Google has been told by a U.S. federal judge to be prepared to make changes to the Play Store.
Changes to the Google Play Store are going to be forced upon Google according to U.S. District Judge James Donato. During a three-hour hearing last week in San Francisco, the judge warned the Alphabet unit that he is considering an order that would force Google to make changes to its Android app storefront. One such change would force Google to give Android users the opportunity to install alternative Android app stores.
Any orders made by the judge would be considered Google’s punishment after a federal jury back in December returned a verdict stating that Google violated antitrust law with the Google Play Store. Google said at the time that it would appeal the ruling. Even though Android users are allowed to sideload apps from a third-party app store, the vast majority of apps installed on Android phones are sourced from the Play Store.
