Mobile app rules may be tightened

China's Internet watchdog said on Thursday it is considering plans to tighten regulations of the online application market, triggering fears the step may hinder the development of the sector.

Under the plans, mobile app developers and online app stores will be asked to apply before putting their apps on the Web. Apps are also likely to be inspected after entering the market, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said.

The ministry did not disclose details of the new regulation or when will it take effect. The move is aimed at tackling mounting safety problems in the nation's app market, it said.

Security researchers warned in November that the country's rising number of smartphone and tablet users are set to suffer in coming years, because a large number of app stores in China are not well-regulated.

China overtook the United States as the world's largest smartphone market this year, helping to fuel a large number of developers and online stores.

"Mobile devices are hackers' new love, as personal computers have fallen out of favor," said Chen Yong, vice-president of Kingsoft Security, one of the earliest anti-virus software developers in China.

The Android open-source operating system is the biggest target for malicious apps. Some 3 million Android phones were attacked in June in China, according to a report by NQ Mobile, a Beijing-based mobile security company.

"It is the regulator's role to provide guidelines and to ensure a healthy competitive environment," said Nicole Peng, research director at Canalys China, a global IT research company. "New regulations should help provide some consistency to the type of security processes that mobile app stores should operate at a minimum level."

However, China's law-abiding developers are obviously not happy with footing the bills for someone else's wrongdoings.

"I'm OK with the regulation under the condition that the government's move does not affect our marketing schedule," said Hu Zhinong, founder and CEO of Fotoable Inc, a picture processing app developer that has about 10 million users globally.

"My biggest worry is that the regulation may markedly prolong the product cycle. As a startup company, we cannot afford weeks of examination and not putting our apps online."

Frustration is also mounting among developers targeting overseas markets, as the ministry has yet to specify if the new rule applies to them.

"We still don't know if an app that is not developed for the Chinese market will need to be registered, too," said Ann Ding, CEO of ApeHills Inc, a Beijing-based developer of English learning apps targeting Japanese users.

It is too early to estimate the effect on companies such as ApeHills because only scant information has been provided by the ministry. But Ding said if ApeHills has to abide by the new rule, she does not think it will be good for the business.

Peng with Canalys said it will not be sensible or possible for the regulator to monitor every app on the market, given that there are various channels consumers can access to mobile apps. Eventually, user behavior is the biggest challenge to manage, and educating consumers is the key.

"It is the regulator's and handset vendors' role to raise mobile users' awareness of security implications, and provide appropriate assistance at this stage," she said.