App Store Freedom Act

The App Store Freedom Act would require large app-store owners and the operating systems they control (the “covered companies”) to open their ecosystems to competition and developers. It mandates interoperability and access rules that would let users choose and install third-party apps or app stores, and to hide or remove pre-installed apps or stores. It also obligates covered companies to provide developers with timely, free access to essential interfaces, hardware features, and documentation needed to build and run apps on their platforms, on terms as favorable as those they offer to themselves or their partners. The bill prohibits certain exclusive practices—such as forcing use of the company’s in-app payment system or imposing more favorable terms for the company’s own platform—and bans actions against developers that sell or offer apps outside the official store, or that connect users to third-party apps via remote services rather than download. It also bars restricting legitimate business communications by developers to users, and prohibits the use of nonpublic business information to compete with a developer’s own app. Enforcement would be handled by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with potential civil penalties, plus state-level enforcement, and the act would set a framework for how states can cooperate or intervene. An FTC guidance document would be required within 180 days of enactment, and the act would take effect when that guidance is issued.