By 30 September, Google has to publish something new for UK app developers: its first UK transparency report on how Google Play reviews apps, with submission volumes and rejection and suspension rates for April to June 2026. Apple's first public report on requests for access to iOS features is due by the same date. Both come from commitments the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) accepted this spring.
The reports are dry documents, but they are among the first hard numbers to come out of Britain's new digital markets regime. They will show whether the promises Apple and Google made are changing how app review works in practice, and they arrive as the regulator turns to the bigger question of fees.
Why the CMA Can Set Rules for Apple and Google
The CMA's powers come from the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. The regulator opened investigations into Apple's and Google's mobile platforms under the Act in January 2025. On 22 October 2025 it designated both companies as having strategic market status, or SMS, covering their mobile operating systems, native app distribution, and mobile browsers and browser engines, according to the CMA's case page.
Designation allows the CMA to introduce targeted measures for fair dealing, open choices, or trust and transparency. It can impose formal conduct requirements on a designated firm. It can also proceed on the basis of commitments the firms offer voluntarily, which is the route it took first, and it has said that if the companies fail to implement those commitments effectively, it would expect to move swiftly to impose conduct requirements.
What Apple and Google Promised UK App Developers
In February, the CMA consulted on commitments from both companies in four areas: app review, app ranking in store search, the use of data collected from developers during review, and, for Apple, how developers can request interoperable access to features in iOS and iPadOS. The CMA said the package was meant to deliver immediate improvements in certainty, transparency and fairness for thousands of UK businesses that depend on app stores. The commitments took effect on 1 April 2026.
The stakes are large. The CMA estimates that the UK app economy generates about 1.5% of GDP and supports around 400,000 jobs, and it calls the UK Europe's largest app economy by revenue and developer count. As of 2025, mobile development in the UK was valued at £28 billion.
Apple's commitments, set out in a document dated 30 March 2026, include annual published metrics for UK-based developers. They cover app submissions reviewed, rejections, apps approved after rejection, appeals, App Store removals and restorations, the share of reviews completed within 24 hours and within four days, the share of appeals completed within 60 days, and the number of expedited reviews.
On interoperability, Apple has committed to keep a dedicated channel for developers to request access to iOS features, to review requests in the order they are received, and to publish the criteria it uses to assess them. It will also publish an annual transparency report covering the number of requests, the most requested functions and how long they took to consider.
Google's commitments centre on a UK transparency report about app review on Google Play. It will include an attestation that app review runs independently from the teams behind Google's own apps and services, aggregated data on submission volumes and rejection and suspension rates, the main reasons for rejections, and the number of complaints and appeals, with the share of decisions upheld or reversed. Google will also publish global median, mean and 99th percentile review times each year, and hold at least one roundtable a year for UK developers.
The Reports Due on 30 September
The timetable is written into the documents. Google's first report, covering bi-annual metrics for 1 April to 30 June 2026, will be available by 30 September 2026. Its first annual report, covering April to December 2026, follows by 31 March 2027. Google has committed to notify UK developers when the report is ready, by email or through the Play Console.
Apple's schedule runs on two tracks. Its first report on interoperability, covering January to June 2026, is due to be published by 30 September. Its bi-annual compliance reports go to the CMA in confidence: the first, for January to June, by 30 September, and the next by 31 March. Annual App Review metrics for 2026 are due by 31 March 2027, and Apple agreed to give the CMA confidential metrics for the second half of 2025 by 31 May 2026.
The CMA has said it will closely monitor how both firms implement the changes and report publicly on what it finds. The metrics include the proportion of apps submitted for review that are approved, rejected and appealed, the time taken for review, complaints and their outcomes, and the interoperability requests Apple receives, with their outcomes and timeliness.
The Bigger Fight Over Steering and Fees
The commitments deal with process. The harder question is money. On 30 June, the CMA launched consultations on conduct requirements that would let UK app developers steer customers away from Apple's and Google's platforms for payment. Steering, the ability for developers to engage with customers about off-platform options, is currently banned by Apple and restricted by Google in the UK, the CMA said, and lifting those limits would let developers bypass the platforms' mandatory fees.
The proposals include principles meant to keep any fees for steering fair and reasonable. Under an evidence-based framework, the CMA said it would expect steering fees to be lower than current app store charges, with savings passed on to UK customers or invested back into developers' businesses.
"We think it is important to give both app developers and users more choice about how they communicate and how they transact," Will Hayter, the CMA's executive director for digital markets, said as the consultations opened. On fees, he added: "While it is only fair for Apple and Google to be compensated for the services they provide, any fees they charge must be justified through a robust, evidence-led framework involving due reference to both cost and value."
Responses were due by 28 July, and the CMA published them on 14 August, according to its case page for Google. A decision on whether to impose the requirements is expected later this year. The market is already moving: Google's new global Play Store terms, which were due to take effect in the UK on 30 June, allow developers to steer users outside the store to complete transactions, subject to certain restrictions, and change the fees Google charges. The CMA said it would assess their likely impact on users and businesses.
Contactless Payments and What Comes Next
The same day, the CMA asked for views on access to near field communication, or NFC, on iPhones, after businesses complained that Apple's high fees and strict terms prevented access. Opening it up would let UK fintechs and developers support contactless payments from within their own iOS apps, the CMA said, and could support future payment methods such as account-to-account payments, digital currency and stablecoins, as well as uses like digital ID and car keys.
Views on NFC were due by 21 July. The CMA's programme of work says it expects to consult on measures in autumn 2026, and that it plans further work on Apple's browser rules, including removing the WebKit restriction, and on interoperable access for connected devices. It is also watching Epic's litigation with Apple and Google in the US and the EU's Digital Markets Act.
What UK App Developers Can Do Now
For small studios and solo developers, the practical steps are modest. Watch for Google's report in the Play Console or your inbox around the end of September, and compare its rejection figures with your own experience of review. If you need access to an iOS feature Apple has not opened up, its dedicated interoperability channel and published criteria are the formal route, with requests handled in the order they arrive. Google's yearly roundtable gives UK developers a direct forum to raise problems with Play's review process.
At MW3.biz, we believe the most useful part of this package may be the least dramatic: published numbers. A solo developer cannot negotiate with a platform, but can measure their own experience against a report that regulators and rivals can also read. Transparency does not settle the harder argument over fees, and there are fair points on both sides about what platforms should earn for security and distribution. Our view is that clear, public rules make it easier for more people to build and sell software.
Regulation is reshaping other corners of tech too; we looked recently at how the EU AI Act now makes your chatbot introduce itself. For UK app developers, the next test arrives on 30 September.
