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☆ Google ordered to open Android app store in Epic Games trial
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A U.S. judge issued a permanent injunction on Monday that will force Google to offer alternatives to its Google Play store for downloading apps on Android phones. Google will also be restricted from paying fees or sharing revenue with companies in exchange for them choosing not to compete with Google's app store. The Fortnite maker accused Google of anti-competitive practices, including paying hardware companies and Android phone makers to not develop competing app stores. Epic Games prevailed over Google late last year, and Monday's filing details the changes Google has to make. Epic Games mostly lost in a very similar suit against Apple and its control of the App Store.

Persons: Judge James Donato, Apple's, Tim Sweeney, Sweeney Organizations: Epic, Google, Games, Epic Games, Apple Locations: Los Angeles, U.S, California

☆ Apple will allow iPhone app downloads from websites in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

IPhone users in the European Union will be able to download apps from websites, instead of through the App Store or a competing app store app, Apple said, in the the latest change forced by the European Commission's Digital Markets Act. Tuesday's announcement is the latest example of the Digital Markets Act forcing Apple to make long-resisted changes to its App Store business processes. Under the DMA, Apple has been forced to allow third-party app stores in Europe, has reinstated antitrust adversary Epic Games' developer account amid a legal dispute, and has backtracked on banning web app shortcuts on the main iPhone screen. Apple still plans to charge a fee of fifty Euro cents for app downloads outside of its App Store, including web app downloads. The company has said Europe represents about 7% of Apple's App Store revenue.

Persons: Tim Cook, Apple, Margrethe Vestager, Vestager Organizations: Apple Inc, Apple Worldwide Developers, European Union, Commission's, Apple, Digital, Epic Games, Commission, European Commission, Spotify, EU, CNBC Locations: San Jose , California, U.S, European, Europe, iPhones

The overhaul rolling out Thursday only in the Europe represents the biggest changes to the iPhone's App Store since Apple introduced the concept in 2008. Among other things, people in Europe can download iPhone apps from stores that aren't operated by Apple and are getting alternative ways to pay for in-app transactions. That came during testimony in a May 2021 trial resulting in a U.S. judge ruling that the App Store isn't a monopoly. In that decision, the judge required Apple to begin allowing links to outside payment options inside iPhone apps in the U.S. Apple still doesn't permit alternative iPhone app stores in the U.S. or more than 100 other countries outside the EU.

Persons: Apple, Tim Sweeney, Steve Jobs, Epic's Sweeney, ” Apple Organizations: Apple, Union, Digital Markets, Spotify, Epic, European Commission, U.S, Regulators, Google, Facebook, Apple Watch, Supreme, EU Locations: Europe, Apple’s, Sweden, U.S, It's

☆ Apple has a cheeky new plan to protect its App Store
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-24 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Courts and regulators around the world are trying to get Apple to open up its App Store. AdvertisementEuropean regulators say Apple needs to open up its App Store, and a new law that goes into effect in March is supposed to make that happen. The company will give itself the ability to review each app downloaded outside of its App Store. Apple also plans to collect fees from developers that offer downloads outside of the App Store, said people familiar with the company's plans. But it also makes an enormous amount of money from the App Store.

Persons: —, Apple, Sideloading Organizations: Apple, European Union, Service, Meta, Spotify, Street, Google

☆ Factbox: How the EU's Digital Markets Act challenges Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On Wednesday, the EU Commission designated 22 services of the major tech companies as "gatekeepers" of online services. That means they will be required to make their messaging apps inter-operate with rivals and let users decide which apps to pre-install on their devices. APP STORES:Apple and Google will be forced to provide space for third-party app stores on their respective iOS and Android devices. For example, they may offer users a “choice screen” with a range of options upon setting up their device. MESSAGING:Under the DMA’s new interoperability rules, gatekeepers’ messaging apps will no longer be siloed off from others.

Persons: ByteDance, Ben Wood, Apple’s, Martin Coulter, William Maclean Organizations: New, Union, Big Tech, Markets, EU Commission, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Meta, Insight, Reuters, EU, Facebook, Thomson

[1/2] The Epic Games logo, maker of the popular video game "Fortnite", is pictured on a screen in this picture illustration August 14, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Illustration/File PhotoNEW DELHI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. firm Epic Games is challenging Google in an Indian tribunal for not complying with some portions of an antitrust directive, alleging that the tech giant is not hosting the gaming company's app store on Google's Play Store app. Maker of the popular video game "Fortnite", Epic operates its own app store, Epic Games Store, that offers games and other apps for download. The company claims in the filing it is "exploring launching" the Games Store app on Google Play Store and has been "adversely affected" by Google not complying with the CCI order. Epic is known for campaigns against Apple (AAPL.O) and Google for charging high app store commissions.

