US judge orders Google to open up app store to competition

A U.S. judge on Monday ordered Alphabet’s Google to overhaul its mobile app business to give Android users more options to download apps and to pay for transactions within them, following a jury verdict last year for “Fortnite” maker Epic Games. The injunction by U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco outlined the changes Google must undertake to open up its lucrative app store, Play, to greater competition, including making Android apps available from rival sources.

Donato’s order said that for three years Google cannot prohibit the use of in-app payment methods and must allow users to download competing third-party Android app platforms or stores.

The order restricts Google from making payments to device makers to preinstall its app store and from sharing revenue generated from the Play store with other app distributors.

Google in a statement said it will appeal the verdict that led to the injunction to the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and will ask the U.S. courts to pause Donato’s order pending appeal.

“Ultimately, while these changes presumably satisfy Epic, they will cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers and device makers,” Google said.

Epic Chief Executive Tim Sweeney posted to the social media platform X on Monday that Donato’s order was “big news” and said his Epic Games Store and other app stores will come to Google Play in 2025.

Sweeney said app developers, store makers and others have three years “to build a vibrant and competitive Android ecosystem with such critical mass that Google can’t stop it.”