US District Judge James Donato has ordered Google to rectify what he calls unnecessary "anticompetitive friction" regarding third-party app store downloads in the Google Play Store. While Google recently began offering downloads via Aptoide Games, the judge ruled that the current implementation is insufficient.

Despite a global partnership agreement between Epic and Google, the companies remain adversaries in an ongoing antitrust case. Google lost the case in 2023, and current proceedings focus on implementing remedies to address its anticompetitive behavior. A key requirement is that Google must allow users an easy way to access non-Google sources.

During a Thursday hearing, Epic lawyer Yonatan Even demonstrated that the implementation is buried deep within confusing menus. Even searching for "app store" or "aptoide" failed to yield direct results, instead triggering an "are you looking for" banner. Judge Donato has given Google one week to fix these accessibility issues.