Zuckerberg Joins Musk In Apple Criticism, Calls App Store 'Problematic'

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday called Apple's control over the app marketplace "problematic," agreeing with new Twitter owner Elon Musk's recent criticism of the tech giant.

Speaking at the New York Times' DealBook Summit, Zuckerberg agreed with claims that Apple's App Store policies negatively impact businesses, including Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram.

"If you look at all the major competing platforms that have existed — iOS, Android, Windows — Apple stands out," he said. "It is the only one where one company can control what apps get on the device. I don't think it's sustainable or good."

Recently, Musk shared his criticisms of Apple's dominance over the App Store, suggesting that Apple was using its power to influence Twitter's decision-making, and withholding advertising in the process.

"Do they [Apple] hate free speech?" asked Musk on Twitter.

App stores can exert pressure on companies like Twitter and Facebook because of their ability to remove or hinder access to platforms that do not adhere to their guidelines. Losing access to billions of Apple product users would strike a massive blow to any company, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Zuckerberg compared Apple's App Store to that of Google's, which does not govern its marketplace as strictly.

"Google might control what goes in the play store, but they have always made it so you can side-load and have other app stores and work directly with phone manufacturers," he said.

He also addressed Musk's rocky tenure at Twitter.

"You can agree or disagree with what Elon is doing, but I do think it is going to be very interesting to see how this plays out in terms of the approaches he's taking," Zuckerberg said.

"I would guess that not everything is going to work, but I think some things might work," Zuckerberg added, saying that he believed Musk would agree with that view.

Apple continues to make changes to its privacy policies that make it more difficult for apps to target their users with ads, contributing to a loss in revenue for platforms like Facebook, which heavily rely on digital advertising.