US court orders Google to remove 'anticompetitive friction' from third-party app store access
Ruling addresses buried menus and indirect installation processes for Aptoide Games, marking a significant step in post-antitrust remedies.
US District Judge James Donato has ordered Google to rectify what he described as "anticompetitive friction" within the Google Play store, mandating that the company improve the visibility and accessibility of third-party app stores within one week. The ruling specifically targets the implementation of the Aptoide Games store, which the court found to be obscured by confusing navigation menus and lacking a direct installation mechanism.
The order stems from a hearing where the court examined Google’s initial rollout of alternative app stores following its 2023 antitrust loss. While the judgment requires Google to allow users easy access to non-Google sources, Judge Donato determined that the company’s execution failed to meet these standards. Legal representatives for Google had argued that the additional steps were necessary for user safety due to the expanded permissions required by app stores, a defence the court rejected as unacceptable.
Key changes mandated by the order include the removal of the "view" button on the Aptoide store page, which currently opens a separate dialog box for installation. Donato ruled that this extra step appeared designed to discourage downloads and ordered it replaced with a direct "install" button. Furthermore, the judge directed Google to improve its search functionality, ensuring that queries for terms such as "app store" or "aptoide" return the intended results rather than generic informational banners.
Google’s legal team agreed to the proposed changes during the hearing, with Donato noting that the company should contact the court if it encounters any issues meeting the one-week deadline. The ruling addresses a specific element of the broader antitrust case, where Google attempted to settle with Epic Games to keep third-party stores out of the Play Store before being forced to admit Aptoide Games as the first alternative provider.
Although Google and Epic Games are currently engaged in a global partnership agreement, they remain on opposing sides of the US antitrust litigation. With the technical barriers to accessing alternative stores being removed, it remains possible that Epic Games may release its own storefront in Google Play once the implementation process is complete. For now, Aptoide Games remains the sole third-party app store available on the platform.
