The CMA's programme of work across mobile platforms
What the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has done, and will do, to promote innovation, investment and growth in UK mobile platforms.
Under the digital markets competition regime, the CMA promotes greater competition and innovation in digital markets, and protects consumers and businesses from unfair practices.
If a large tech firm meets certain legal tests, it can be be given strategic market status (SMS). This means the CMA can then take targeted and proportionate interventions, tackling conduct that could undermine fair competition, or exploit people and businesses.
Under this regime, we have investigated Apple and Google’s mobile platforms.
This page sets out:
- what we have done so far
- what we are doing now
- how you can engage with us
- what’s next in 2026
We will update this page as our work progresses.
Designating Apple and Google with strategic market status
In January 2025, the CMA opened investigations to determine whether Apple and Google should be designated as having strategic market status (SMS) in the provision of their mobile platforms in the UK.
After consulting on our provisional decision, on 22 October 2025, we designated Apple and Google as having SMS in the provision of their mobile platforms. These designations last for a period of 5 years. The mobile platform encompasses mobile operating systems, app distribution and mobile browsers and browser engines.
Exploring potential interventions
Designating a firm with SMS does not necessarily mean that the CMA will intervene formally. If we do, formal interventions – namely conduct requirements and pro-competition interventions – are subject to separate legal processes.
We are focusing on areas where proportionate and targeted intervention can make a real, positive impact, quickly improving market outcomes for consumers and businesses in the UK. We are also taking account of measures already taken, or proposed internationally, to identify where we are best placed to act.
In July 2025 we published roadmaps for Apple and Google, which set out the areas for potential intervention we planned to explore in the first half of the designation period. As we start to deliver on these areas, we will update this page with more information about our current and upcoming work.
App review, app ranking, use of data and interoperability process
Our roadmaps proposed work to give developers enough certainty and confidence in Apple and Google’s:
- app review process
- approach to ranking apps in their app stores
- approach to safeguarding data
Apple’s roadmap also proposed work to enable developers to better request interoperable access to features and functionality within Apple’s mobile operating systems.
Apple and Google have brought forward proposed commitments that, after careful consideration, we think could address our concerns in relation to these matters quickly, effectively and proportionately. This is on the basis that the proposed commitments include robust transparency and oversight measures, so that the CMA and other stakeholders can monitor how Apple and Google are delivering on the commitments and their effectiveness. We are now seeking views on these proposed commitments.
Find out more about the proposed commitments and our assessment of them.
We will carefully monitor Apple and Google’s conduct in this area. If we find the steps taken are not effective, or if Apple of Google fail to comply with these measures, we will not hesitate to move to formal requirements where necessary.
Digital wallets
In our roadmaps we proposed work to open up access to the functionality on Apple smartphones – the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip – to enable third-party competitors to Apple Wallet.
This work is very important to the UK, given:
- the government’s industrial strategy
- our strong fintech sector
- the use of digital wallets beyond payments, including digital identity and digital keys
We are engaging with Apple, Google and a range of other third parties, including UK fintechs and financial services firms, to understand the importance for innovation of introducing competition in the digital wallets sector and their views on how wider access to the NFC chip can best be achieved. We will update on our work in this area in the first half of 2026.
App distribution – steering
We are exploring measures to promote greater competition in relation to app distribution, in particular through addressing restrictions by Apple and Google which prevent app developers from steering users outside of an app to complete a transaction. Where transactions are completed outside of an app, app developers can manage the relationship directly with their customers, choose a billing provider of their choice and do not pay the same app store commissions.
This work is very important to the UK, given the government’s industrial strategy and our app developer community, particularly in the gaming sector.
As part of this work, we will continue to closely monitor relevant international developments, most notably Epic’s litigation with both Apple and Google in the US, and measures being taken to comply with the Digital Markets Act in the EU.
We will continue to engage actively with Apple, Google and wider stakeholders in relation to these measures and update on our work in this area in the first half of 2026.
Other work planned for 2026
We expect to progress work in relation to Apple concerning browsers (removal of the WebKit restriction) as well as interoperable access to functionality for connected devices. More information about our proposed work in this area is set out in the Apple roadmap.
We are keeping other potential interventions set out in the roadmaps under consideration
We will also continue to closely monitor developments in relation to mobile platforms, particularly the emergence and adoption of AI, and will consider the need for future action in areas not covered in the roadmap if concerns emerge.
Contact
For correspondence or questions in relation to our work on mobile platforms, email mobilesms@cma.gov.uk.