A look at US lawmakers' efforts to rein in Google and Apple's app stores, after a bipartisan companion bill to Senate's Open App Markets Act debuts in the House
Brad Stone / Bloomberg :
Context & Ripple Effects
The House companion lands five days after three senators unveiled the bipartisan Open App Markets Act, which would force sideloading and let developers bypass Apple's and Google's in-app payment systems. It slots into an already crowded legislative docket: House lawmakers introduced five bipartisan antitrust bills targeting Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook back in June.
What makes the companion bill matter is sequencing — with both chambers now carrying app-store-specific language, the duopoly question moves from a Senate curiosity to a candidate for actual markup, giving Apple and Google a two-front lobbying problem instead of one.
First-order effects
- Apple and Google now face identical legislative proposals in both chambers targeting their core store economics — the mandatory IAP cut and the sideloading ban — rather than general antitrust scrutiny.
Second-order effects
- The bill gives the June House antitrust package an app-store-specific complement, letting sponsors argue Big Tech regulation has both breadth (the five bills) and depth (store-specific mandates).
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Washington formalizes a 'gatekeeper' category for mobile platforms — a framing the White House's own NTIA later endorsed when it described Apple and Google as gatekeepers of app stores — shifting app distribution policy from case-by-case enforcement to standing structural rules.
The trend: US lawmakers are converging on treating Apple's and Google's app stores as regulated gatekeeping infrastructure, moving app-store competition from litigation into standing legislation.