem.” So far, neither Apple nor Google have reacted to this new report.
