Google Must Make It Easier for App Stores to Compete on Android, Judge Rules

U.S. District Judge James Donato ordered Google to make it easier for developers of mobile-app stores to compete on phones and tablets that use the company’s Android software. The injunction is the result of Google losing an antitrust case—brought by “Fortnite” developer Epic Games—during a jury trial in December 2023. Epic, which operates its own app store, argued that Google used its power over Android to take excess profits from app developers through its Play Store. Google has said it plans to appeal the ruling. Judge Donato ordered Google to allow third parties to access the company’s Play Store catalog of apps to build competing offerings. He also barred Google from paying incentives to app developers to release an app first or exclusively on the Play Store, as well as to device manufacturers to pre-install the Play Store in a specific location or not pre-install a competing app store. The injunction is set to take effect in November 2024, with many of the remedies lasting three years.