Oliver Haslam·

Microsoft Store’s New Policies Issued With Apple Being The Target

Apple is in the middle of a right old storm right now. Attacked by Epic Games over the way it does business in the App Store as well as facing legislation from within the United States over anti-competitive behavior, it now faces the wrath of Microsoft.

Microsoft has put pressure on Apple and its App Store policies by sharing its own. Ten of them, in fact. And some of the points read as if they are aimed squarely at Apple given the current situation.

With the European Commission already opening an antitrust investigation into Apple’s App Store and developers voicing concerns about how it handles their business, Microsoft is clearly turning the knife here.

Here are the aforementioned ten fold points in full.

  1. Developers will have the freedom to choose whether to distribute their apps for Windows through our app store. We will not block competing app stores on Windows.
  2. We will not block an app from Windows based on a developer’s business model or how it delivers content and services, including whether content is installed on a device or streamed from the cloud.
  3. We will not block an app from Windows based on a developer’s choice of which payment system to use for processing purchases made in its app.
  4. We will give developers timely access to information about the interoperability interfaces we use on Windows, as set forth in our Interoperability Principles.
  5. Every developer will have access to our app store as long as it meets objective standards and requirements, including those for security, privacy, quality, content, and digital safety.
  6. Our app store will charge reasonable fees that reflect the competition we face from other app stores on Windows and will not force a developer to sell within its app anything it doesn’t want to sell.
  7. Our app store will not prevent developers from communicating directly with their users through their apps for legitimate business purposes.
  8. Our app store will hold our own apps to the same standards to which it holds competing apps.Microsoft will not use any non-public information or data from its app store about a developer’s app to compete with it.
  9. Our app store will be transparent about its rules and policies and opportunities for promotion and marketing, apply these consistently and objectively, provide notice of changes, and make available a fair process to resolve disputes.

Microsoft is saying that it intends to hold its own apps to the same standards as third-party developers also drives to the heart of another complaint App Store developers have – that Apple doesn’t have to play by its own rules.

Over to you, Apple.

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