Prepare, Android users: Google will start letting people download third-party apps from the Google Play Store next week, Bloomberg reports. This news follows the five-year antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the creator of the popular video game Fortniteconcluded Tuesday.
In the United States, Android phone owners will be able to download third-party apps starting July 22.
Epic Games sued Google in 2020claiming that Google’s Play Store operated as an illegal monopoly by restricting easy access to third-party services, such as non-Google app stores and payment methods.
In late 2023, the court ruled in favor of Epic, and U.S. District Judge James Donato issued a sweeping order forcing Google to open the Play Store to competing app stores.
In November 2025, the two companies reached an agreement to modify this order, proposing an alternative solution made public in March of this year. The compromise would take the form of a registered app store program, requiring third-party stores to remain outside the Play ecosystem as downloaded apps rather than inside Google Play.
Then, the two companies jointly withdrew this amended regulation to avoid “prolonging” the legal proceedings. Since the compromise was abandoned, Google has returned to complying with the court’s stricter original mandate.
The company launched a dedicated page for its Play Catalog Access program, announcing that third-party app stores will be downloadable directly from Google Play starting July 22. App developers will have greater visibility for their products, and their games and apps will be listed on external Android app stores.
Google’s service fees will continue to apply to these downloads, while the company has reduced its app purchase commissions from 30% to 10%. As part of the settlement, developers are now allowed to offer users alternative payment methods or distribute shopping links to their own websites.
Google spokesperson Dan Jackson told CNET in a statement that by overcoming this dispute, the tech giant can focus on launching its new global business strategy aimed at offering more store choices, lower prices and better opportunities for users and developers.
Jackson stressed that while Google will strictly comply with the US court’s original mandate, it is “committed to maintaining Android’s industry-leading security and fostering a competitive ecosystem where every app store and developer has the freedom to compete.”
