To comply with the Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA), Apple is introducing changes to iOS that create new options for developers' apps in Japan. Beginning with iOS 26.2, developers can distribute apps on alternative app marketplaces, operate alternative app marketplaces, process app payments for digital goods and services outside of Apple In-App Purchase in iOS, and more. The new options for downloading apps from alternative app marketplaces and making app payments open new avenues for malware, fraud, scams, and privacy and security risks. Apple has worked with Japanese regulators to introduce protections from these new threats — with a special emphasis on the safety of younger users. Those protections include Notarization for iOS apps, an authorization process for app marketplaces, and requirements that help protect children from inappropriate content and scams. By March 17, 2026, all current members of the Apple Developer Program will need to agree to the latest update to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement, which includes new terms that allow for these options in Japan. Learn more about the updates You can also request a 30-minute online appointment to ask questions about these changes.
Back in December, I reviewed Square Enix’s monster collecting RPG Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince on Switch. I loved … Continue reading "‘Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince’ iOS Review – Much Better Than Switch, but Lacking in Two Ways"
Back in April, the Razer Nexus (Free) app on iOS and Android was updated with support added for an unannounced … Continue reading "Razer Kishi Ultra Mobile Controller Review – The Best Mobile Controller in 2024?"
Posted by Naheed Vora – Senior Product Manager, Android App Safety Making it easier for you to build safer apps from the start We understand you want clear Play policy guidance early in your development, so you can focus on building amazing experiences and prevent unexpected delays from disrupting launch plans. That’s why we’re making it easier to have smoother app publishing experiences, from the moment you start coding . With Play Policy Insights beta in Android Studio, you’ll get richer, in-context guidance on policies that may impact your app through lint warnings. You’ll see policy summaries, dos and don'ts to avoid common pitfalls, and direct links to details. We hope you caught an early demo at I/O . And now, you can check out Play Policy Insights beta in the Android Studio Narwhal Feature Drop Canary release . Play Policy Insights beta in Android Studio shows rich, in-context guidance How to use Play Policy Insights beta in Android Studio Lint warnings will pop up as you code, like when you add a permission. For example, if you add an Android API that uses Photos and requires READ_MEDIA_IMAGES permission, then the Photos & Video Insights lint warning will appear under the respective API call line item in Android Studio. You can also get these insights by going to Code > Inspect for Play Policy Insights and selecting the project scope to analyze. The scope can be set to the whole project, the current module or file, or a custom scope . Get Play Policy Insights beta for the whole project, the current module or file, or a custom scope and see the results along with details for each insights in the Problems tool window. In addition to seeing these insights in Android Studio, you can also generate them as part of your Continuous Integration process by adding the following dependency to your project. Kotlin lintChecks( "com.google.play.policy.insights:insights-lint:<version>" ) Groovy lintChecks 'com.google.play.policy.insights:insights-lint:<version>' Share your feedback on Play Policy Insights beta We’re actively working on this feature and want your feedback to refine it before releasing it in the Stable channel of Android Studio later this year. Try it out, report issues , and stop by the Google Play Developer Help Community to share your questions and thoughts directly with our team. Join us on June 16 when we answer your questions. We’d love to hear about: How will this change your current Android app development and Google Play Store submission workflow? Which was more helpful in addressing issues: lint warnings in the IDE or lint warnings from CI build? What was most helpful in the policy guidance, and what could be improved? Developers have told us they like: Catching potential Google Play policy issues early, right in their code, so they can build more efficiently. Seeing potential Google Play policy issues and guidance all in one-place, reducing the need to dig through policy announcements and issue emails. Easily discussing potential issues with their team, now that everyone has shared information. Continuously checking for potential policy issues as they add new features, gaining confidence in a smoother launch. For more, see our Google Play Help Center article or Android Studio preview release notes . We hope features like this will help give you a better policy experience and more streamlined development.
