UK regulators could force Apple and Google to remove steering restrictions by the end of the year

Tech giants Apple and Google are under pressure once more to remove app store payment restrictions. This time, the pressure is coming from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority.

The regulator has proposed removing measures put in place by Apple and Google that prevent UK app developers from steering customers away from the tech giants’ native platform payment systems.

The CMA said in a press release today that steering app store customers off‑platform for payment “is currently banned by Apple and restricted by Google in the UK,” and that “lifting these constraints would allow developers to bypass mandatory fees set by platforms”.

The CMA is consulting with the industry from today until until July 28 on if the store fees Apple and Google charge are “fair and reasonable”, and if it should force the platforms to allow app developers “to engage directly with their users outside Apple and Google’s app stores”.

Speaking at the Informa Connect CompLaw conference today, the CMA’s Will Hayter will say:

“We think it is important to give both app developers and users more choice about how they communicate and how they transact. This is not only because choice is inherently valuable but also because we see this as the best way to introduce some competitive pressure in a vital part of the mobile ecosystem that is otherwise sorely lacking such pressure.”

“While it is only fair for Apple and Google to be compensated for the services they provide, any fees they charge must be justified through a robust, evidence-led framework involving due reference to both cost and value.”

As we reported last week, Google has already taken steps to lift some of its own anti-steering measures, starting with US, UK and EU markets today, June 30.

Apple has been forced to open up its App Store to alternative payments by the US courts and by EU regulators, as well as in other markets including Japan, Brazil and South Korea. Similar measures could be introduced in the UK by the end of this year, shortly after the CMA’s consultation ends on July 28 2026.