App stores are hugely lucrative—and under attack

That has made the app stores that distribute them a lucrative business for Apple and Alphabet, the tech titans whose iOS and Android operating systems power the vast majority of mobile devices around the world. That, in turn, has drawn the attention of governments, which are leaning on the duopoly to limit access to disfavoured apps while also working to loosen its stranglehold over the market. They risk irking consumers on both counts.