The US Senate Judiciary Committee approves the Open App Markets Act, which would allow app sideloading and let developers use their own in-app payment systems
in the face of millions in Big Tech lobbying and assaults from all the think tanks they pay — would have been unimaginable three years ago. Probably even two years ago. You love to see it. Alex Harman / @citizenalex3 : This is huge! The White House statement of support and active encouragement of the Big Tech bills in Congress is really strong and signals that momentum is building around moving the bills forward. https://twitter.com/... Sen. Marsha Blackburn / @marshablackburn : The Open App Markets Act will take power away from Big Tech and give it to the free market. https://twitter.com/... Lauren Feiner / @lauren_feiner : The Senate Judiciary Committee just passed its second tech competition bill of the year, signaling the large appetite for legislation aimed at Big Tech. The Open App Markets Act gained even broader support than the earlier bill https://www.cnbc.com/... @carnage4life : Apple is going to fight this tooth and nail instead of adjusting it's services business model from being that of a rent seeker which is a shame. They've created enemies among developers and regulators with their shenanigans. https://www.theverge.com/... Mark Gurman / @markgurman : The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved legislation that, if passed into law, would force Apple to let users install apps from outside of the App Store https://www.bloomberg.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Sideloading is only going one way; Apple needs to rip the band-aid off and provide a great user experience, and if it wants devs to stay in the App Store then it needs to win them over on merit, not policy. Not fight vehemently & dishonestly against it, souring dev relationships @rileytestut : Additionally, sideloaded apps should be locked down even more than App Store apps — at least by default Without human review, some iOS features can be easily abused and possibly shouldn't be allowed at all, such as: • Running in background • Accessing user location David Barnard / @drbarnard : 🤦🏼♂ ️ https://twitter.com/... Rene Ritchie / @reneritchie : 3/3 Devs aren't a uni-mind or monoculture on this either. Opinions vary. So no self-righteousness or performative clout theater, because either way this goes, some real people will lose real options they really value. And that deserves sincerely, consideration, and respect. @rileytestut : Specifically, I don't support sideloading directly from Safari or 3rd party App Stores — that makes it far too easy to accidentally install malware Instead, sideloading should be as cumbersome as possible, e.g. requiring users to physically connect their phone to a Mac or PC Sen. Marsha Blackburn / @marshablackburn : Apple has prevented the creation of third-party app stores on iPhones, required that apps exclusively use their own expensive payment system, and penalized app developers for telling users about discounted offers. That is wrong, and why we must pass the Open App Markets Act. @keleftheriou : Looking forward to curating my own alternative app store with no scams. Todd Heberlein / @toddheberlein : @reneritchie On multiple occasions someone convinced my mother to install malicious code on her Mac and used it to steal money from her bank account. Swindlers can be very persuasive, especially for elderly people. My sister & I took away her Mac and let her only use an iPad & iPhone. Rene Ritchie / @reneritchie : 2/3 Some would argue phones are so critically important they *have* to be open. Others, that they're so critical they *want* them managed. Choice cuts both ways. Leaving iOS managed denies open compute on Apple phones. Forcing it open denies managed console... anywhere Rep. Ken Buck / @repkenbuck : Working together, we can protect democracy from Big Tech. https://twitter.com/... Michael Love / @elkmovie : @drbarnard It's easy enough to bring in gray-market phones from outside of China. Also APK sideloading is extremely popular on Android in China and the CCP doesn't seem to have a problem with it. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : [Quote from Apple's promotional materials “Download apps safely from the Mac App Store. And the internet"] @rileytestut : Finally, it should be extremely clear whether an app you're using is sideloaded or from the App Store Using sideloaded apps requires more caution in general, so something like a persistent badge/icon in the status bar could help remind users to be extra careful @keleftheriou : Also important: Macs offer the option to run apps without any sandboxing whatsoever - meaning an app can run totally unrestricted and read, modify, or delete any file of any other app, including most system files. We're not asking for that on iOS! twitter.com : [Quote from Apple's promotional materials “Download apps safely from the Mac App Store. And the internet” with Mac stricken out] Sen. Marsha Blackburn / @marshablackburn : Nearly 90 percent of developers believe there should be legislation like my Open App Markets Act that would ban anti-competitive behavior from app giants like Apple and Google in the app marketplace. https://appfairness.org/... @appfairness : .