Aptoide sues Google

Aptoide has sued Google in federal court in San Francisco, accusing it of illegally locking up Android app distribution and in-app billing. (reuters.com) The complaint was filed on April 14 and says Google uses contracts, product design and Play Store rules to keep rival Android app stores from reaching users and developers at scale. Aptoide is asking for an injunction and triple damages under United States antitrust law. (reuters.com) Aptoide says it had about 436,000 apps and more than 200 million annual users by 2024. The Lisbon-based company says those numbers make it large enough to pressure Google on price and policy if the market were more open. (reuters.com) The case lands after Epic Games already won a jury verdict against Google in December 2023 over Android app distribution and billing. In July 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld that verdict and a three-year injunction aimed at opening Google Play to more competition. (law.justia.com) That injunction bars Google from paying developers, device makers or carriers to advantage Google Play, and it requires Google to allow third-party app stores through Google Play and to give them access to Google Play’s app catalog. Those remedies are central to Aptoide’s claim that Android competition is still being fought in court even after Epic’s win. (law.justia.com) Aptoide says Google still steers developers toward Google Play and other “must have” Google services, while denying rival stores the exclusive content and distribution terms they need to grow. It also says its own commissions are lower than Google’s, which it argues should matter to developers and users if rivals can compete on equal terms. (reuters.com) Google did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Aptoide’s suit. In its separate Epic case, Google said it was appealing because the verdict ignored competition between Apple and Android and could hurt user safety and developer experience. (reuters.com) (blog.google) Aptoide describes itself on its website as the third-largest Android store, with offices in Portugal and China and business lines that include work with device makers and telecom companies. That gives the lawsuit a plaintiff that is not a startup on paper, but a distributor that says it has already built global reach outside Google Play. (en.aptoide.com) The next step is a court fight over whether Aptoide can turn the broader antitrust pressure on Google into damages and new rules tailored to its own business. For now, the suit adds one more test of how open Android really is after Epic. (reuters.com)