Mobile device users mostly can’t download or install apps from elsewhere, and the two tech firms make “disproportionate returns,” the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said in a report released Wednesday. It also said the companies’ policies favour some developers over others and limit their ability to offer new features. (The Logic)

Talking point: The current great-tech-power app store model does have some upside, including helping users and developers find each other and enabling trustworthy transactions, the study acknowledged. But “the costs far outweigh the benefits,” the NTIA determined. It recommended new legislation to require Apple and Google to let users download and install apps outside their own stores; stop them from requiring developers to use the platform’s own systems to process in-app payments; and encouraging them to make their systems more interoperable. Such a bill was introduced and failed in the last Congress, following Big Tech opposition. Apple and Google did not respond to requests for comment, but each has previously argued that its app store model is good for consumers and developers.