Google rival app store installs are getting another court-ordered cleanup after U.S. District Judge James Donato told the company to remove several barriers users encounter in Google Play. At a San Francisco hearing on August 13, Donato gave Google a one-week target for changes that would make competing Android storefronts easier to find and install, according to The Verge.
The directives came in Epic Games' antitrust case against Google, after Epic's lawyer demonstrated the current Play Store flows in court. Donato characterized the unnecessary steps as “anticompetitive friction,” The Verge reported. Google counsel agreed in court to make the requested changes, but the reporting does not establish that they have been implemented or that a written order has followed.
What did the judge tell Google to change for rival app stores?
First, Google must improve Play Store search results for queries seeking app stores. Epic showed that a search for “store for apps” returned physical retailers instead of third-party Android stores, according to The Verge. Donato said relevant variations of that query should surface the stores users are looking for.
Second, the judge told Google to replace a “view” button with an “install” button when a user selects a rival store. The existing flow made users take an additional action before they could start installing the store.
Third, Donato directed Google to remove an intermediate screen that appears after searches such as “app store” or “Aptoide.” The Verge reported that the screen routes users to a dedicated third-party-store page rather than presenting normal app search results. Donato concluded that the warning displayed on that page was enough, without asking users again whether they meant to search for a store.
Those choices may sound like ordinary interface clutter. They matter because each one interrupts the route from a search to a competing marketplace. A store that is hard to locate, then asks for an extra tap, then diverts a direct search into a category page has technically been admitted to Play while remaining harder to reach than a conventional app.
Why are rival stores appearing in Google Play?
The changes stem from Epic's case against Google. A jury found for Epic in 2023, and Donato's subsequent remedies required Google to distribute rival Android app stores through Google Play, The Verge and Ars Technica reported. The earlier remedy is distinct from the judge's latest oral instructions about search and installation design.
Aptoide, a game-focused storefront, is currently the first third-party app store reported to be downloadable through Google Play in the United States. Ars Technica reported that an approved store installed this way does not require users to enable sideloading or accept the warnings normally associated with installing software from outside Play. That is the practical change for Android users: a competing store can be acquired through Google's own marketplace as an app, rather than through an APK download and altered device settings.
Access is still limited. Ars Technica reported that Aptoide was the only store listed on Play's third-party app-stores page at the time, and that the page was buried in the app's category menus. Donato's new directions target that remaining discovery problem. They do not establish that every rival store will be listed, that terms are equal for all operators, or that the changes apply beyond the U.S.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
