Aptoide sues Google over app market
A rival app store, Aptoide, filed a U.S. antitrust suit alleging Google’s control over Android app distribution and billing creates an illegal monopoly. The case raises questions about dependence on dominant platforms and the risks of closed ecosystems for distribution and billing. (thehindu.com)
Aptoide sued Google in San Francisco federal court on April 14, accusing the company of illegally monopolizing Android app distribution and in-app billing. (reuters.com) The complaint says Google uses the Google Play store and its billing rules to shut out rival Android app stores, even though Android phones can technically install apps from outside Google Play. Aptoide asked the court for an injunction and unspecified treble damages under United States antitrust law. (reuters.com) Aptoide is a Lisbon-based company that focuses on Android apps and mobile games, and it said it had about 436,000 apps in its catalog and more than 200 million annual users in 2024. The company said it offers lower commissions to developers and lower costs to users than Google Play. (reuters.com) The case lands after Google already lost a major app-store antitrust fight to Epic Games. In July 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a 2023 jury verdict and a permanent injunction against Google over Android app distribution and Android in-app billing services. (ca9.uscourts.gov) That earlier case matters because it tested the same basic question: whether Android is truly open if Google controls the main storefront and the payment rails inside apps. The Ninth Circuit said the lower court could impose a three-year injunction aimed at restoring competition in those markets. (ca9.uscourts.gov) Google has also rolled out programs that let some developers offer billing options besides Google Play’s system, but those programs still require Google’s application programming interfaces and still apply service fees. Google’s developer documentation says developers offering user-choice billing must integrate Google’s alternative billing tools. (support.google.com, developer.android.com) Aptoide says those changes have not opened the market enough for smaller stores to compete for users, developers, and exclusive apps. Reuters reported that Aptoide accused Google of steering developers toward Google Play and other “must-have” services. (reuters.com) Google did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment when the suit was filed. The new case now asks another federal court to decide whether Google’s control over the Android app economy still crosses the line after years of antitrust scrutiny. (reuters.com)
