Mobile apps have become an essential tool for participation in much of daily life. Given both the growing importance of mobile apps and the need to promote innovation in this space, President Biden called for a study of the ecosystem along with recommendations for improving competition, reducing barriers to entry and maximizing the benefits for consumers as part of a 2021 Executive Order on competition.
NTIA undertook an extensive investigation of the competitive conditions in the mobile app ecosystem, including consultation with a diverse array of stakeholders – private industry, civil society and academia. As one element of this consultation, the agency reviewed more than 150 comments filed in response to a request for public feedback on the app ecosystem in April 2022.
NTIA identified two key policy issues hindering a more competitive app ecosystem:
Consumers largely can’t get apps outside of the app store model, controlled by Apple and Google. This means innovators have very limited avenues for reaching consumers.
Apple and Google create hurdles for developers to compete for consumers by imposing technical limits, such as restricting how apps can function or requiring developers to go through slow and opaque review processes.
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