Google was making you click through three separate screens just to install a competing app store on your Android phone. A federal judge noticed. He was not impressed.
According to CNET, Northern District Judge James Donato ruled this week that Google must stop using what he called ‘anticompetitive friction’ in the Play Store. The order came during the ongoing legal battle between Google and Epic Games, which first sued Google back in 2020 over exactly this kind of behavior — blocking easy access to third-party app stores and non-Google payment options.
So what did that friction actually look like? If you searched for ‘Aptoide’ in the Play Store, you’d get a pop-up asking if you were looking for it, then a ‘Go to page’ link, then another screen where the app showed a ‘View’ button instead of an ‘Install’ button, and only after tapping View would you finally reach the actual install option. Three steps to do what should take one. That’s not a bug. That’s a choice.
Judge Donato ordered Google to fix this by next week. His ruling is specific: if someone searches ‘app stores’ or any similar phrase, the Play Store must show a direct list of those stores. No more redirects. No more mystery buttons. And that ‘View’ button has to become ‘Install.’
Jason Howell, co-host of the Android Faithful podcast, pointed out that the View button situation might not have been purely malicious. Most Play Store apps don’t show an Install button in search results either, not until you tap into the listing. Still, he told CNET he was glad to see the separate app store page issue addressed, calling it ‘concerning’ that users were being pushed off the main results entirely.
This ruling builds on an earlier decision from July, when Donato ordered Google to allow third-party app stores in the Play Store at all. Before that, Android users who wanted alternatives had to sideload apps, which meant digging through security settings and installing from unofficial sources. Most people never bothered. That was probably the point.
Android has technically allowed third-party app stores for its entire 18-year run. But friction is a powerful tool. Make something annoying enough, and most users just stop trying. This ruling is about closing that gap between what’s technically allowed and what’s actually accessible to everyday people. And for anyone who wants real competition in the app store market, that distinction matters a lot.