The UK Competition and Markets Authority is officially investigating the monopoly of app stores.

The UK government announced today that it will be conducting a strategic market state survey on the mobile ecosystem, with particular focus on app store models of iPhone and Android.

The report plans to evaluate Apple's market power and potential excessive behaviors. This includes customer options for app distribution and conditions developers must agree to when registering their apps for the first time in the app store.

In summary, this seems similar to various compulsory measures under the European Union's digital market regulation.

The UK investigation will evaluate competition levels between Apple and Google's ecosystems, including barriers to entry for alternative services. It will also assess whether Apple and Google are illegally using their dominance in the mobile operating system market, which includes pre-installed apps on devices and choices of alternative browsers. Additionally, it will evaluate the terms of conditions for app developers required to publish their apps in the app store.

The investigation into Apple and Google's app store models is scheduled to run until October 22, 2025, so results are expected by the end of this year. Remedies could include penalties or interventions in business practices.

As a result of this in the European Union, Apple may require additional changes such as detailed app marketplace support, web app distribution, and browser selection screens. However, at the same time, it introduced alternative business conditions and pricing structures, which developers like Epic Games and Spotify still consider unfair. The European Union case is ongoing, and Apple may attempt a similar strategy in response to the competition and market policy agencies of the UK.