Google and Epic Games have agreed to pull Google’s request to alter Judge Donato’s permanent injunction, clearing the way for a near-term change in how Android apps reach third-party stores in the United States.
Sean Hollister reported for The Verge that Google is already telling US Android developers that their apps and game listings will be supplied to third-party app stores beginning July 22 unless developers opt out. Google has also opened a Play Catalog Access Program page for third-party app stores to enroll, according to Hollister.
The practical effect is that US Android developers now face a deadline, not a policy abstraction. If they do nothing, Google says their Play-distributed apps and game listings will be made available to outside stores through the new catalog program. Developers who do not want that distribution must actively decline it.
Google spokesperson Dan Jackson told The Verge that Google and Epic had agreed to withdraw Google’s motion to modify the court’s injunction rather than extend a process the company said was creating uncertainty for the Android ecosystem.
Jackson said the decision lets Google focus on what the company calls a global business model change intended to provide more app store choice, lower prices, and more opportunities for developers and users. He also said Google remains committed to Android security and to a competitive ecosystem where app stores and developers can compete. Google said it is continuing to comply with the court’s injunction.
Two Android app-store systems may emerge
The US program is not the same as the broader system Google has described for other markets. Hollister reported that Google had previously said it would introduce its sideloaded Registered App Store program outside the United States, starting with a new Android version later this year.
That creates the possibility of two tracks for Android distribution: in the United States, third-party stores getting access to Play catalog listings through the court-driven setup, and outside the United States, Google’s separate Registered App Store model for sideloaded stores.
The distinction matters because “choice” in app distribution can mean several different things. In the US version described by Hollister, Google is preparing to hand app and game listings to enrolled third-party stores unless developers object. In the rest-of-world version Google has announced, the company is building a registered-store framework tied to a later Android release.
Google’s retreat from its modification request does not end every fight over Android distribution. It does mean the company is no longer trying, at least through that motion, to rewrite the injunction before the July 22 catalog-access change arrives.
For developers, the next move is mundane but consequential: check Google’s developer notice and decide whether to opt out. For third-party Android stores, the door Google was trying to reshape is now opening on the court’s timetable.
This story draws on original reporting from Daring Fireball.