Apple Clamps Down on Rival Apps Following Launch of Screen Time [Report]

Apple has clamped down on rival apps following the launch of its Screen Time feature, reports the New York Times.

Over the past year, Apple has removed or restricted at least 11 of the 17 most downloaded screen-time and parental-control apps, according to an analysis by The New York Times and Sensor Tower, an app-data firm. Apple has also clamped down on a number of lesser-known apps.

According to the report, Apple has simply pulled apps from the App Store or forced companies to remove features that allowed parents to control children's devices or block access to certain apps and content.


“They yanked us out of the blue with no warning,” said Amir Moussavian, chief executive of OurPact. The parental-control app had over three million downloads and the iPhone app accounted for 80% of its revenue. “They are systematically killing the industry,” Moussavian said.

Executives tell the paper that their apps are being targeted because they could hurt Apple's business.

“Their incentives aren’t really aligned for helping people solve their problem,” said Fred Stutzman, CEO of Freedom, a screen-time app that had over 770,000 downloads before being removed by Apple last August. “Can you really trust that Apple wants people to spend less time on their phones?”

On Thursday, Kidslox and Qustodio, two parental control apps, filed a complaint with the EU alleging antitrust violations. Their complaint follows a high profile complaint from Spotify that accuses Apple of unfair business practices that disadvantage the company as it competes with Apple Music.


As you might expect, Apple denies any wrongdoing.

“We treat all apps the same, including those that compete with our own services,” said Tammy Levine, an Apple spokeswoman. “Our incentive is to have a vibrant app ecosystem that provides consumers access to as many quality apps as possible.”

The spokesperson said Apple removed the apps because they could gain too much information from users' devices and said that the timing was not related to the company's introduction of similar functionality.

More details in the full report linked below...

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