NEW DELHI, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Google has been jolted after the Indian antitrust authority sought changes to how it markets its Android system, which powers 97% of smartphones in the world's second biggest mobile market. * Google should not impose any curbs in India on the practice of "sideloading", or downloading apps without using its app store. * Competitors and app developers should not be denied access to the programming interface of Google Play services, the underlying software system that powers Android devices. This directive is meant to ensure compatibility between apps on Play Store and third-party app stores based on Android variants, the antitrust authority has said. * The CCI asked Google not to restrict makers of Android smartphones from developing other devices, such as tablets or TVs based on modified versions of Android.

☆ App store avalanche forecast as Apple bows to EU demands
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Martin Coulter | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The bloc's Digital Markets Act (DMA) will force Apple and fellow tech giant Google to provide space for third-party app stores on their respective iOS and Android devices. Ben Wood, CMO of industry analysis firm CCS Insight, said he expects "an avalanche of app stores" in the near future. "There's an emerging 'coalition of the willing', and all of them have a vested interest in no longer having to pay what they see as a tax to Apple," Wood told Reuters. Deals for exclusive content could drive competition in app stores in the same way as it has in the "streaming wars" between Netflix and challengers like Disney+ and Amazon Prime, Trezentos said, adding: "Netflix has content that HBO doesn't have ... App stores can be like that." "The biggest hurdle they are going to need to overcome is the consumer," Wood at CCS Insight said.

☆ Why Europe's efforts to open up the iPhone won't hurt Apple too much
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Now, Apple is reportedly working to follow a law that could force major changes to the iPhone and disrupt Apple's lucrative app distribution model. Apple is developing software to comply with new European Union requirements scheduled to go into effect in 2024, according to Bloomberg News. Currently, the iPhone's App Store is the only way to download software onto iPhones. Apple makes a huge amount of profit from its App Store, which takes a cut of up to 30% from digital sales made through any app it distributes. Apple reported $394 billion in total sales, with $78 billion coming from services, in its 2022 fiscal year, which ended in September.

☆ Apple's walled garden is preparing to face the ultimate test
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Apple is prepping to comply with EU regulations by allowing sideloading iOS apps, Bloomberg reports. This will put Apple's walled garden to the ultimate test, and prove if it was right all along. Steve Jobs himself championed this strategy, and is said to have needed to be convinced to bring an App Store to the iPhone at all. Over the years, everyone from independent app developers to CEOs have decried this provision. Are you a developer with insights to share on how Apple's App Store policies impact your business?

☆ Google now allows Spotify and Bumble to bill U.S. users inside apps
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kif Leswing | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Google Play app store will allow Spotify and Bumble to bill U.S. users for subscriptions directly inside their Android apps, Google announced on Thursday. Typically, Google Play and Apple's App Store for iPhones take between 15% and 30% of digital sales inside apps through their billing platforms. Allowing companies to bill users' credit cards directly in an app allows services like Spotify to reduce those fees. Google said in a support document that apps that bill users directly will still have to pay Google a percentage of their app sales. It's also a sign that Spotify and Google have an alliance on app store issues even as Spotify continues to fight with Apple over its rules.

The rulings come as Google faces increased antitrust scrutiny across the world. Google plans to appeal the decision, where it faces a record $4.1 billion fine. The Competition Commission of India's (CCI) Android ruling, despite involving a smaller $162 million fine, has worried Google since it seeks wider ranging remedial measures, three sources aware of company's thinking said. Google has faced criticism globally that it licenses its Android operating system to smartphones players but signs restrictive agreements that are anti-competitive. The order "will give rise to more choice and innovation for Indian developers," Indus said this week.

☆ Trump SPAC stock jumps after Google adds Truth Social to Play Store
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Jack Stebbins | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Truth social network logo is seen displayed behind a woman holding a smartphone in this picture illustration taken February 21, 2022. Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp ., the company aiming to take former President Donald Trump's media company public, jumped during after-hours trading after Google added the Truth Social app to its Play Store. Google reinstated Parler, a platform similar to Truth Social, to the Play Store in September after the app was substantially modified to comply with Google's policies. DWAC's private investors were set to provide $1 billion to Trump Media upon the merger's completion. Meanwhile, a whistleblower from within Trump Media, William Wilkerson, has provided the SEC with internal documents.

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