Three US senators unveil the bipartisan Open App Markets Act, which would force app stores to allow sideloading and let developers use their own IAP systems

Legislation would place new limits on how Apple and Google app stores can operate — WASHINGTON—Senators introduced legislation Wednesday … Source: United States Senator … .

Wall Street Journal 2021-08-12 John D. McKinnon

Context & Ripple Effects

The Senate proposal arrived amid a broader congressional push: a bipartisan House companion bill followed days later, putting Apple’s and Google’s app-store rules under coordinated scrutiny. The same policy fight was already international, as the companies urged the White House to oppose South Korea’s multiple-payment mandate.

The bill’s later path underscores why its introduction mattered more as a marker of bipartisan intent than as an immediate rule change: the Senate Judiciary Committee eventually approved it, but the 2021 version never received a floor vote before senators reintroduced it in 2025.

First-order effects

Apple and Google face a bipartisan legislative challenge to their control over app distribution and in-app payment rules, though the introduced bill does not itself change those rules.
Developers gain a concrete congressional vehicle for seeking access to sideloading and payment systems outside Apple’s and Google’s IAP rails.

Second-order effects

Apple and Google’s opposition to South Korea’s payment mandate indicates that payment choice becomes a central defensive battleground, alongside the bill’s sideloading requirement.
A House companion bill broadens the pressure from a Senate-only proposal into a cross-chamber campaign, raising the policy salience of developers’ complaints about the two stores.

Third-order effects

If this legislative approach advances, mobile-platform oversight shifts from examining individual app-store practices to setting baseline limits on gatekeepers’ control of distribution and payments.
The bill is an early test of whether bipartisan competition policy can translate scrutiny of Apple and Google into enforceable platform-access rules; its failure to reach a 2021 vote and 2025 reintroduction show that durability of the issue has exceeded legislative momentum.

The trend: Mobile app-store policy is moving toward rules that separate platform security and distribution functions from exclusive control of developer payments and app access.

