A US judge has ordered Google to make third-party Android app stores easier to find and install through Google Play within a week, finding that its current approach adds unnecessary anticompetitive barriers. The ruling matters because it strengthens remedies from Epic Games’ successful 2023 antitrust case and could give Android users more practical access to app stores beyond Google’s own.

Google recently began allowing Aptoide Games, the first alternative store, in Play, but its page is buried in menus and searches for terms such as “app store” or “Aptoide” do not lead directly to it. Judge James Donato also objected that users must press “view” before they can install the store, rather than receiving a normal “install” button; Google agreed to change both features. Epic’s own store may later appear in Google Play, but Aptoide currently remains the only third-party option.