Judge orders Google to make rival app store installs easier within a week
Judge James Donato ordered Google to remove unnecessary anticompetitive friction and streamline the installation of rival app stores on Android within seven days.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Judge James Donato ordered Google to ease rival app store installations within one week.
- The court criticized confusing search results and the extra 'view' button before installation.
- Epic Games demonstrated the cumbersome installation steps during a San Francisco courtroom hearing.
One month after Epic Games and Google seemingly halted their disputes over Android app distribution, both parties returned to a San Francisco courtroom where Judge James Donato ordered Google to streamline the process of installing rival app stores on Android devices.
This legal development comes nearly three years after a jury unanimously concluded that Google held an illegal monopoly over Android applications, and nearly two years after Judge Donato ruled that opening up Android app distribution was the ideal remedy. Donato previously ordered Google to host rival Android app stores inside the Google Play Store and grant competitors complete access to its app catalog for several years.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
However, Epic argued during the hearing that Google maintains excessive barriers, presenting a live demonstration of the multi-step installation process. Judge Donato agreed that several of these hurdles constituted unnecessary anticompetitive friction and instructed Google to dismantle them.
This judicial directive marks a critical turning point in ongoing antitrust litigation over mobile app ecosystems, specifically targeting subtle user-interface barriers designed to deter competition. Resolving these friction points could significantly alter how alternative storefronts operate on mobile platforms.
Epic’s attorney, Yonatan Even, demonstrated that searching the Google Play Store for "store for apps" yielded physical retailers like Walmart rather than third-party app stores. Prompted by this finding, Judge Donato criticized the behavior and demanded comprehensive fixes for relevant search queries.
"That is not acceptable, that has to be fixed. I want every possible variation that’s even only 70 percent properly phrased."
Judge James Donato
Furthermore, the judge expressed dissatisfaction upon discovering that users must press a "view" button before reaching an "install" button when acquiring a third-party marketplace, noting the absence of such hurdles on rival platforms.
- Remove the redundant "are you looking for" warning screen during app store searches.
- Change the "view" button directly to an "install" button.
- Fix search algorithms to correctly display third-party app store listings.
Source: The Verge
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