{"id":5462,"date":"2026-08-14T03:15:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T03:15:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5462"},"modified":"2026-08-14T03:15:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T03:15:30","slug":"that-is-not-acceptable-judge-orders-google-to-make-rival-app-store-installs-easier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5462","title":{"rendered":"\u2018That is not acceptable\u2019: Judge orders Google to make rival app store installs easier"},"content":{"rendered":"


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One month after Epic Games and Google seemingly stopped fighting<\/a> over the future of Android app distribution, they were back in a San Francisco courtroom today \u2014 where Judge James Donato just ordered Google to make it easier to install rival <\/em>app stores on Android.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It\u2019s been nearly three years since a jury unanimously decided that Google had an illegal monopoly<\/a> over Android apps, and almost two years since Judge Donato decided the best way of undoing that monopoly<\/a> would be to crack open Android app distribution. Donato ordered Google to carry rival Android app stores inside its own Google Play Store<\/em>, and to provide rivals with complecte access to Google\u2019s full catalog of apps, for several years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Epic argued that Google is still making it too difficult to install rival app stores, showing the entire courtroom a live demo of how many steps it currently takes \u2014 and Judge Donato agreed that some of those steps were unnecessary \u201canticompetitive friction\u201d and ordered Google to remove them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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First, Epic\u2019s lawyer Yonatan Even showed that if you search Google\u2019s Play Store for the term \u201cstore for apps,\u201d no third-party app stores appear, only physical stores. \u201cWait, why did Walmart come up?\u201d Judge Donato asked. \u201cThat\u2019s not good,\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These are my own screenshots, not the live demo shown in court, as no photography is allowed there.<\/em><\/figcaption>Images: Google<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThat is not acceptable, that has to be fixed. I want every possible variation that\u2019s even only 70 percent properly phrased,\u201d Donato ordered. Google\u2019s counsel agreed to make it happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Similarly, Judge Donato bristled when he saw that users have to press a \u201cview\u201d button before they can press an \u201cinstall\u201d button when choosing to install a third-party app store, and so that will change too. \u201cYou don\u2019t get that when you\u2019re looking at Apple Music,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMake that install, not view,\u201d Donato ordered, and Google agreed to do so.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Later, Epic showed that when you search for \u201capp store,\u201d or even if you search directly for Aptoide, the first rival store<\/a> to make it into the Google Play Store, Google doesn\u2019t surface a normal list of apps \u2014 it shows you a new banner you have to click through to a dedicated third-party app store page.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That\u2019s not just a problem for brand-new app stores, argued Even. Big, established companies like Amazon might decide not to launch app stores because they\u2019d be losing the ability to appear in normal appstore search results.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Judge Donato ordered Google to fix that one, too, telling the company that it didn\u2019t make any sense. \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t it say \u2018are you looking for music\u2019 when you type in \u2018music store\u2019?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Google\u2019s attorney replied that Epic and Google had already agreed that app stores are a special category of apps that have advanced permissions. But Donato said the warning on the third-party app store page itself was sufficient to address that \u2014 there\u2019s no need to ask a user whether they really want the thing they searched for, whether it\u2019s a game store or a glass of water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe all know that when you go to a Google store or an Apple store and you type in the name of your app, you\u2019re going to get one thing you were looking for and ten things you don\u2019t want,\u201d said the judge, explaining that he doesn\u2019t think average users will be confused when they get what they\u2019re asking for.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cTake off the \u2018are you looking for\u2019 screen, there\u2019s no purpose for that. There\u2019s a friction there that has no purpose whatsoever,\u201d Donato said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The judge wants these changes fast. \u201cHave it done by a week from today,\u201d he told Google. \u201cIf there\u2019s some problem with that, let me know.\u2018<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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