@Apple's letter to Senate Judiciary Members is nothing but seven pages of scare tactics intended to avoid fair competition. Members of the committee won't be fooled. Here's a reality check on Apple's false security claims: https://appfairness.org/... #OpenAppMarketsAct Adam Kovacevich / @adamkovac : You gotta hand it to Spotify/Match/Epic/Tile - they've spent millions of dollars on a lobbying campaign to improve their bottom line by hundreds of millions of $s. But the iPhone user who *likes* that their phone is a walled garden is getting hosed. https://medium.com/... @leah_nylen : “The simple stark fact is Google and Apple own the rails,” Blumenthal says, comparing them to the railroad monopolists of old. “It's a market that is worth $100 billion per year and the gatekeepers dominance allows them to dictate the terms of the market.” Michael Love / @elkmovie : @drbarnard Why don't you think it'll do that? Richard Blumenthal / @senblumenthal : Despite self-interested opposition, our bipartisan success reflects the American public's view that the online app market is exploited by monopolistic gatekeepers—& needs reform. @rileytestut : This bill is a _huge_ step towards allowing sideloading on iOS, but I'm very concerned it doesn't adequately protect consumers from the added risks Sideloaded apps aren't reviewed by a real person, and thus should _not_ be treated the same as App Store apps https://twitter.com/... Jason Kint / @jason_kint : Distinction here of course being Apple is rightly drawn in by legislation to unlock more competition in areas with significant gatekeepers (App Store). But not being taken to courts by federal enforcers for bad behavior using its market power (as of now) like Google and Facebook. https://twitter.com/... @keleftheriou : Don't fall for the misconceptions perpetuated by Apple. Non-App Store apps will still be: ✅ sandboxed, so they can't access other app or system data. ✅ scanned for malware by Apple. Just like App Store apps! Will Oremus / @willoremus : wild how fast this happened. two years ago if you talked about apple's antitrust problem you'd get confused looks from folks who were like “but how can apple be a monopoly? it competes with samsung” https://twitter.com/... @biephiephus : Also known as the Fuck Over iPhone Security Act. Not surprising that this Trumpatoaf is a shill for Russian hackers. https://twitter.com/... Brad Smith / @bradsmi : App stores are the gateway for the most popular digital platforms. Congratulations to @SenBlumenthal @MarshaBlackburn for advancing important legislation, the Open App Markets Act, which would promote competition, and ensure fairness and innovation in the app economy. Jake Williams / @malwarejake : Walled gardens only stop (some) scammers. You can't convince me walled garden app stores are necessary for everyday security/privacy concerns. Apple could have compromised years ago by unlocking secondary app stores, but requiring users to explicitly enable them. https://twitter.com/... Sen. Marsha Blackburn / @marshablackburn : Apple and Google are protecting Communist China by banning people from downloading apps opposed by Beijing that would allow activists to circumvent China's strict censorship and internet firewall. Pass the Open App Markets Act. Congresswoman Lori Trahan / @reploritrahan : Couldn't be happier to see the @WhiteHouse throw its support behind the bipartisan antitrust legislation led by @davidcicilline & @RepKenBuck! These bills will restore power to consumers and increase competition across the digital marketplace. I'm proud to support those efforts. https://twitter.com/... Sen. Marsha Blackburn / @marshablackburn : In China, it will help citizens circumvent Beijing's strict internet censorship. I thank @SenBlumenthal for his leadership and work on this effort. David Barnard / @drbarnard : @elkmovie Because China can independently ban side-loading if they so choose. Or just force Apple to shut down apps they don't like via Gatekeeper. Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Apple has a new platform & ecosystem coming up that's going to really need developer support. The way things have been going the past couple years, that's far from a guarantee. Setting the wrong scene upfront can hamper a platform forever (see tvOS & watchOS) @leah_nylen : Blumenthal says Apple makes 150x what it takes to run its App Store. “Billions are taken from consumers because the gatekeepers can get away with it,” he says. Roger McNamee / @moonalice : FB's stock finally crashed, drive by three things: competition (TikTok), loss of access to data (Apple ATT), and huge spending on virtual reality. Hard to see any of these issues going away soon. I went on @CNBC @SquawkStreet to talk about it. https://www.cnbc.com/... Michael Love / @elkmovie : @drbarnard My Android app was pulled from Huawei's App Store in China and yet I have tons of users happily installing the APK, the CCP is realistic about the limits of its control over apps and is mostly focused on mass distribution.