Discussion

@rileytestut @rileytestut on x
“[Apple] shall allow and provide the readily accessible means for users [...] to install third-party Apps or App Stores through means other than its App Store” HELL yeah — just a matter of time until I can distribute Delta without ridiculous workarounds 🙏 https://twitter.com/... …
@newley Newley Purnell on x
“For years, Apple and Google have squashed competitors and kept consumers in the dark—pocketing hefty windfalls while acting as supposedly benevolent gatekeepers of this multibillion-dollar market.” https://www.wsj.com/...
@horaciog Horacio Gutierrez on x
Thank you @SenAmyKlobuchar, @SenBlumenthal, & @MarshaBlackburn for introducing the Open App Markets Act and for your courage and resolve in holding Apple and other gatekeeper platforms accountable for their unfair and anti-competitive practices.
@senblumenthal Richard Blumenthal on x
For years, Apple & Google have owned the rails of our app economy—exercising gatekeeper control of the multi-billion dollar market to privilege their own apps & take hefty commissions from third-party developers. It's time to break their ironclad grip. https://www.washingtonpost.…
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
U.S. senators just announced the Open App Markets Act, which is a proposed law to require Google & Apple to allow side loading of apps and using a different payment provider for IAPs. Apple's 30% cut has been dealt a death blow. Stripe's the big winner. https://www.wsj.com/...
@senblumenthal Richard Blumenthal on x
I'm introducing the Open App Markets Act w/ @MarshaBlackburn & @SenAmyKlobuchar to tear down coercive anticompetitive walls & open the app economy to new competitors. Our bill will give startup developers a fighting chance & consumers more control over their own mobile devices.
@davidclowery David C Lowery on x
Senators Blumenthal and Klobuchar just dropped a bill that seems to have been written by Facebook and Spotify to force Apple to accede to demands the companies have made in private or other legal action. This matters greatly to musicians. I'll explain. Please retweet thread. http…
@davidclowery David C Lowery on x
I mean it could be something else but it's written so broadly, if I was the Zuck I'd take this definition and use it as a baseball bat to get apple to give in on privacy. Next section forces Apple to allow non Apple app stores. Android already does that so bill of attainder? http…
@ericflo Eric Florenzano on x
This is incredible! On my first read, I thought it missed the crucial step of mandating sideloading, but in section 3-d-2 it clearly mandates sideloading and alternative app stores. Full support the Open App Markets Act! https://twitter.com/...
@websightguy Webpagedude on x
Am I going to be able to side load onto a Nintendo or PlayStation now? Essentially same model as an App Store for a phone. https://twitter.com/...
@davidclowery David C Lowery on x
So if you're unaware, Facebook has been losing its shit, because Apple is requiring users to affirmatively opt in in order to allow Facebook access to their iPhone data.
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Sens. Klobuchar, Blackburn, and Blumenthal unveil bill that would require Apple and Google to allow alternative in-app payments in their app stores. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@alexlindsay @alexlindsay on x
Senators propose “Open App Markets Act” that will force sideloading and lead to a complete mess for the users.... but great for the massive corporations pushing for it. This is instead of working on something that would benefit average people... like less internet monopolies.
@wsjpolitics @wsjpolitics on x
Senators introduced a bipartisan bill imposing new rules on app stores, the latest reflection of concerns in Washington over the dominant roles Apple and Google play in the mobile ecosystem https://www.wsj.com/...
@jeiting Jacob Eiting on x
Ok y'all. The politicians are making laws about apps and it's .... interesting. I just finished reading the Open App Markets Act and it hits a lot of stuff. Gonna try to summarize what it covers. https://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/ ...
@zoecello Zoe Keating on x
One irony here (there are many) is that Spotify is on a mission to monopolize the way you listen to music and to pay as little as possible for it. Their service is setup so the more people listen, the less I earn. If this bill is to protect consumers (my ass), who protects me?
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
Big Tech giants are forcing their own app stores on users at the expense of innovative start-ups. @SenBlumenthal https://www.cnbc.com/...
@rileytestut @rileytestut on x
When I launched @altstoreio in September 2019, I predicted Apple would be forced to allow sideloading within 2 years. 23 months later, looks like we're right on schedule — who's excited for iOS 16? 😜
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
Apple and Google want to prevent developers and consumers from using third-party app stores that would threaten their bottom line. @SenBlumenthal and I discuss the Open App Markets Act ⬇️ https://twitter.com/...
@jeiting Jacob Eiting on x
3 (f) - 1st party apps can't use APIs not available to 3rd party apps — This one really surprises me. Such a particular pet peeve. Tim Epic must have personally written this legislation.
@chrismlacy Chris Lacy on x
I'd like to see such proposed regulation expanded to mandate a truly level playing field for 3rd party apps regarding API usage. As examples, iOS should be forced to allow home screen/wallpaper apps, iPadOS 15's quick note functionality should be open to all notes apps, etc.
@jpavao João Pavão on x
I hope this or some similar form of it is passed into law. Apple and Google had years to make their app stores reasonable for developers and they didn't. Time's up! https://twitter.com/...
@davidclowery David C Lowery on x
Right here. Next paragraph should be called The “Facebook Business Model Protection Act”. Note business offerings ie Advertising. https://twitter.com/...
@chrismlacy Chris Lacy on x
If Apple had willingly lowered its App Store cut from 30% and abandoned the anti-steering policy, it's unlikely any regulators go after them. Instead there's now bipartisan legislation that may force iOS to allow side-loading/3rd party app stores. https://www.wsj.com/...
@davidclowery David C Lowery on x
That last paragraph I think is designed to harass Apple until they divest themselves of Apple Music. It's also ammo in Facebooks fight to force Apple to give up your data. What the fuck @SenBlumenthal @amyklobuchar ?
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
Ban them from scanning all the photos on our phones while you're at it Senators plz and thank you https://twitter.com/...
@thezedwards @thezedwards on x
Congress can't figure out a data privacy law or any standard Right to Repair frameworks but they're working on increasing the ways that people can be both tricked into installing malicious apps, & also new ways to steal credit cards via random payment providers. Classic.⛈️⚖ ️ htt…
@alexlindsay @alexlindsay on x
@mikenoe @SenBlumenthal @marshblackburn @SenAmyKlobuchar I think our representatives should think about what millions of angry iPhone users will do when they are forced, by big corporations, to sideload in order to squeeze extra money out of them. I promise to blame the three of …
@tolmasky Francisco Tolmasky on x
Meanwhile, in a boardroom at Apple: “Maybe if we give the FBI even more access to iPhones we can make this whole antitrust thing go away.” https://twitter.com/...
@zoecello Zoe Keating on x
Apple Music pays me twice as much to stream my music as Spotify does. Sounds like this bill is meant to force the lowering of the bar for the benefit of the companies that authored it, not for consumers https://twitter.com/...
@kentbye Kent Bye VoicesOfVR on x
This bill mandating alternative payment systems on app stores could be a really significant step in preventing a handful of companies from owning all digital commerce. See thread for reactions from @EpicGames & Apple. https://twitter.com/...
@senblumenthal Richard Blumenthal on x
Big tech giants are blocking innovation, raising costs for consumers, & reaping the benefits of stifling competition. Watch me and @MarshaBlackburn talk about our Open App Markets Act to promote fair & full competition in the app economy here: https://twitter.com/...
@unikum_sol Unikum on x
@Techmeme @johndmckinnon What's about Sony's PlayStation Store and Microsoft's XBOX Store? Oh and the Nintendo Switch Store. #SONY #PlayStation #xbox #nintendo #NintendoSwitch #PlayStation5 #ios #Apple
@bcmerchant Brian Merchant on x
this seems pretty unequivocally like a good idea! https://twitter.com/...
@pierce David Pierce on x
The new app store bill in the Senate basically sounds like Epic's wildest dreams come true. Sideloading and third-party app stores: in! In-app purchase requirements: out! Interoperability: required! https://www.protocol.com/...

Chronicles