Apple and Google, as mobile application store giants, have always charged software developers with the commission they deem "appropriate". For developers, the commission extraction ratio of Apple and Google is very unreasonable.
In response to the long-term conflict between the two parties, the US Senate proposed a new bill this week. If the bill is passed, Apple and Google’s control over App purchases in their app stores will be weakened. The distribution method will also be completely changed.
This bill is called the "Open App Market Act" (Open App Market Act), many of which protect the rights and interests of App developers. The bill requires companies that operate app stores to allow users to download third-party apps and even replace other app stores.
In the past, Apple and Google would prevent developers from telling users where to buy apps with lower prices than the official app store, and this bill would prevent this behavior. In addition, the bill will prohibit Apple and Google from using non-public information collected on their platforms to develop competing apps.
From the perspective of these two possible changes, if they are implemented, they will have no small changes. Needless to say, Apple’s closed ecosystem may be changed and the The development of open information competes with the App,It is more difficult to define, which means more restrictions may be imposed . For example, Apple will do music streaming, video, health apps, etc., and the platform will inevitably know the first-party data of many apps.
Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) led the drafting of the bill, and Blumenthal stated that this legislation will break the app economy Compulsory barriers to unfair competition in China. Klobuchar is the chairman of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, and the other two are members of the subcommittee.
Blackburn called Apple and Google’s operation of the app store "an insult to a free and fair market", and their actions have caused "serious competition hazards."
This bill uses information collected by the committee at the "App Store and Competition" hearing earlier this year. At the hearing, lawmakers listened to the opinions of Apple, Google, Spotify, Tile, and Match Group. The latter three companies stated that their businesses were negatively affected by app store policies.
Spotify Chief Legal Officer Horacio Gutierrez said that Spotify has urged Congress to pass the "Open App Market Act" as soon as possible. If Congress does not take action, it is conceivable that Apple and other companies will continue to tilt the rules in their own direction. , And cause further harm to consumers, developers and the digital economy.
Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) is an organization that maintains developers,The organization praised the bill's ability to stimulate innovation in the digital market. CAF executive director Meghan DiMuzio said that the "Open App Market Act" jointly launched by the two parties aims to make large technology companies responsible for their own containment of fair competition among developers in the United States and around the world.
In order to avoid future regulatory difficulties, Apple last year reduced the percentage of companies with less than $1 million in revenue in the App Store from 30% to 15%. Google took the same approach, reducing the percentage of the developer’s first $1 million in revenue earned through the Play Store to 15%. Some developers believe that these changes are just a publicity stunt .
For a long time, developers have had a negative sentiment about the two major app store platforms charging high commissions for app distribution. Until Epic Games bypassed Apple’s payment rules and allowed " Fortnite" players to pay directly to Epic Games, this operation triggered a huge legal battle in the mobile application market, which led to developers and platforms The war escalated.
Unlike Apple, Google allows users to download apps from third-party sources. However, the documents disclosed in the case of Epic suing Google show that the developers of the Play Store clearly know that the unofficial download process is very unfriendly to users, and that Google is forcing developers to use its official app store.
The opposite view is,The official app store makes the use of App safer and smoother. Both companies believe that simplifying the App download process through official channels can protect people from malicious software. At the same time, timely App updates can solve security issues that may endanger user privacy.
An Apple spokesperson said that Apple’s focus is to maintain the App Store and make users believe that each App complies with Apple’s strict guidelines and their privacy and security are protected.
In Google’s case, although Android has long been plagued by malware problems, it is clear that most malware does not enter user devices through unofficial downloads, but enters openly through the Play Store.
This article is compiled from: A new Senate bill would totally upend Apple and Google’s app store dominance
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