MacRumorsJoe Rossignol
Context & Ripple Effects
The bill began as a bipartisan Senate proposal targeting app-store distribution and payment rules, following a Senate subcommittee hearing that assembled Apple, Google, Spotify, Tile, and other interested parties around app-store competition. Committee approval turns that earlier scrutiny into a formal legislative step, with White House support adding political weight.
The advance also sits alongside the committee's approval of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, placing app-store rules within a broader congressional effort to constrain platform conduct. Later coverage shows the measure's limitation: the 2021 version never received a full vote and was reintroduced in 2025.
First-order effects
Apple and Google face a more concrete US legislative challenge to their control over app distribution and in-app payment rules, although committee approval itself does not require either company to change its stores.
Developers gain a bill explicitly aimed at sideloading and alternative in-app payments, while the White House's support strengthens its political standing in Congress.
Second-order effects
The committee's parallel movement on the American Innovation and Choice Online Act makes app-store governance part of a wider platform-regulation agenda, increasing pressure on Apple and Google to defend their operating rules across multiple bills.
Developers and app-store critics gain a clearer policy vehicle for contesting platform payment and distribution restrictions, rather than relying solely on competition hearings.
Third-order effects
The later failure to reach a full vote, followed by reintroduction, points to app-store reform becoming a recurring legislative issue rather than a one-time committee fight.
If such proposals eventually advance, mobile-platform competition would be governed more directly through access and payment rules, reducing the discretion of store operators over those layers.
The trend: US app-store policy is moving toward repeated efforts to make mobile distribution and payment access more contestable through legislation.
The passage of the Open App Markets Act out of the Senate Judiciary committee brings us one step closer to having this legislation signed into law. This bill will let people download apps directly from outside companies rather than being forced to go through official app stores.
Breaking Apple & Google's ironclad grip on the multi-billion dollar app market will stop their predatory fees on consumers & barriers to start ups & rivals. The Open App Markets Act will lower charges & spur innovation while preserving privacy & security. https://twitter.com/...
The Open App Markets bill passing the Senate Judiciary Committee 21 to 1 — in the face of millions in Big Tech lobbying and assaults from all the think tanks they pay — would have been unimaginable three years ago. Probably even two years ago. You love to see it.
The White House has declared support for “bipartisan progress being made in Congress” Looks like the walls are closing in on Big Tech lobbyists. https://subscriber.politicopro.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
The Senate Judiciary Committee just passed its second tech competition bill of the year, signaling the large appetite for legislation aimed at Big Tech. The Open App Markets Act gained even broader support than the earlier bill https://www.cnbc.com/...
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved legislation that, if passed into law, would force Apple to let users install apps from outside of the App Store https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Sideloading is only going one way; Apple needs to rip the band-aid off and provide a great user experience, and if it wants devs to stay in the App Store then it needs to win them over on merit, not policy. Not fight vehemently & dishonestly against it, souring dev relationships
Additionally, sideloaded apps should be locked down even more than App Store apps — at least by default Without human review, some iOS features can be easily abused and possibly shouldn't be allowed at all, such as: • Running in background • Accessing user location
3/3 Devs aren't a uni-mind or monoculture on this either. Opinions vary. So no self-righteousness or performative clout theater, because either way this goes, some real people will lose real options they really value. And that deserves sincerely, consideration, and respect.
Specifically, I don't support sideloading directly from Safari or 3rd party App Stores — that makes it far too easy to accidentally install malware Instead, sideloading should be as cumbersome as possible, e.g. requiring users to physically connect their phone to a Mac or PC
Apple has prevented the creation of third-party app stores on iPhones, required that apps exclusively use their own expensive payment system, and penalized app developers for telling users about discounted offers. That is wrong, and why we must pass the Open App Markets Act.
@reneritchie On multiple occasions someone convinced my mother to install malicious code on her Mac and used it to steal money from her bank account. Swindlers can be very persuasive, especially for elderly people. My sister & I took away her Mac and let her only use an iPad & iP…
2/3 Some would argue phones are so critically important they *have* to be open. Others, that they're so critical they *want* them managed. Choice cuts both ways. Leaving iOS managed denies open compute on Apple phones. Forcing it open denies managed console... anywhere
@drbarnard It's easy enough to bring in gray-market phones from outside of China. Also APK sideloading is extremely popular on Android in China and the CCP doesn't seem to have a problem with it.
