Australia Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Apple's App Store
Australia is now investigating app store policies as part of yet another antitrust inquiry into Apple and Google (via Gizmodo).

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced that it will investigate the competition between the Google Play store and Apple's App Store, access to platforms and consumers, fee structures, data collection, and price transparency. The work is part of an ACCC inquiry spanning five years, which intends to produce reports every six months examining markets for the supply of digital platform services in Australia.
"We want to know more about the market for mobile apps in Australia, including how transparent and effective the market is, for consumers as well as those operating in the market. We will also focus on the extent of competition between the major online app stores, and how they compete for app sales with other app providers," said ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard. "For app developers and suppliers, gaining a spot in one of the major app stores can result in significant sales, while failing to gain access can be a major setback. We are keen to provide greater transparency on how this process works. We are also interested in how data is used and shared in the app ecosystem, including the data available to Google and Apple as a result of their control of the major app stores."
The investigation will examine the experiences that Australians have with Apple and Google's app stores, including consumers, suppliers, and developers. Part of this will involve a public survey and the full report is set to be delivered in March 2021.
In recent months, similar inquiries have taken place in the United States, the European Union, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Korea, as big tech companies come under increasing scrutiny for allegedly monopolistic and anti-competitive practices.
Popular Stories
The end of an 18-year era is on the horizon for the iPhone.
Apple reportedly plans to announce a new iPhone SE as soon as next week, and the device is expected to feature a full-screen design with Face ID, instead of a Touch ID home button. That means Apple will no longer sell any new iPhone models with a home button, for the first time since the original iPhone launched.
The home button...
Oppo has confirmed a February 20 global launch for its Find N5, which the company claims is the world's thinnest device in the foldable phone category. The phone is expected to be re-branded as the OnePlus Open 2 in the US.
The Chinese vendor has been teasing the device in the last few weeks, touting its waterproofing and nearly invisible display crease, and highlighting its thinness by compa...
There continue to be signs of a new MacBook Air with an M4 chip, indicating that we could see the machine launch in the not too distant future. A private account on X today shared the identifiers that the MacBook Air will use, and those identifiers correspond to the M4 chip.
According to the source, both the 13-inch MacBook Air and the 15-inch MacBook Air will be equipped with Apple's...
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real.
The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
Apple today released watchOS 11.3.1, a minor update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.3.1 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2.
watchOS 11.3.1 can be downloaded by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software, the Apple Watch needs to...
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.3.1, a minor update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that came out last September. macOS 15.3.1 comes a few weeks after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3.
Mac users can download the macOS Sequoia update through the Software Update section of System Settings. Apple has also released macOS 13.7.4 and macOS 14.7.4 for those who are...
Apple's long-awaited Powerbeats Pro 2 are finally expected to be announced this Tuesday. Ahead of time, one lucky Walmart customer was able to get their hands on the earbuds early, according to a since-deleted Reddit post over the weekend.
A leaked image of the Powerbeats Pro 2 in Electric Orange
"My local Walmart had them in the cage," the Reddit user explained. "I asked if I can buy them...
Apple today released iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1, minor updates for the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.3.1 comes two weeks after Apple released iOS 18.3.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iPadOS 17.7.5 for those still running...
Apple today increased its estimated trade-in values for select Mac models in the United States, with the full changes outlined below.
Apple says the extra trade-in credit for select Macs is available with the purchase of an eligible new Apple device through April 2.
The trade-in values increased by between $10 and $50.
Model
New Value
Old Value
MacBook Pro
Up to $925
...