Regulation may be needed for Apple, Google app stores if changes not made: Australian regulator

Australia’s competition watchdog said regulation may be required to address the significant market power app stores owned by Alphabet’s Google and Apple have if they do not take steps to assuage concerns.

The global dominance of Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store has been criticised by some app makers for mandatory revenue sharing payments and strict inclusive rules by both companies.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), in a digital platforms services inquiry interim report, said app developers should be allowed to provide customers with alternative payment options and data collected by Google and Apple should be kept separate from their other operations.