UK CMA Urges Apple and Google to Open Up Their Mobile Platforms

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is pressuring Apple and Google to abandon their anti-steering rules on their mobile app stores. To promote competition and innovation, the competition regulator is also considering requiring Apple to open up access to contactless functionality on iPhones to third-party developers.

The UK’s CMA is currently consulting on new conduct requirements for Apple and Google under the country’s digital markets competition regime. The new legislative tool allows the competition watchdog to impose changes on companies with “strategic market status,” and that now applies to both Apple and Google.

Regarding steering, the CMA pointed out today that the UK App Store currently prevents developers from informing users about cheaper options outside of their apps. Google also restricts steering on the UK Play Store, and the CMA believes that it’s hurting competition.

“We think it is important to give both app developers and users more choice about how they communicate and how they transact,” said Will Hayter, Executive Director for Digital Markets at the CMA. Regarding steering fees, Hayter said that “While it is only fair for Apple and Google to be compensated for the services they provide, any fees they charge must be justified through a robust, evidence-led framework involving due reference to both cost and value.”

In an email statement shared with Reuters, a Google spokesperson said that the company introduced new Play Store terms earlier this month to allow developers to redirect users to complete transactions outside of their apps. The CMA said that it will be reviewing these changes before making a decision about potential requirements later this year.

The UK regulator is also currently seeking views from developers regarding Apple’s current restrictions on contactless payments, which prevent developers from implementing their own payment solutions in their iOS apps. “Doing so would help unlock innovation and competition by supporting future payment methods – such as account-to-account, digital currency and stablecoin, as well as other non-financial uses, including digital ID and car keys,” the CMA said today.

As you expect, Apple would much prefer keeping users within its walled garden. “When users are directed away from Apple’s trusted payment infrastructure, they lose the protections they rely on Apple to provide,” an Apple spokesperson told Reuters, adding that the company could continue to “make our concerns clear” ⁠to the UK regulator.