Apple claims that people on iOS have options beyond its App Store because they can use the web. Here’s why that doesn’t exactly hold up.
The locked-down nature of Apple‘s ecosystem with iOS isn’t news to anyone in 2021, but in a recent response to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), Apple tried arguing that its operation of the App Store doesn’t limit app competition on iOS. As it currently stands, developers that want to publish an application for easy access on iPhones and iPads have to go through the Apple-run App Store. While this does allow for exposure to anyone with those devices, it also means developers need to abide by Apple’s distribution rules and cough up part of their earnings to the company (up to 30%).
While Google has its own rules and costs for developers using the Google Play Store on Android, there are other avenues through which developers can distribute their applications. Android apps can also be offered through the Samsung Galaxy Store, Amazon App Store, third-party stores from smaller brands, and as standalone APK files that users can download directly.
The ACCC initially accused Apple of operating the App Store as being “the most dominant app marketplace” and not offering iOS users proper alternatives for discovering and downloading applications. Apple was swift to deny these claims, telling the ACCC that it considers other app stores (like Google Play and the Amazon App Store) as proper competition — even though those platforms don’t exist on iOS. Furthermore, Apple notes that “Even if a user only owns iOS-based devices, distribution is far from limited to the Apple App Store because developers have multiple alternative channels to reach that user.” While that’s what Apple says, that doesn’t mean the company is actually right.
iOS Users Are Limited To The App Store, Regardless Of What Apple Says
Apple’s argument is that iOS users aren’t bound to the App Store because they can seek out apps via the web. However, going to a mobile website isn’t the same 1:1 experience as using a proper application. For example, the only way Apple would allow Google Stadia and Amazon Luna to exist on iOS is by making users go to their respective websites via Safari. Shortcuts for those sites can be added to iOS home screens to make them look like apps, but in the end, they’re just a shortcut to a website. That means they don’t show up in the App Library, widgets can’t be made for them, and they don’t benefit from being more deeply integrated with the whole iOS experience.
Not only that, but iOS doesn’t allow users to go out and install application files from outside of the App Store the way Android does. If an app isn’t available on the Google Play Store for whatever reason, developers can just share the app file and let people download it anyways. On iOS, nothing like this is possible.
In short, iOS app competition is limited by the Apple App Store. It’s the only application storefront that iPhones can use without being jailbroken, developers can’t publish iOS apps through any other medium, and there’s no way for developers to go around the App Store by offering their application directly. That’s not to say the user experience of using the App Store is bad, but if Apple wants to claim that the App Store isn’t limiting competition, it needs to actually make that the case.
Source: ZDNet
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