Following the arrival of third-party Android app stores on Google Play earlier this week, a judge in Google’s ongoing court battle has said that the current state is “not acceptable,” and Google will make changes as a result.
Following the arrival of third-party Android app stores on Google Play earlier this week, a judge in Google’s ongoing court battle has said that the current state is “not acceptable,” and Google will make changes as a result.
The first third-party Android app store went live in Google Play earlier this week, with Aptoide Games available for download. And it works rather seamlessly, certainly a whole lot better than the sideloading process went before.
The one catch with this debut, though, was that accessing third-party app stores is not exactly the easiest process. Google noted that you’ll need either a direct link or specific search phrases to find third-party stores, and the judge is not happy about that.
As The Verge reports, Judge Donato in the long-running court case said that the current state of finding third-party app stores in Google Play is “not acceptable,” taking issue with search keywords such as “store for apps” not turning up third-party stores. Donato expressed that “every possible variation that’s even only 70 percent properly phrased” should show stores correctly, and Google says it will make changes accordingly. Third-party stores will also be treated more like standard apps, with an “Install” button set to be added in place of the existing “View” button.
Donato gave Google a week to make these changes, also arguing that the “are you looking for” banner is “friction… that has no purpose whatsoever.”
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| # | Наименование новости | Тональность | Информативность | Дата публикации |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google Play Store starts distributing third-party Android app stores – here’s how it works [Gallery] | 0 | 13.71 | 10-08-2026 |
| 2 | Google is opening the floodgates to third-party app stores on Android next week | 0 | 11.9 | 15-07-2026 |
| 3 | 'Anticompetitive Friction': Google Must Fix App Store Search | 0 | 10.79 | 13-08-2026 |
| 4 | Google Relents on Third-Party App Stores in the US | 0 | 9.5 | 15-07-2026 |
| 5 | Will you actually use other app stores now that Google can’t stop you? | 0 | 13.13 | 15-08-2026 |
| 6 | Play Store now lets you search Android app reviews, ditches ‘this device model’ filter | 0 | 10.41 | 06-04-2026 |
| 7 | Google ordered to make it easier to download alternative Android app stores | 0 | 8.4 | 14-08-2026 |
| 8 | В Google Play в США впервые добавили сторонний магазин приложений — Aptoide Games | 0 | 12.14 | 10-08-2026 |
| 9 | This Is Google Play's First Third-Party App Store | 0 | 10.4 | 10-08-2026 |
| 10 | Google Adds Aptoide as the First Third-Party App Store Distributed Through Google Play | 0 | 5.92 | 12-08-2026 |