US senators reintroduce bill to open Apple and Google’s app stores

Senators Marsha Blacburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have reintroduced a bill that would force app store owners like Apple and Google to allow third-party payment systems and sideloading apps, among a collection of other developer-friendly changes. The bill, called the Open App Markets App, was originally introduced in 2021, but it never came up for a vote after passing through the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2022.

The Open App Markets Act applies its changes to app stores with 50,000 monthly users or more, most obviously applicable to the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. Like the original bill, the reintroduced Open App Markets Act wants covered companies to allow things like sideloading, third-party app stores and alternative payments systems, while protecting developers ability to “tell consumers about lower prices and offer competitive pricing.” It would also prevent app store operators from privileging their own apps and services in app store search results.

While the aims of the new bill are largely the same as the original one, the legal environment is meaningfully different. Apple has been forced to allow third-party app stores and alternative payment systems in the European Union following the introduction of the Digital Markets Act in 2022. Thanks to its failure to make good on the small concession Epic won via its lawsuit, Apple has also been forced to allow developers to direct customers to pay for things outside of the App Store and its in-app payments system. The Open App Markets Act would make these kinds of changes the law in the US.

It seems possible the bill could pass, too. Regulatory pressure on tech companies has only increased since 2021. For example, Utah recently passed an age-verification law that would require app stores to only allow users 18 and up to make an account.