With the news of this https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2022/03/user-choice-billing.html?m=1 and Google's plan to extend "billing choice" to others beyond Spotify, Apple is increasingly isolated when it comes to App Store policies. Already Microsoft is on board with app store regulations, as are many smaller tech companies. Meanwhile Meta reminds regulators and investors at every opportunity about the power Apple wields over them. The big holdouts were (obviously) Apple and Google. I have long believed that supporting app store changes are actually in Google's best interest. Firstly, giving in on this can give them leverage in the antitrust probes that really matter- Google Search. Secondly, forcing Apple to open up to things like Chromium solidifies Google's strategic position long-term. Essentially, Search and the Web are Google's bread and butter, and getting into a fight with regulators over apps on Android, which is already somewhat open and was always meant to protect Search rather than make money, is a distraction for them. Much better to follow in what Meta and Microsoft have done, and come to some sort of consensus with regulators- which, increasingly seems to be that regulation is needed, specifically that Apple needs to be regulated.
If Google continues to embrace more open app store policies, and maybe even comes out in favor of app store legislation, then Apple will be truly alone on this issue, opposed by literally the entire tech industry. That's not a good place to be, yet Apple doesn't seem to be willing to give in on anything.
If Google continues to embrace more open app store policies, and maybe even comes out in favor of app store legislation, then Apple will be truly alone on this issue, opposed by literally the entire tech industry. That's not a good place to be, yet Apple doesn't seem to be willing to give in on anything.
