Meta Prepares an Alternative App Store for EU Customers

In recent years, the Google Play Store, along with Apple’s App Store, have hold the flag high when it comes to the best and most popular marketplaces for smartphones. But if you pick the brain of a software engineer, you may find out that what’s popular in technology isn’t necessarily the best as well. In fact, that applies to pretty much any domain out there, right?

Meta, meaning the parent company of Facebook, is considering offering users who live in the European Union an alternative way to download apps on their phones. Instead of being redirected to either Google’s Play Store or Apple’s App Store, users would be able to download apps directly by using ads on Facebook, according to XDA.

Tom Channick, who’s a spokesperson for Meta, explained for The Verge via email:

We’ve always been interested in helping developers distribute their apps, and new options would add more competition in this space. Developers deserve more ways to easily get their apps to the people that want them.

The move is prompted by the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which aims to break the duopoly of Apple and Google when it comes to the app distribution market. Meta plans to start with select Android app developers as part of a pilot program and may expand in the future. The company is enticing developers to join by waiving its revenue cut and allowing them to use any billing system they wish, challenging the practices of both Apple and Google.

Although Meta confirmed its plan to distribute apps through Facebook, it didn’t explicitly mention that it aims to launch alternative app stores for Android and iOS.

If you’re also among those who eagerly wait for Meta’s own mobile marketplace for software apps, feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comment section of this article!