[HN Gopher] Japan law opening phone app stores to go into effect
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Japan law opening phone app stores to go into effect
Author : shlip
Score : 120 points
Date : 2025-12-12 16:59 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www3.nhk.or.jp)
(TXT) w3m dump (www3.nhk.or.jp)
| shlip wrote:
| JFTC's full 'Mobile Software Competition Act Guidelines' are
| available here :
| https://www.jftc.go.jp/file/MSCA_Guidelines_tentative_transl...
|
| Curious to see how Apple and Google are going to circumvent this.
| madeofpalk wrote:
| How is it different to what Apple's done in the EU, with
| allowing for third party app stores there.
| idle_zealot wrote:
| My admittedly amateur reading of this is that while it does
| promote competition, it also explicitly allows what Apple is
| pulling in the EU with its signing/review requirements for non-
| App Store applications. So no need to circumvent, they still
| retain control over what code is allowed to run on iPhones,
| albeit subject to restrictions on what reasoning they're
| allowed to use to refuse to sign an app.
| ChrisArchitect wrote:
| Some background:
|
| _Japan to open up Apple and Google app stores to competition
| (2023)_
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36368735
|
| _Japan enacts law to promote competition in smartphone app
| stores (2024)_
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40662176
|
| _iOS 26.2 to allow third-party app stores in Japan ahead of
| regulatory deadline (Nov 2025)_
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45822302
| websiteapi wrote:
| Sony and Nintendo stores are still closed I see lol
| socalgal2 wrote:
| Sony and Nintendo only sell games. They don't gate access to
| banks, investments, health insurance, auto insurance, news,
| movies, social media, car control apps, appliance apps, grocery
| stores, e-commerce, etc...
|
| That's not to say Sony and Nintendo shouldn't be opened too but
| their impact is much smaller (game devs) than Apple (nearly all
| businesses)
| websiteapi wrote:
| Apple didn't start that way though. Better to open it up now
| no? Also, a better law would be making the web first class,
| not adding more stores, with other gatekeepers...
| ghurtado wrote:
| > Also, a better law would be
|
| No, the better law is the one that exists.
|
| Yours doesn't.
| websiteapi wrote:
| Laws aren't inherently good though... we will see what
| this does for Japan, I guess.
| bloppe wrote:
| Are you implying that laws should never be changed?
| dangus wrote:
| It should be pointed out that they have way less of a
| monopoly on the market and way more gaming alternatives exist
| than Apple and Google.
|
| Apple, Google. Two app stores that are basically necessary
| for existing in the modern world with a smartphone, which
| include apps covering Japanese government services.
|
| In the gaming space, you've got PlayStation Store, Xbox
| Store, Nintendo eShop, Steam, Epic Game Store, GOG, a
| bazillion publisher storefronts, Apple and Google (again),
| Itch.io, physical media for the big 3 consoles at dozens of
| brick and mortar retailers, or even installing games directly
| with no store at all (Minecraft originated from its own
| online purchase portal).
| ffsm8 wrote:
| > include apps covering Japanese government services.
|
| These exist?
|
| Honestly asking, I've never been there myself so my only
| contact to their government is via social media, and the
| Japanese people can't stop talking about how you need to go
| there in person for everything and how absolutely nothing
| official is digital
| charcircuit wrote:
| The switch eshop has youtube which I would count as social
| media.
| redserk wrote:
| This does not change that:
|
| - The Switch is primarily a gaming device for entertainment
| purposes.
|
| - The eShop overwhelmingly focuses on providing games for
| said entertainment purposes.
|
| - It can be assumed that the overwhelming majority of
| people do not use the Switch, or expect to use the Switch,
| for general lifestyle purposes.
|
| (That said, I wish we lived in a world where the eShop
| wasn't the only way to get digital games on the Switch, but
| phones have evolved to impact a large segment of the
| economy in many ways)
| websiteapi wrote:
| It's sad how arbitrary people define things. Just make
| all types of digital stores support alternatives. Why are
| you even arguing about it lol... there's no excuse to
| begin with.
| al_borland wrote:
| I just got a PS5 and there are bunch of media apps available.
| I was looking at moving my AppleTV to a different TV and just
| using the PS5 on that screen.
|
| On Apple platforms, for most of the things mentioned, web
| apps are an option and don't have any restrictions. This was
| Apple's original plan, but the people fought for local apps.
| Now companies fight for space on people's home screens. If
| they get an app on the device they can get more info and send
| notifications and things, which they apparently love. A lot
| of apps these days are glorified web apps. There are also the
| ones that exist for a one-time setup, which then sit on
| people's phones for years. It's kind of a mess the way
| companies use apps.
| heavyset_go wrote:
| Open those, too
| Mathnerd314 wrote:
| how does this interact with Google's push to sign all apps?
| idle_zealot wrote:
| It doesn't. The law explicitly allows platform owners to
| require a verification/vetting process for applications, though
| it does limit the grounds on which Google is allowed to refuse
| to sign apps.
| pzo wrote:
| It seems we in EU got the worst implementation for apple
| malicious compliance. It should have been similar like this one
| Japan from the beginning.
| linuxhansl wrote:
| Nice. Someone is doing something. Apple's app store monopoly
| together with a 30% commission is a modern form of way-laying.
|
| Meanwhile Google is trying to go the opposite way with mandatory
| developer registration/verification. In the US we will likely let
| them. Who needs freedom if there is money to make (and Google is
| just making a fake security argument.)
|
| It shouldn't be that hard to do with _my_ phone what _I_ want,
| including accepting the consequences of my actions.
| tekacs wrote:
| I really hope that Japanese developers take advantage of this
| situation to show off at least some of the creativity that's
| possible when we're not quite as limited by Apple's restrictions.
| I don't doubt that from a 'security' point of view, Apple is
| going to continue to enforce all sorts of things that make it
| wildly more difficult to use the supercomputer in our pockets
| than I would like. But nonetheless, perhaps this gives a bit of
| room to be a little more illustrative.
|
| I know that from time to time people have argued that
| jailbreaking should have resulted in more creativity if it were
| going to, but with that tiny, tiny market, it's hard to believe
| that many developers, relatively speaking, would have been able
| to go hard at building something custom and impressive. With this
| larger market, hopefully folks will get the chance to do that
| now.
| bloppe wrote:
| > _But some public comments released by the commission expressed
| concern that the legislation could undermine user security._
|
| I'm constantly amazed by how many people have fallen for this
| trick.
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