A new bill would force Apple to allow third-party app stores
1 min read
Summary
Lawmaker Kat Cammack, who represents Florida, has put forward a bill called the App Store Freedom Act to help promote competition and protect consumers in the mobile app marketplace.
The legislation is aimed at “large app store operators”, defined in the bill as entities with more than 100m users in the US, and would require them to let users install third-party app stores and make them their default option.
It would also prevent operators from blocking developers from using third-party payment systems.
Violations would lead to penalties from the Federal Trade Commission, as well as civil penalties of up to $1m for each violation.
The proposal is similar to legislation recently introduced in the EU, which led Apple and Google to agree to allow third-party app stores and payment systems.