As part of President Joe Biden’s administration to regulate the power of tech giants in the United States, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is drafting a report on the competition in the mobile app ecosystem. And in their comments to NTIA, Meta and other developers have used the opportunity to once again accused Apple of anti-competitive behavior and called out its dominance of the mobile app market.
Since Apple launched the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) feature, Meta has been a very vocal critic of the tech giant’s control over the iOS ecosystem. In its 19-pages comments to NTIA, Meta wrote that Apple’s policies and barriers prevent it from introducing innovative products and services on iOS and its “pattern of business conduct locks consumers into iOS devices and deters them from switching to Android.” The Hill reports:
“Despite having some of the most popular apps in the world, Meta’s ability to innovate on its products and services and even reach its customers is determined, and in some cases, significantly limited, by the most popular mobile operating systems, such as Apple’s iOS.”
Apple rejects criticism by commenting that the iOS app economy supports millions of jobs
On the other hand, the tech giant wrote that the iOS app economy is a flourishing marketplace for developers and consumers in its own 15-page comments to NTIA. A company’s spokesperson said that apps by Meta like Facebook, Instagram, and others are among the most popular apps on the App Store.
Apple believes in vibrant and competitive markets and through the App Store, we’ve helped millions of developers around the world turn their brightest ideas into apps that change the world. The App Store is an unprecedented engine of growth that has turbo-charged competition and innovation for developers big and small.
Today, third-party apps, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, are among the most popular apps on the App Store. We have every interest in supporting a robust developer community, and we intend to stay on that path.
Recently, the tech giant published research results from two independent analysts on iOS App Store that revealed the iOS economy created more than 2.2 million jobs in the U.S. and has seen global success in entrepreneurship with a 113% increase in earnings in the past two years.
