A new bill in the United States of America could force Apple and Google to let users download and install third-party app stores on their devices and make them as default.
The draft legislation called App Store Freedom Act was introduced by Kat Cammack, a member of the US House of Representatives. It aims to “promote competition and protect consumers and developers in the mobile app marketplace,” according to a report by The Verge.
Its provisions apply to “large app store operators” or app stores with more than 100 million users in the US. The bill proposed by the Republican lawmaker from Florida, US, comes on the heels of a major ruling in the Epic vs Apple antitrust case which has forced Apple to allow developers to direct users to third-party payment systems for in-app purchases.
“Dominant app stores have controlled customer data and forced consumers to use the marketplaces’ own merchant services, instead of the native, in-app offerings provided by the applications and developers themselves,” Cammack was quoted as saying.
“The results are higher prices and limited selections for consumers and anti-competitive practices for developers that have stifled innovation,” she said.
If the proposed legislation becomes law, Apple and Google would be required to offer developers “equal access to interfaces, features, and development tools without cost or discrimination.” Users would also have to be allowed to remove or hide pre-installed apps on Android and iOS devices.
If the companies do not comply, they could incur penalties imposed by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as well as civil penalties of up to $1 million for every violation, as per the bill.
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Similar legislation was introduced by the European Union in 2023. Under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple is mandatorily required to allow users to download third-party app stores and set their preferred apps as default.
After the DMA kicked into effect, Google made certain changes to comply with the regulations as well. For instance, users in the EU region are shown a browser choice screen when setting up their Android devices for the first time.
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