Starting July 22, 2026, Google will for the first time let third-party app stores be downloaded directly from inside the Google Play Store on Android phones in the US, and will let those rival stores hand out apps pulled straight from Google Play’s own catalog. It is a genuinely large shift for the Android app economy. It is also not something Google chose to do — it is what a US federal court ordered it to do after Google lost an antitrust case to Epic Games and then spent roughly a year and a half fighting the order.
Until now, getting a rival app store onto an Android phone meant sideloading — downloading an installer file and clicking through Android’s more cautious, multi-step install flow. From July 22, in the US, a competing store becomes just another thing you tap to install from within Play itself. That is the exact “store within a store” outcome Epic asked the court for.
What actually changes for third-party app stores on July 22
There are two separate mechanics going live, and it is worth keeping them apart because they do different things.
1. Rival app stores become downloadable from inside Google Play. You will be able to install a third-party Android app store the same way you install any other app — search it, tap install, done. No sideloading, no installer files, no wading through security warnings.
2. A new “Play Catalog Access Program.” Enrolled US app stores get access to the actual Google Play catalog — app and game listings, icons, descriptions, screenshots and videos — and users can install those Play-catalog apps through the rival store on the same terms as a normal Play download. Google’s standard Play service fee still applies to those installs. Per Google’s own Play Console Help documentation, developers’ US app listings are enrolled automatically unless the developer explicitly opts out by July 22, 2026. Google began notifying developers of this on June 22, 2026.
That opt-out detail matters, and it cuts against the “more choice” headline: the choice belongs to developers, not to you. As an ordinary Android user you have no say in whether your favorite app’s listing gets shared with a rival store — that is entirely the app maker’s call. So the amount of real choice this hands the average reader depends on decisions made in developer dashboards you will never see.
Why Google is doing this — the antitrust backstory
In December 2023, a California jury ruled unanimously for Epic Games, finding that Google ran an illegal app store monopoly and charged developers excessive fees. In October 2024, Judge James Donato of the US District Court for the Northern District of California issued a permanent injunction ordering Google to open Play to competition, including support for third-party app stores. Google then spent roughly the next year and a half trying to narrow that injunction in court. On July 15, 2026, Google and Epic jointly withdrew Google’s motion to modify it — Google’s way of conceding the fight and complying with the original order.
As reported by Android Authority, Google spokesperson Dan Jackson said: “We’ve agreed with Epic to withdraw our motion to modify the US Court’s injunction rather than prolonging this process which creates uncertainty for the ecosystem.” Google separately framed the move as part of a broader business-model shift meant to deliver more app-store choice, lower prices and more opportunity for developers and users.
Read that framing against the calendar: a jury verdict in December 2023, a permanent injunction in October 2024, about eighteen months of legal resistance, and a surrender on July 15, 2026 — four days before this was written and one week before the change takes effect. This is Google’s characterization of a legal defeat, not a feature it woke up and decided to ship.
The fees, and who this really helps
Opening the door is not free for the challengers. Third-party app stores must pay Google $5,000 per year to access the Play catalog under the Play Catalog Access Program. Engadget additionally reported a separate $5,000 upfront “security review” fee at onboarding, though that figure is so far single-sourced. Either way, Google’s standard Play service fee still applies on downloads made through these rival stores.
A yearly fee in the low thousands is nothing to an Epic Games Store, a Samsung Galaxy Store or an Amazon Appstore. It is a real barrier to a small or indie alternative store. So while the door is now open, it is open widest for large, well-funded competitors — which tempers the “more choice for everyone” reading. Enrolled stores also have to meet safety conditions: “clear, non-discriminatory” trust-and-safety policies, openness to all eligible developers, and keeping malware under 1% of install attempts.
The upside is real, though, once you set the marketing language aside. Actual competition among stores is the kind of pressure that can push Google’s developer commissions down over time, and lower commissions tend to flow through to app and subscription prices. Google has already cut its Play service fee from 30% to 10% on many transactions and opened Play to non-Google payment methods as earlier steps in the same case. And forcing users to sideload just to run a rival store was a genuinely anti-competitive friction — ending it is a win for buyers regardless of why Google finally did it.
Does this reach India or other markets?
Not yet. This rollout is US-only. Indian Android users — and users everywhere outside the US — are not affected by the July 22 change, and there is no announced date for other markets. Google has said it is separately pursuing a “Registered App Stores” program to bring similar changes elsewhere “later this year,” but there is no confirmed timeline and nothing India-specific to point to. If you are in India, nothing about how you install apps changes on July 22.
Google is being pushed open on more than one front, too: regulators elsewhere are applying similar pressure, as we covered when the EU ordered Google to open Android and Search to AI rivals. Different jurisdiction, same throughline.
Sources: Android Authority, Google Play Console Help
