Google Play will open catalog access to third-party US Android app stores on July 22, following a court order tied to Epic Games’ antitrust case.
The post Google’s Android App Store Shake-Up Starts July 22 appeared first on TechRepublic.
Google Play will open catalog access to third-party US Android app stores on July 22, following a court order tied to Epic Games’ antitrust case.
The post Google’s Android App Store Shake-Up Starts July 22 appeared first on TechRepublic.
Big changes are coming to Android apps, but they're not the changes Google wanted. The settlement between Google and Epic that aimed to put to rest the companies' long-running antitrust battle is being withdrawn, and that means third-party app stores are coming to the Play Store. Google has confirmed that it will begin distributing rival app stores next week, setting the stage for competing platforms to take a bite out of Google's Android revenue stream.
This case has the potential to upend software distribution on Android, and it's all because of V-Bucks. In 2020, Epic Games was frustrated that it had to pay a 30 percent cut to Apple and Google every time someone bought a bundle of V-Bucks in a mobile version of Fortnite. The publisher added a direct purchase option to the game in violation of both Apple's and Google's rules. Naturally, Fortnite was pulled from the App Store and Google Play, kicking off the antitrust lawsuit that is only now reaching its conclusion.
While Apple suffered little penalty in its Epic case, Google was tripped up by its anti-competitive management of the supposedly open Android ecosystem. Google used its market position to discourage device makers from promoting or pre-loading non-Google app stores and attempted to hide that conduct. The remedies set by Judge James Donato included lower fees, mirroring Google Play apps in other stores, and most vitally, placement of alternative app stores in Google Play.
© Getty Images | Kirill Kudryavtsev
Apple lost its EU court challenge over iOS and the App Store, keeping both under the Digital Markets Act as another legal challenge still remains possible.
The post Apple Loses EU Court Fight Over iOS, App Store Rules appeared first on TechRepublic.
Apple lost its EU court challenge over iOS and the App Store, keeping both under the Digital Markets Act as another legal challenge still remains possible.
The post Apple Loses EU Court Fight Over iOS, App Store Rules appeared first on TechRepublic.
Google lost its final EU appeal over a €4.1B Android fine, prompting renewed scrutiny of app defaults, search dominance, and rivals' access.
The post Google Loses Final EU Appeal Over €4.1B Android Fine appeared first on TechRepublic.
Apple is hoping the Supreme Court will reverse a contempt finding that threatens to block the tech giant from charging high commission fees when developers divert iPhone users to non-Apple payment methods for app purchases.
The contempt finding came in a case where Epic Games accused Apple of violating a judicial order requiring changes to its App Store, which charged a 30 percent commission for using Apple payment methods and did not allow developer links to alternative payment methods.
That order required Apple to allow developers to include links to make payments outside the Apple ecosystem, but Apple did so only after requiring a 27 percent commission for allowing the link-outs. In December, Apple lost an appeal after defending its commission as reasonable. At that time, the 9th Circuit concluded that Apple violated the spirit of the order by charging fees so high that they “had a prohibitive effect” on developers who saw little benefit in updating apps to save only a small amount on fees.
© joe Daniel price | Moment
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