Apple and Google pledge not to discriminate against third-party apps in UK deal

Critics brand deal with regulator as lightweight' with no legal bite' as tech giants avoid legally binding measures

Apple and Google have committed to avoid discriminating against apps that compete with their own products under an agreement with the UK's competition watchdog, as they avoided legally binding measures for their mobile platforms.

The US tech companies have vowed to be more transparent about vetting third-party apps before letting them on their app stores and not discriminate against third-party apps in app search rankings.