Judge Orders Google to Drop Play Store Friction
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- Judge Donato ordered Google in the Epic v. Google compliance hearing to remove "anticompetitive friction" that discourages Play Store users from installing third-party app stores.
- The compliance hearing convened roughly one month after a prior development between Epic Games and Google in the case (the source excerpt is truncated mid-sentence at "One month after Epic Games and Google see").
Why it matters: For Android users and rival app-store operators, the order forces Google to make sideloading and third-party store installation a first-class option on the Play Store rather than something gated by warnings or buried settings — converting the Epic injunction's spirit into a concrete UX requirement with a federal judge watching.
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