Default Apple apps may soon be banned as the U.S. Congress proposes multiple antitrust bills to track the issues of giant tech firms' dominance in the market.
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In this photo illustration, the Facebook and Instagram apps are seen on the screen of an iPhone on October 04, 2021 in San Anselmo, California. Social media applications Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp are experiencing a global outage that started before 9 a.m. (P.S.T.) on Monday morning.
Two of these bills are now ready for voting. However, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer hasn't scheduled the needed voting yet.
If these two bills make it through the Senate, there's a high chance that default apps of Apple will be banned. For the past few years, the iPhone maker has been criticized for pre-installing its apps.
Although there's a high chance that the two bills will be approved, experts said that Apple has its own tactics to encourage users to install its iOS applications.
Default Apple Apps Ban Might Happen
According to 9To5Mac's latest report, once the U.S. government bans default iOS apps, Apple can no longer pre-install its owned applications on iPhones.
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This illustration photo shows the Apple app store logo reflected from an iPhone onto the back of an iMac in Los Angeles, August 26, 2021. - Apple has agreed to loosen payment restrictions on its App Store, a major change announced in a settlement with small developers as the US technology giant faces growing scrutiny.
This means that consumers will have more options. For example, if you purchase a new iOS smartphone, you will have to choose from the provided internet browsers.
These include Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Opera, and Safari. This also goes with other kinds of applications, such as music and map apps.
Aside from this, you can also install other applications that are not from the official Apple App Store. Now, if ever this scenario really happens, here's what the tech giant manufacturer might do.
Will Apple Use Warning Pop-Up Messages?
MacWorld reported that Apple recently announced that Netflix subscribers can already use other payment methods.
Since Apple no longer controls the streaming service's payment method on iOS devices, it is using pop-up warning messages to persuade consumers.
Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic Games, criticized this move of Apple.
"Though Netflix is escaping Apple's 30% revenue tax, Apple is imposing a new tax - the 'scare the hell out of customers by making all competing payment processors look untrustworthy' tax," said Sweeney via his official Twitter account.
Though Netflix is escaping Apple’s 30% revenue tax, Apple is imposing a new tax - the “scare the hell out of customers by making all competing payment processors look untrustworthy” tax. Shame on Apple for this horrid sham. https://t.co/VUDkVsrFvQ
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) July 25, 2022
There's a high chance that Apple will also do this with its iOS apps if the U.S. government ever bans them.
On the other hand, Apple announced that developers can now increase iOS app subscription fees.
Meanwhile, two Apple features were allegedly used by scammers to bypass the official Apple App Store.
For more news updates about Apple apps and other related tech topics, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
