Is called Open App Markets Act and it is a bill that the United States Senate is pursuing with the aim of making major changes to the current system of mobile application stores of Google and Apple and that could represent a real revolution for Android users and iOS.
In practice, such a bill already law, which can count on support bipartisanamong other things would require Apple to allow the sideload of apps on iPhones and would force both the Cupertino giant and Google to allow third-party billing on their app stores and to open their platforms to third-party app stores.
For Google and Apple, the party could end
The Open App Markets Act is still a bill and, therefore, subject to changes (even significant ones) but having passed the approval of the Senate Justice Commission represents the confirmation that it could really become law.
Many of the proposed changes are things that Android users already take for grantedsuch as the ability to manually install apps from any source they want, including third-party app stores (albeit in that case giving up the level of integration guaranteed by the Google Play Store).
The situation of Apple is different, which up to now has managed to prevent its users from using third-party stores.
Although Apple and Google are clearly strongly opposed to this bill, the initiative is instead supported by other major players in the sector, such as Spotify or Epic Games, which together with other companies have created the Coalition for App Fairness, a body which calls on lawmakers to dismantle the systems built by Google and Apple, with the aim of creating a fairer environment.
There is still a long way to go from the Open App Markets Act, but several insiders think it could really reach the finish line. We’ll see.