Judge Orders Google to Ease Rival App Store Installs on Android

A federal judge has ordered Google to remove what he called "anticompetitive friction" from the process of finding and installing rival app stores on its Android devices, marking the latest step in a long-running antitrust battle with Epic Games. The ruling, handed down by U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco, requires the tech giant to make specific changes to its Google Play Store within one week.

During a court hearing this week, Epic Games demonstrated to Judge Donato the multiple steps and obstacles Android users currently face when trying to install a third-party app store. The judge sided with Epic's argument that these extra hurdles discourage consumers from seeking alternatives to Google's own app ecosystem. "That is not acceptable, that has to be fixed," Donato declared after being shown search results for terms like "store for apps" that returned listings for physical retail stores instead of digital app marketplaces. He ordered Google to ensure its search functionality supports terms reasonably intended to find an app store and displays relevant results.

The judge also took issue with a specific interface design. He noted that users are presented with a...