Google Play opens to third-party app stores on 22 July

This article was published on July 16, 2026 Google will start carrying third-party app stores inside Google Play on 22 July, after it and Epic dropped a bid to soften the court's order. It is a first for the US. Android has always let people install apps from outside Google’s store. Next week it goes much further. Google will start carrying rival app stores from inside Google Play itself. Google told a California court it is ready to begin on Wednesday 22 July, The Verge reported. The move came after Google and Epic Games jointly withdrew a motion to modify the court’s remedies. The fight traces back years. In 2023, a jury found Google’s Play Store was an illegal monopoly. In October 2024, Judge James Donato ordered Google to carry rival stores inside Play, and to share its full app catalogue with them. Google fought that order, then settled with Epic in late 2025, reportedly with a secret $800m payment. The settlement swapped the in-store remedy for a “Registered App Stores” plan, where users would sideload rival stores instead. The court was not convinced. A court-appointed economist, MIT’s Nancy Rose, said in a July report the plan was “unlikely” to help rivals overcome Google’s