Judge Orders Google to Fix Anticompetitive Friction in Play Store’s Third‑Party App Store Access

Earlier this week, Google began allowing downloads from third‑party app stores in the Play Store, but U. S. District Judge James Donato found the rollout insufficient. In a ruling issued on Thursday, Donato said Google’s implementation added unnecessary “anticompetitive friction” and ordered the company to remedy the issues. The decision comes amid a broader antitrust case that saw Google lose a 2023 ruling, prompting a global partnership with Epic to address the problem. While Google and Epic are working on a settlement, the court still requires Google to make third‑party stores, such as Aptoide Games, easily accessible to users. Donato’s judgment signals that Google must improve its Play Store interface to comply with antitrust remedies.