The Verge installation experience as follows:

One potential obstacle for European iPhone users who want to install third-party app stores is that the installation process is very cumbersome, with the steps of installing an app store requiring more than a dozen screen interactions.

The situation is this:

First, you click on a browser-based link to load the third-party app store. At this point, you will receive a pop-up informing you that your installation settings do not allow markets from this developer.

You then need to go into Settings, enable third-party app store related settings, return to the browser, click the download link again, and receive another prompt asking you to confirm the installation. Finally, you can open the store and browse the available apps.

While the program isn’t complicated, the steps and scary language are enough to make it annoying and intimidating. By comparison, Apple’s App Store only requires one click to get started.

In view of Apple’s control over user experience design, the media believes that Apple’s restriction is intentional and is a means to consume users’ energy and dissuade them from continuing to use the App Store.

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The NTIA said in an announcement today, “NTIA Calls for Changes to Promote Competition in the Mobile App Market,” that the existing mobile app store model of the Apple App Store and Google Play Store is harmful to consumers and developers, and recommended policy changes to address the problem.

The NTIA said in the announcement that the existing policies of Apple and Google have raised the price of applications and reduced innovation in the industry and that the ultimate victim is the consumer, and the Biden administration, in promoting innovation and competition and fair economic competition, wants to require the two companies to open up third-party app stores through mandatory means.

The report mentions two problems with Apple and Google’s existing app store operating model.

The app stores are largely controlled by Apple and Google, and consumers are largely unable to access apps from other sources. This means that innovators have very limited access to consumers.

Apple and Google put up barriers for developers to attract users by imposing technical restrictions. Examples include limiting how apps work or requiring developers to go through a slow and opaque review process.

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