Judge orders Google to remove friction from rival Android app store installs
A San Francisco judge has ordered Google to fix within a week several steps that make it unnecessarily hard for users to find and install third-party app stores through Google Play, in a renewed dispute with Epic Games.
Epic Games and Google returned to a San Francisco courtroom, a month after their fight over Android app distribution seemed to have quieted down. Judge James Donato ordered Google to make installing rival app stores through Google Play noticeably easier.
Nearly three years ago, a jury found that Google held an illegal monopoly over Android app distribution. Almost two years ago, Donato ruled that Google must let Google Play carry competing app stores and give them full access to its app catalog for several years.
Friction points identified
At the hearing, Epic's lawyer Yonatan Even showed that searching Google Play for "store for apps" surfaces only physical retailers like Walmart, not any third-party app stores. Donato called the result unacceptable and ordered Google to cover every reasonable variation of such search terms.
The judge also objected to users being forced to tap a "view" button before they can tap "install" when choosing a rival app store — a step not required for something like Apple Music. He ordered Google to change that button directly to "install."
Another issue involved searches for "app store" or for specific brands such as Aptoide, the first third-party store admitted to Google Play. Instead of normal search results, users are shown a banner that must be clicked through to a separate app store page. Even argued this discourages major companies, such as Amazon, from launching their own app stores, since they would lose visibility in standard search results.
Google's counsel argued that app stores are treated as a special category requiring advanced permissions, but Donato said the warning already shown on the third-party store's page is sufficient, making the extra confirmation screen unnecessary friction.
Donato ordered Google to implement all the fixes within one week, telling the company to notify him if any issues arise in complying.
