Legal Google embraces third party app stores and payments to put Epic Games case behind it Lower app store fees are on the way, plus an on-ramp for third party digital bazaars
Personal Tech Apple, Google agree to loosen grip on UK app stores Competition watchdog secures promises on approvals, rankings, and platform access
Legal Nudify app proliferation shows naked ambition of Apple and Google Researchers with the Tech Transparency Project found all sorts of apps that let users create fake non-consensual nudes of real people
AI + ML Apple, Google pulled into Grok controversy as campaigners demand app store takedown The chatbot's challenges no longer just Elon Musk’s problem, as campaigners call on tech giants to step in
Public Sector Through gritted teeth, Apple and Google allow alternative app stores in Japan PLUS: Debian supports Chinese chips ; Hong Kong’s Christmas Karaoke crackdown; Asahi admits it should have prevented hack; And more!
Applications Google kneecaps indie Android devs, forces them to register Sideloaders face ID checks, fees, and paperwork as Chocolate Factory tightens gates
Applications Google tweaks Play Store fees to keep Euro watchdogs at bay Epic boss brands the changes 'malicious compliance'
Personal Tech Apple tries get €500M EU fine tossed The iMaker's fight with European regulators continues
Legal Google faces billion-quid bruising over Play Store fees in the UK Competition Appeals Tribunal gives nod for claim to go to trial
Applications Apple reverses course to approve Epic Games Store on iOS in EU Arguments over buttons set to continue while European Commission looks on
Applications Google begs court for relief from Epic Games' Play Store demands $137M needed to overhaul Play Store too great to bear, Google argues. Oh, and user security is important, too
Personal Tech Tencent, Microsoft link app stores in China Intel joins in with plans for better PC-Android integration
OSes Google blocked 2.3M apps from Play Store last year for breaking the G law Third of a million developer accounts kiboshed, too
Applications Apple's had it with Epic's app store shenanigans, terminates dev account No end in sight for 'horror show' even with EU's DMA
Cyber-crime Fake LastPass lookalike made it into Apple App Store No walled garden can keep out every weed, we suppose
Applications Russia takes $13.5M bite out of Apple over in-app purchases Gotta fund that war somehow, eh, Vlad?
Legal Epic decision sees jury find Google's Play store is illegal monopoly Fortnite dev hails 'a win for all app developers and consumers around the world'
Applications Google settles another Play Store antitrust case Perhaps the Chocolate Factory didn't feel like staring down 36 state AGs with two other competition cases pending
Legal Japan unleashes regulation Kaiju on Apple's and Google's app store monopolies Digital Competition Conf wants rift in markets to allow new app-slingers to spawn
Cyber-crime This legit Android app turned into mic-snooping malware – and Google missed it File-stealing nasty in my Play store? Preposterous!!1
Offbeat Parent discovers the cost of ignoring Roblox: £2,500 and heart palpitations 10-year-old hacks family iPad and goes on in-game bling shopping spree
Personal Tech Apple finally pro giving Pro iPads these Pro apps Final Cut, Logic to land on fondleslabs – in subscription form
Legal South Korea fines Google $32M for using market power to stymie rival app store Forced developers to sign exclusivity agreements in return for promises of going global
Security Google suspends top Chinese shopping app Pinduoduo Alleges it’s infected with malware – but not the version in its own digital tat bazaar
Software Japan joins ranks of nations plotting smackdown for Apple, Google Regulator wants to bust the oligopoly in mobile OS and app markets
Software US government calls foul on Apple and Google over walled gardens for apps As for actually doing anything about it - that'll have to wait
Personal Tech Android users in 12 US states cleared to sue Google Play Millions of people who bought apps since 2016 eligible for payout
Personal Tech Google’s resistance to third party Play store payments eases further with US tests Tune in to hear how it works on Spotify, or hook up with choice on Bumble
Legal India fines Google another $114 million, demands Play open to third party payments Ad and search giant protests even though it's already made the same changes in other countries
Applications Apple finds way to squeeze social network apps until pips squeak And get over here, NFT slingers, Cupertino wants a word, too
Applications Apple to raise App Store prices in 28 countries No reason given, but inflation and app tracking changes may both factor
Software Google tests alternative payment methods in Play store Pilot scheme running in Europe, APAC, sees ad giant still take its cut
Legal South Korean regulator worried Apple, Google, may be working around app store payment choice law Feels some actions may amount to coercion to stick with giants' own payment schemes
Software Microsoft to offer app-store-like experience to distribute and update bespoke apps Behold the mutant offspring of the Microsoft Store, Endpoint Manager, and Package Manager
Personal Tech Court OKs billion-dollar Play Store gouging suit against Google Just as web giant accepts third-party payment platforms, reduces fees in the EU
Applications Google blocks paid apps from Play Store in Russia Cites 'payment system disruption' as credit card companies pull out of region
Applications Google snubs South Korea's app store payments law US giant's ban on in-app links to non-Play-Store payment options not in the spirit of SK law
