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Judge orders Google to make rival app store installs easier
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- DeepHorus
Judge James Donato ordered Google in a San Francisco courtroom today to strip away "anticompetitive friction" that makes installing rival app stores on Android unnecessarily difficult. The directive came one month after Epic Games and Google appeared to settle their dispute over app distribution. Epic returned to court, arguing that Google's current install process still hurts competition, and Donato sided with Epic.
The case stems from a 2020 jury verdict concluding Google held an illegal monopoly over Android apps. Two years ago, Donato ordered Google to carry rival app stores inside its Play Store and give rivals access to its full app catalog. Yet Epic showed the court that Google has continued to add hurdles.
Epic's lawyer Yonatan Even demonstrated that searching Play Store for "store for apps" returns only physical stores like Walmart, not third-party app stores. "That is not acceptable," Donato said, ordering Google to fix search results to include every reasonable variation, even those "70 percent properly phrased."
Donato also objected to the requirement that users press a "view" button before an "install" button when installing a rival store. He noted that Apple Music does not have such a step, and ordered "install" to appear directly. Additionally, searches for "app store" or "Aptoide" lead to a banner redirect instead of normal search results.
Even argued that this discourages established firms like Amazon from launching their own stores, and Donato agreed the "are you looking for" screen serves no purpose. "There's a friction there that has no purpose whatsoever," he said. Google's counsel said rival stores have advanced permissions requiring warnings, but Donato rejected that, saying users know what they want when they search.
Donato gave Google one week to implement the changes. The ruling could significantly lower barriers for competitors such as Epic's store, Aptoide, and Amazon. Observers will watch whether Google meets the deadline and how the changes affect the broader Android ecosystem.
