A month after seemingly ending their battle over Android app distribution, Google and Epic Games are back in court in San Francisco. Judge James Donato ordered Google to make it easier for competing stores to open.
Photo credit: Rubaitul Azad/unsplash.com
About three years ago, a jury unanimously ruled that Google had an illegal monopoly in the Android app market, and about two years ago, Judge Donato decided that the best way to end that monopoly was to expand the app distribution mechanism. He asked Google to place third-party app store customers directly in the Play Store and give competitors access to its entire catalog within a few years.
Image source: Google
However, Epic Games noted that Google has made it too difficult to install apps from competing stores, which shows how many steps it takes – some of which Judge Donato agreed are “anti-competitive barriers” And ordered Google to destroy them. So when asking for “App Store” in a “Play Store” search, only apps from the regular store show up in the results – judge orders “Even if the wording is at least 70% correct, all possible options are listed”Google representatives also agreed.
Additionally, in the search results, there is no option to immediately install an alternative app store – first of all only the Browse button is available, which does not appear with other apps. This also angered the judge, who ordered a direct installation. Ultimately, he saw no need for a banner clarifying whether users were actually looking for an alternative app store and a transition to a separate search page without other apps. He’s sure users won’t be confused by this. “We all know that when you go to the Google or Apple Store and type in the name of an app you need, you get exactly what you’re looking for and a dozen unnecessary ones. Remove the “Are you looking for? ..” screen and it just doesn’t make sense. It creates completely unnecessary inconvenience.<..>Completed within a week. If you have any questions please let me know””, Judge Donato concluded.
If you find an error, select it with your mouse and press CTRL+ENTER.