But why are phones considered gated platforms in the first place? How is a phone not just a general computing device? How is a phone not just a laptop in a dif

But why are phones considered gated platforms in the first place? How is a phone not just a general computing device? How is a phone not just a laptop in a different form factor? Because Apple/Google say so? There would be massive pushback if developers had to pay $100/y and 30% of revenue to develop an app for macOS, or Windows. But for iOS and Android we just accept it as true. I don't know, I just feel like phones are a lot closer to laptops than they are to video game consoles. I don't feel like them being gated is justified, or good for anyone other than Apple/Google.