App Store

Apple is continuing to pushback against looming antitrust legislation in the United States that could bring major changes to the App Store. A letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee by Apple and obtained by 9to5Mac specifically counters claims that Apple’s anti-sideloading stance is “unfounded, disingenuous, and dishonest.”

Apple is expanding its advertising business and adding two new ad slots to the App Store. Currently, the App Store has two ad slots: one on the main ‘Search’ tab and one in the Search results. The two new App Store ads announced today will bring advertisements to the App Store ‘Today’ homepage, as well as to individual app pages.

Apple is coming under scrutiny for how its App Store review process handles submissions of cryptocurrency trading and wallet apps. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook today, the chair of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs questioned what “measures your company is taking to prevent fraudulent activity in your app store.”

We’re not seeing much progress with US antitrust legislation just at present, but if the two bills do make it through the Senate, that raises the prospect of Apple default apps being banned. Which is to say, Apple could not pre-install its own stock apps on iPhones, instead having to offer customers a choice of core apps.

Apple might respond with a choice of key apps during initial iPhone setup, likely with its own apps top of the lists …

Democrats last week urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to schedule votes on two pieces of tech antitrust legislation, but he last night told donors that he won’t do it yet.

At the heart of the impasse is a disagreement about whether enough senators would vote in favor of the two bills – one of which would have a big impact on Apple …

In August, Apple is holding live presentations to help developers make the most out of their App Store experience. Throughout the presentation, there will be an expert ready to answer questions from developers who are part of the Apple Developer Program.

Two proposed US antitrust laws should be put to a vote sometime in the next few weeks, say Democratic members of Congress.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, they express concerns that time is running out to approve the laws before the end of the year …

Russia says it will fine Apple for violating the country’s antitrust laws and abusing its “dominant position in the app store market” as “Apple prohibits iOS app developers from telling clients inside the app about the possibility of paying for purchases outside the App Store or using alternative payment methods.”

Europe’s Digital Markets Act has been approved by the EU parliament, opening the door to Apple being required to allow competing iOS app stores.

The antitrust legislation will also oblige Apple to allow developers to use third-party payment platforms when apps are sold through Apple’s own App Store, and could require it to make iMessage talk to competing messenger apps …

Earlier this week, an FCC commissioner in the United States called on both Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their respective apps stores. Now, TikTok parent company ByteDance has responded to the situation and confirmed that some China-based employees can access data of TikTok users in the United States.

The Coalition for App Fairness (CAF) claims that the majority of Americans want to see App Store competition, alongside other antitrust legislation.

CAF commissioned two polls which show strong support for antitrust bills, one of which would mean opening up Apple and Google app stores to third-party competitors and/or sideloading …

Earlier this year, Apple announced that it would comply with a new law in South Korea that required the company to allow third-party payment providers in App Store apps. Starting today, developers can finally apply to use other payment methods besides Apple’s in their apps distributed in South Korea’s App Store.

Apple has launched a new way to support European developers in its App Store. Called Founders, it’s a new campaign aiming to spotlight smaller developers and their apps through editorials.

Developers working on VR apps for Meta’s headsets have accused the Facebook owner of hypocrisy over commissions.

They say company founder Mark Zuckerberg described Apple’s 15-30% commissions as “monopoly rents,” yet Meta will take the exact same cuts from them for virtual reality apps …

An FCC commissioner has called on both Apple and Google to delete TikTok from their respective app stores, giving the companies until July 8 to respond. It is not clear what measures the Federal Communications Commission might take if the companies do not comply.

The lengthy four-page letter says that TikTok is not a video-sharing app, but a “sophisticated surveillance tool” for the Chinese government …

Apple has made an important update on the Apple Developer Program. Starting today, the company lets apps that use iCloud to be transferred to another developer. Here’s how it works.

Today, the Dutch watchdog said Apple will allow alternative payment methods in the App Store for dating apps in the Netherlands. The statement from the Authority for Consumers and Markets comes after Apple announced on Friday that it was again updating App Store guidelines to comply with the Dutch government’s requirements.

Apple on Friday once again updated App Store guidelines following complaints from the Dutch government, which claimed last month that the company’s actions to allow dating apps to use alternative payment methods on the App Store were “insufficient.” However, despite the changes, the company criticized the decision by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM).

Apple’s ban on cloud gaming services in the App Store, and its insistence that all iOS browser apps must use its own WebKit browser engine, have both been declared to be anticompetitive by the UK competition watchdog.

The announcement follows a year-long investigation …

An Apple developer lawsuit filed back in 2019 has been settled after the Cupertino company agreed to pay $100M in compensation, and the court approved the deal – but the judge in the case has asked the lawyers to justify their $27M cut.

The antitrust case was brought by a number of small iOS developers, on the same basis as the separate case brought by Epic Games: that Apple has a monopoly on the sale of iOS apps, leaving them forced to give the iPhone maker a 30% cut …

If you’re a developer who’s ever dreamed of hitting the top of the App Store rankings, the good news is that a new analysis shows roughly how many daily downloads it takes.

The bad news is that the number is always increasing and Apple applies additional criteria, which means that downloads alone won’t do it. There are six other things to worry about …