When we think of app stores, the ones that come to mind are typically those for Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android devices and maybe Amazon’s Fire …
When we think of app stores, the ones that come to mind are typically those for Apple’s iPhone, Google’s Android devices and maybe Amazon’s Fire tablets. But Microsoft said Wednesday that it wants to set itself apart with a series of «principles» it’s publicly committing to that it says will promote competition in its app stores. The tech giant’s Open App Store Principles include privacy protections and transparent editorial rules, as well as a promise to hold Microsoft’s own apps to the same standards the company applies to others. Microsoft is publishing the principles in an effort to weigh in on new laws that are before the US Congress, as well as to ease concerns about its own potentially monopolistic size amid its proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard. «Ultimately, we believe that this principled approach will promote a more open app market and better serve our users and creators alike,» Microsoft President Brad Smith wrote in a blog post Wednesday.
