UK Regulator Moves to Open iPhone Contactless to Rivals

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority opened a consultation on October 20, 2026 that would require Apple to let rival wallets and payment apps use the iPhone's contactless chip on terms closer to what the EU already won ¹. Apple has rejected the proposal, arguing it would lower privacy and security protections, so the fight now moves to a four-week comment window that closes on November 17, 2026 ^1,2.

The proposal is a conduct requirement under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 and rests on the CMA's earlier designation of Apple as having "Strategic Market Status" for its mobile platform ¹. Three points matter for developers:

• Both NFC routes. Apple would have to support host-based card emulation (HCE) as well as the secure element route it offers in the UK today. The CMA says it found no evidence that either approach is inherently less secure ¹.
• Lower fees, but no price list. The regulator sets out pricing principles rather than numbers, and expects charges to land well below Apple's current fees while still paying Apple fairly ¹.
• The EU gap. According to 9to5Mac, the CMA said UK developers have not been offered the terms available in the EU, where entitled apps get NFC access without a fee and users can choose a default wallet ².

The CMA's numbers explain why it cares: contactless made up 39% of UK payments in 2025, 62% of adults use a digital wallet, and Apple Wallet is the most used at 50%. It also notes that no UK firm has launched a wallet product to compete with Apple's, which has already happened in the EU ¹. A final decision follows once responses are reviewed; no date is set.

Also today

• Spotify launched paid podcast memberships in 34 markets on October 20; creators keep 90% and set their own tiers, and Spotify says purchases happen on the web rather than through in-app billing ³.
• In a Polygon interview covered by 9to5Mac on October 19, new App Store head Carson Oliver said premium games are arriving faster this year than last, with more console and PC franchises coming to mobile ⁴.
• Google's October 19 system update notes list Play Store v53.7, which shows estimated time or remaining size on active downloads, and Play services v26.41, which adds a scam check for apps asking for accessibility access during calls on Android 15 and earlier ⁵.
• Apple shipped the first iOS 27.2 release candidate on October 19, so a public release is likely close; check your builds against it now ⁶.

On the charts

The movers feed is still empty because the collector has only one day of history, so these are positions on the October 19 US top free snapshot, not day-over-day changes.

• Vinted is No. 2 on iOS and No. 7 on Google Play, the strongest showing of any resale app; Depop sits at No. 26 on iOS.
• AI assistants hold a block of the iOS top 15: ChatGPT at No. 3, Google Gemini at No. 14 and Claude by Anthropic at No. 15. On Android, ChatGPT is No. 2.
• Netflix Game Controller is No. 11 on iOS, unusually high for a companion app whose only job is turning a phone into a gamepad for Netflix games on TV.
• On today's payments theme, Cash App is No. 19 on Android, and Spotify is No. 33 on iOS on the day its memberships launch.

Full lists: iOS top free and Android top free.

What developers are talking about

"Is it just me, or did downloads fall off a cliff?" An r/iOSProgramming post from October 17 asks whether others have lost most of their downloads and product page views ⁷. Several replies put the start around October 11 or October 15, one reports a 60% drop, and another says paywall conversion fell from about 20% to 3%; the most useful advice in the thread is to split App Store Connect traffic by source before blaming search. Applyra separately reports that a large, unannounced App Store search ranking change hit US and UK keywords on October 8 ⁸. Apple has not confirmed any change, so the link between the two is unverified.

The indie mood. The week's top r/iOSProgramming post (518 upvotes, 91 comments, October 19) shares an email that commenters say comes from a long-time iOS course creator winding down his course business after taking a full-time job unconfirmed ⁹. Replies turned into a thread about layoffs and a hard hiring market. It landed a day after a long post asking whether indie iOS development still pays, which argues that ad costs, AI search and review friction have made it a losing bet; that post drew 59 comments and a split vote ¹⁰.