The UK Competition and Markets Authority will impose stricter rules on Apple and Google over how they run their mobile platforms, as they become the latest Big Tech groups to be handed a special status under new digital laws that came into effect this year.

The CMA said on Wednesday that the creators of the iPhone and Android smartphone operating systems will be labelled as having “strategic market status” (SMS) and forced to adhere to certain conduct rules to ensure mobile platforms remain competitive.

The regulator said it had found that the companies’ mobile platforms, which includes operating systems and browsers on both smartphones and tablets, held a position of “strategic significance” in the market with most UK mobile device holders either an Apple or an Android user.