Court Orders Google to Fix Play Store Prompts Within 7 Days

A federal court has ordered Google to immediately strip away the extra hoops, confusing prompts, and alarming warning screens it placed around rival Android app stores in the Google Play Store, The Verge is reporting.

During a compliance hearing in San Francisco tied to the Epic Games antitrust battle, US District Judge James Donato slammed Google for inserting artificial hurdles into the Play Store. The judge concluded that Google’s extra steps were deliberate forms of friction designed to discourage everyday users from downloading competing application marketplaces.

The confrontation came to a head during a live courtroom demonstration presented by Epic’s legal team. Epic lawyer Yonatan Even searched the Google Play Store for the phrase “store for apps” to see if alternative app marketplaces would appear. Instead of showing competing digital storefronts, the search results returned brick-and-mortar retail apps like Walmart.

Judge Donato intervened directly from the bench. “Wait, why did Walmart come up?” Donato asked, before adding, “That’s not good.”

When reviewing the overall search discovery and installation workflow, Donato issued a sharp rebuke: “That is not acceptable, that has to be fixed. I want every possible variation that’s even only 70 percent properly phrased.”

Beyond search discovery, Epic highlighted the cumbersome process users had to endure just to install a competing storefront. When a user finds a third-party marketplace, Google requires them to tap an extra “View” button and navigate through interstitial banners before an actual “Install” button appears. Regular Android apps, by comparison, allow a direct one-tap download right from the search listing or store page.

Judge Donato noted that intermediate banners asking users whether they are sure what they are looking for serve no valid technical purpose. He ruled that third-party app stores must be treated like standard Android apps, requiring a direct install button and removing unnecessary scare screens.

The court has given Google exactly one week to update the Play Store and roll out these fixes.