A House Republican this week introduced a bill that would force Apple and Google to open their operating systems to third-party app stores.

The App Store Freedom Act seeks "to promote competition and protect consumers and developers in the mobile app marketplace by prohibiting certain anticompetitive practices by dominant app store operators," says Rep. Kat Cammack of Florida.

App store operators with over 100 million US users would be required to let users set their preferred third-party apps and app stores as default. Additionally, users should be allowed to hide or remove pre-loaded apps and "install apps or app stores outside of the dominant platform."

More importantly, the bill requires tech companies to provide app developers with "equal access to interfaces, features, and development tools without cost or discrimination" and prohibits them from forcing their own in-app payment systems on developers.

Cammack proposes handing the enforcement of the act to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and imposing a civil penalty of not more than $1 million for each violation.

If you're wondering where you have heard similar terms before, it's the European Union's Digital Markets Act (DMA). The EU is already enforcing the DMA, and the first third-party app store on iOS launched in April 2024, shortly after Apple was fined $1.9 billion for abusive app store practices. The DMA has also forced tech companies to let users set their preferred apps and app stores as a default and to let developers use alternate billing systems for in-app purchases.

In March, the commission also ordered Apple to open up some of its well-known features, like proximity-triggered pairing, close-range wireless file transfers (AirDrop), media casting (AirPlay), automatic audio switching, and more, to app developers by the end of 2026.

In the US, some elements of the App Store Freedom Act have already been addressed. For example, a judge ordered Google to allow third-party app stores in Google Play in October last year. More recently, another court ruling forced Apple to change its App Store policies and let developers provide users with alternate ways for off-app purchases to avoid Apple's commission, a move championed by Spotify.

"The App Store Freedom Act could be a game-changer for American consumers by giving them more choice and control over their devices than ever before," a Spotify representative says in Cammack's press release. "We applaud Representative Kat Cammack for introducing common-sense rules of the road to permanently open up the app economy, unlock new opportunities for businesses and creators, and encourage even stronger tech innovation in the United States."

By: DocMemory
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