Aptoide sues Google
Aptoide filed a new antitrust lawsuit in the U.S. accusing Google of monopolising Android app distribution and in‑app billing through OEM lock‑ins and Play Store policies. The filings follow earlier legal pressure on Google from Epic and U.S. courts over search and platform behaviour, framing this as another challenge to how app distribution is governed. (nationaltoday.com (thehindu.com)
Aptoide sued Google in San Francisco federal court on April 14, accusing it of illegally controlling how Android apps are distributed and paid for. (reuters.com) The Portuguese company said Google used contracts with phone makers, app developers and users to shut out rival app stores and protect Google Play and Google Play Billing. Aptoide is seeking an injunction and triple damages under United States antitrust law. (reuters.com) Aptoide says it runs the world’s third-largest Android app store, with about 436,000 apps and more than 200 million direct yearly users. It filed the case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. (nationaltoday.com) Google said Android gives developers and device makers “more choice than any other mobile platform” and that it would defend the case. The company has made similar arguments in earlier app store litigation, saying its rules protect security and user trust. (reuters.com) The case lands after years of court fights over whether Android is really open if Google controls the main store and the main payment rail. On phones, those systems work like the mall and the cash register at once: the store decides what gets shelf space, and the billing system takes a cut when users pay. (reuters.com) Epic Games won a jury verdict against Google in December 2023 over Play Store practices, and the companies announced a broader settlement in November 2025. Epic said the deal would expand third-party app stores and outside payment options on Android. (cnbc.com) (epicgames.com) Google is also still dealing with a separate United States antitrust case over search. The Department of Justice said in September 2025 that a federal court had already found Google maintained an illegal monopoly in search in an August 2024 opinion. (justice.gov) Aptoide has challenged Google before in Europe, where it filed a complaint with European Union antitrust authorities in 2014. The new United States case asks a different court system to test whether Google’s Android business still blocks store competition despite those earlier legal blows. (reuters.com) The next fight is likely to turn on evidence about contracts, default settings and how hard Google makes it for users to install rival stores. That is the same basic question behind the suit Aptoide filed this week: whether Android’s openness exists on paper, or on phones people actually use. (nationaltoday.com)
