
The Indian government is reportedly planning to launch its own app store, GOV.in, in a bid to consolidate all its apps in one space for easy accessibility for the users. To facilitate this initiative, the government has reportedly reached out to Apple, Google and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to give their users direct access to government-backed apps.
Government asks Apple, Google to pre-install its apps on their devices
- According to a report by Bloomberg, the government has asked Apple, Google and other OEMs to pre-install government-backed apps on their devices before they start shipping them to the potential buyers in the country.
- In addition to this, the government has asked the tech giants to allow users in India to be able to download the state-backed apps from third-party app stores in addition to their own app stores, that is, Apple’s App Store and Google’s Play Store, without triggering an ‘untrusted sources’ warning.
- As of now, all of the government’s apps are available for download on the App Store and the Google Play Store. Offering them via third-party app stores and as a pre-installed offering on devices in addition to the existing routes is likely to broaden access to government’s services.
- There is no information on whether users would later be able to delete these apps from their phones or not
- However, the government’s proposal is being met with resistance from Apple and Google both, as per the report.
- Furthermore, the report says the government could explore using policy mandates or legal mandates to ensure that tech companies, including Apple and Google, comply with its request.
- That said, discussions in this regard are still going on and the final outcome of these discussions remains to be seen.
It is worth mentioning that this request by the Indian government isn’t exactly new. Apple, back in 2021, allowed users in Russia to install government-approved apps to comply with the local regulations.
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