Aptoide Sues Google in U.S.
Android app‑store operator Aptoide filed a U.S. lawsuit alleging Google maintains an illegal monopoly over Android app distribution and billing and uses exclusionary tactics against rival stores. (benzinga.com) Multiple outlets covering the complaint say it targets Play Store distribution control and related payment rules. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
Aptoide has sued Google in San Francisco, accusing it of illegally locking up Android app distribution and in-app billing in the United States. (usnews.com) The lawsuit was filed on April 14 in federal court and asks for an injunction against Google’s conduct plus treble damages, which means any proven losses could be tripled under United States antitrust law. (usnews.com) Aptoide, a Lisbon-based company focused on Android games, says Google uses control of Google Play and Android billing rules to keep rival stores from reaching users and developers at scale. (pocketgamer.biz) App stores are the download gates for phone software, and billing systems are the checkout lanes for digital purchases inside apps. Aptoide says Google controls both gates on Android and makes alternative stores harder to install, trust, and grow. (androidauthority.com) The case lands after years of antitrust pressure on Google’s Android business in the United States and Europe. Reuters reported that Aptoide told the court it could have put more pressure on Google’s pricing and policies without what it called Google’s “anticompetitive chokehold.” (ndtv.com) Aptoide says it serves more than 200 million direct yearly users and has about 436,000 apps, while describing itself as the world’s third-largest Android app store. Its own company page uses larger lifetime figures, saying it has more than 430 million users and 1 million apps across its broader platform. (androidauthority.com) (aptoide.com) The complaint also arrives months after Google and Epic Games said they had reached a settlement in their long-running Play Store fight. Reports on that November 2025 proposal said Google agreed to changes aimed at expanding developer payment options and competition on Android, subject to court approval. (cnbc.com) (techcrunch.com) Aptoide says those earlier fights did not fix the barriers facing smaller stores. Coverage of the new complaint says it targets Google’s control over distribution, payment rules, device-maker agreements, and other friction that can steer users back to Google Play. (nationaltoday.com) (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) Google had not publicly laid out a detailed response in the Reuters-based reports that circulated on April 14 and April 15. The next step is a court fight over whether Android’s openness on paper matches how app distribution works in practice. (usnews.com)
