<p>A Republican and a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives introduced a bill aimed at reining in powerful app stores run by companies like Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google.</p>.<p>The bill is a companion to a measure introduced this week by a bipartisan trio of senators which would bar big app stores from requiring app providers to use alternate app stores and payment systems.</p>.<p>Representative Ken Buck, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee antitrust panel, introduced the measure along with Representative Hank Johnson, a Democrat.</p>.<p>"For far too long, companies like Google and Apple have had a stranglehold on app developers who are forced to take whatever terms these monopolists set in order to reach their customers," Buck said in an email statement.</p>.<p>US consumers spent nearly $33 billion last year in mobile app stores and downloaded 13.4 billion apps, Buck's office said in a statement.</p>.<p>Apple has previously defended its app store as "an unprecedented engine of economic growth and innovation, one that now supports more than 2.1 million jobs across all 50 states."</p>.<p>The stakes are high for Apple, whose App Store anchors its $53.8 billion services business as the smartphone market has matured.</p>.<p>Google has said that Android phones often have two or more app stores preloaded.</p>.<p>The House Judiciary Committee passed six antitrust measures in June, most of them aimed at hemming in tech giants Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook.</p>
<p>A Republican and a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives introduced a bill aimed at reining in powerful app stores run by companies like Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google.</p>.<p>The bill is a companion to a measure introduced this week by a bipartisan trio of senators which would bar big app stores from requiring app providers to use alternate app stores and payment systems.</p>.<p>Representative Ken Buck, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee antitrust panel, introduced the measure along with Representative Hank Johnson, a Democrat.</p>.<p>"For far too long, companies like Google and Apple have had a stranglehold on app developers who are forced to take whatever terms these monopolists set in order to reach their customers," Buck said in an email statement.</p>.<p>US consumers spent nearly $33 billion last year in mobile app stores and downloaded 13.4 billion apps, Buck's office said in a statement.</p>.<p>Apple has previously defended its app store as "an unprecedented engine of economic growth and innovation, one that now supports more than 2.1 million jobs across all 50 states."</p>.<p>The stakes are high for Apple, whose App Store anchors its $53.8 billion services business as the smartphone market has matured.</p>.<p>Google has said that Android phones often have two or more app stores preloaded.</p>.<p>The House Judiciary Committee passed six antitrust measures in June, most of them aimed at hemming in tech giants Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook.</p>