Finally, it should be extremely clear whether an app you're using is sideloaded or from the App Store Using sideloaded apps requires more caution in general, so something like a persistent badge/icon in the status bar could help remind users to be extra careful
Also important: Macs offer the option to run apps without any sandboxing whatsoever - meaning an app can run totally unrestricted and read, modify, or delete any file of any other app, including most system files. We're not asking for that on iOS!
Nearly 90 percent of developers believe there should be legislation like my Open App Markets Act that would ban anti-competitive behavior from app giants like Apple and Google in the app marketplace. https://appfairness.org/...
.@Apple's letter to Senate Judiciary Members is nothing but seven pages of scare tactics intended to avoid fair competition. Members of the committee won't be fooled. Here's a reality check on Apple's false security claims: https://appfairness.org/... #OpenAppMarketsAct
You gotta hand it to Spotify/Match/Epic/Tile - they've spent millions of dollars on a lobbying campaign to improve their bottom line by hundreds of millions of $s. But the iPhone user who *likes* that their phone is a walled garden is getting hosed. https://medium.com/...
“The simple stark fact is Google and Apple own the rails,” Blumenthal says, comparing them to the railroad monopolists of old. “It's a market that is worth $100 billion per year and the gatekeepers dominance allows them to dictate the terms of the market.”
Despite self-interested opposition, our bipartisan success reflects the American public's view that the online app market is exploited by monopolistic gatekeepers—& needs reform.
This bill is a _huge_ step towards allowing sideloading on iOS, but I'm very concerned it doesn't adequately protect consumers from the added risks Sideloaded apps aren't reviewed by a real person, and thus should _not_ be treated the same as App Store apps https://twitter.com/..…
Distinction here of course being Apple is rightly drawn in by legislation to unlock more competition in areas with significant gatekeepers (App Store). But not being taken to courts by federal enforcers for bad behavior using its market power (as of now) like Google and Facebook.…
Don't fall for the misconceptions perpetuated by Apple. Non-App Store apps will still be: ✅ sandboxed, so they can't access other app or system data. ✅ scanned for malware by Apple. Just like App Store apps!
wild how fast this happened. two years ago if you talked about apple's antitrust problem you'd get confused looks from folks who were like “but how can apple be a monopoly? it competes with samsung” https://twitter.com/...
App stores are the gateway for the most popular digital platforms. Congratulations to @SenBlumenthal @MarshaBlackburn for advancing important legislation, the Open App Markets Act, which would promote competition, and ensure fairness and innovation in the app economy.
Walled gardens only stop (some) scammers. You can't convince me walled garden app stores are necessary for everyday security/privacy concerns. Apple could have compromised years ago by unlocking secondary app stores, but requiring users to explicitly enable them. https://twitter.…
Apple and Google are protecting Communist China by banning people from downloading apps opposed by Beijing that would allow activists to circumvent China's strict censorship and internet firewall. Pass the Open App Markets Act.
Couldn't be happier to see the @WhiteHouse throw its support behind the bipartisan antitrust legislation led by @davidcicilline & @RepKenBuck! These bills will restore power to consumers and increase competition across the digital marketplace. I'm proud to support those efforts. …
This is huge! The White House statement of support and active encouragement of the Big Tech bills in Congress is really strong and signals that momentum is building around moving the bills forward. https://twitter.com/...
Apple has a new platform & ecosystem coming up that's going to really need developer support. The way things have been going the past couple years, that's far from a guarantee. Setting the wrong scene upfront can hamper a platform forever (see tvOS & watchOS)
Blumenthal says Apple makes 150x what it takes to run its App Store. “Billions are taken from consumers because the gatekeepers can get away with it,” he says.
FB's stock finally crashed, drive by three things: competition (TikTok), loss of access to data (Apple ATT), and huge spending on virtual reality. Hard to see any of these issues going away soon. I went on @CNBC @SquawkStreet to talk about it. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@drbarnard My Android app was pulled from Huawei's App Store in China and yet I have tons of users happily installing the APK, the CCP is realistic about the limits of its control over apps and is mostly focused on mass distribution.
There will be a lot of economic value and innovation unleashed when iPhone apps can create new forms of commerce without Apple a 30% tax off the top. The creator economy has been stillborn because you can't make the math work with Apple's 30% cut. https://www.macrumors.com/...
Apple is going to fight this tooth and nail instead of adjusting it's services business model from being that of a rent seeker which is a shame. They've created enemies among developers and regulators with their shenanigans. https://www.theverge.com/...