Apple and Google Agree to UK App Store Changes After CMA Action

Brett Tabkeon

Apple and Google have agreed to adjust their app stores in the UK following heavy pressure from the Competition and Markets Authority.

Under the commitment both companies agreed not to:

    a) favor their own apps over competitors,
    b) to be clearer about how third party apps are approved, and
    c) to avoid using developer data in ways that could disadvantage rivals.

The agreement follows the CMA’s earlier finding that Apple and Google hold an effective duopoly in the UK app market and its October 2025 decision to grant both app stores “strategic market status”.

CMA chief executive Sarah Cardell said the changes should strengthen the UK app economy and demonstrate the flexibility of the country’s digital markets regime. The regulator said it will closely watch how the commitments are applied and will step in with formal requirements if they are not followed.

For advertisers, publishers, and app marketers, the decision points to more scrutiny around ranking, approvals, and marketplace rules that directly affect distribution and paid acquisition. It also sets the UK apart from the European Union’s heavier handed Digital Markets Act, which both Apple and Google have criticized as harmful to innovation.