Japan has become the second market after the European Union (EU) to accept support for third-party app stores on Apple devices. In order to meet the requirements of Japan's Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA) passed last year, the app store is now available to Japanese residents, with the act being seen as similar to the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA).
The option to make payments outside the App Store ecosystem can also be done with a new option through third parties or from app developer websites. Apple will still take a cut of each transaction, ranging from 5-26% depending on the platform chosen by the user.
In addition to allowing third-party app stores to be accessed by Japanese users, Apple is also opening up access to the side control button, which until now could only be used to summon Siri. In Japan, users can use the same button to summon competing virtual assistants such as ChatGPT.
Japanese users can also change the default web browser, default search engine and preferred navigation app on their Apple devices starting today. The MSCA came into effect today after Apple was fined by Japan for its business practices that were found to be unfair to local consumers.