Google Opens Play Store Catalog to Rivals While Keeping Its Cut

Google will let rival Android app stores plug into the Play Store’s catalog starting July 22, cracking a monopoly a jury already ruled illegal. Every download those rival stores place will still run through Google’s own servers and pay Google’s own fee.

Multiple outlets have called this Android’s biggest shake-up in years. Google still runs the checkout, sets the vetting gate, and collects its standard service fee on every install placed through a rival storefront under the new Play Catalog Access Program.

What the Play Catalog Access Program Actually Does

Starting July 22, 2026, any qualifying third-party Android app store based in the United States can enroll and start pulling listings, meaning app names, icons, descriptions, screenshots and videos, straight from Google Play. Google’s own support page confirms its enrollment rules for the July 22 launch.

Getting listed is not automatic. Google requires each store to clear a specific set of standards before it ever touches the catalog.

• Open Access – the store must operate as a marketplace open to all eligible developers, with clear, non-discriminatory policies.
• Developer Authorization – operators need written permission and full license rights for every app they carry.
• IP Compliance – a public process for handling intellectual property (IP) disputes has to be in place.
• Clear App Info – listings must show app name, developer name, description, version, size, permissions and legal disclosures.
• Primary Purpose – the storefront’s main job has to be app discovery, installation and management.
• Malware Threshold – install attempts flagged as malware must stay below 1% of the store’s total, or it risks losing catalog access.

Once approved, stores integrate Google’s Inline Install API, the tool that lets a tap inside a rival store trigger an actual Google Play download. The catalog refreshes daily through Google Cloud Storage, so a rival shelf is never more than a day behind Google Play itself.

None of that comes free. Enrolled stores pay Google $5,000 a year for what the company calls security and policy reviews. Engadget and MakeUseOf both report a separate $5,000 upfront onboarding charge on top of that, putting first-year costs near $10,000. Other reporting, including Ars Technica’s, describes only the annual figure, and the gap between the two accounts hasn’t been resolved publicly.

Six Years from a Pulled Fortnite to a Court Order

The program traces back to a single day in August 2020, when Epic Games slipped a direct payment option into Fortnite to dodge Google’s mandatory in-app billing system. Google pulled the game within hours. Epic sued the same week, seeking structural change rather than damages.

1. August 2020: Epic Games adds direct payments to Fortnite; Google removes the game and Epic sues.
2. December 2023: A California jury rules unanimously that Google illegally monopolized Android app distribution.
3. October 2024: US District Judge James Donato issues a permanent injunction ordering Google to open Play Store distribution to rivals.
4. 2025: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the injunction on appeal.
5. March 2026: Google and Epic announce a settlement cutting Play Store commissions and proposing a softer, sideloading-based rollout for rival stores worldwide.
6. July 2026: Google and Epic jointly withdraw that settlement, and Google opens enrollment for the Play Catalog Access Program ahead of the July 22 launch.

Donato never signed off on the softer March arrangement. He still had to approve it as an alternative to the more sweeping overhaul he had already ordered, and he had voiced doubts it went far enough.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted on X that Google was “opening up Android all the way,” a celebration of terms that cut Google’s standard commission to 20 percent, down from a flat 30 percent, and to as low as 10 percent for developers routing payments through outside tools.

The truce didn’t last. Google and Epic jointly withdrew the settlement this week, reviving Donato’s original, harsher order. The two sides are due back in front of him to sort out what happens next.

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.

Dan Jackson, a Google spokesperson, gave that explanation to The Verge, adding that the company would keep complying with the injunction while pursuing its broader settlement plans.

Every Download Still Clears Through Google’s Servers

Google Play handled 95% of US Android app downloads as of 2020, the Ninth Circuit found in the underlying case. Court records from the same period put the Play Store’s operating profit at 71%.

That dominance is exactly what the injunction targeted. It also bars Google from striking exclusive or first-launch deals with developers or device makers, the kind of arrangements that could have kept a rival store’s best titles away even after catalog access opened up.

Yet the new program leaves the core mechanics mostly intact. Apps downloaded through an enrolled rival store still pass through Play Protect scanning and Google’s standard data-safety review, the same checks applied to a direct Play Store install.

The money follows the same path. Even when a shopper taps install inside a competitor’s storefront, the download completes through Google Play’s own infrastructure, and Google’s service fee still applies. A rival store can win the customer’s attention. The transaction itself, and Google’s cut of it, stays exactly where it always was.

Will Rival App Stores Actually Show Up on Your Phone?

Not on July 22 itself. Enrollment opens that day, but stores still have to pass vetting and build a working storefront before an average user notices anything different. Existing marketplaces such as the Epic Games Store, Amazon’s Appstore and Samsung’s Galaxy Store are the likeliest to move first, since they already run catalogs of their own.

Developers got their notice long before users will see any change. Google’s documentation shows the company sent the June 22 notice about automatic listing sharing, giving developers until July 22 to opt out. Doing nothing means opting in by default.

Users will still see a label showing an app came from the Play catalog, whichever storefront delivered it. Third-party stores are barred from tacking on extra fees beyond what Google Play already charges, and from misusing the catalog data they’re given.

Who’s Actually Positioned to Compete

Four names keep coming up as the operators most likely to use the new access right away. That drought wasn’t for lack of trying. Google’s exclusivity deals with phone makers and carriers, an internal effort the company called Project Hug, had helped keep rival storefronts from getting real placement on devices in the first place.

Microsoft is worth watching for a specific reason. The company is still untangling a separate legal fight over Xbox digital game access, and a foothold inside Android distribution would put it on the same side of a broader argument about who controls access to software people already paid for.

The Rest of the World Waits Behind a 2027 Deadline

The program launching July 22 is US-only. Third-party stores are legally barred from using the Play catalog to reach users anywhere else, and Google is running a separate, slower Registered App Stores program for other markets that still requires sideloading instead of in-Play-Store hosting.

The commission cuts tied to the broader settlement, the ones that effectively ended Google’s flat 30 percent app store tax for developers using alternative billing, are set to expand globally by September 30, 2027, under the terms Google filed with the court.

Other regulators already have leverage of their own. In the European Union, Apple must permit third-party app stores, allow web sideloading and support alternative payment systems under the Digital Markets Act (DMA, an EU law requiring large platforms to open their ecosystems to rivals), per Apple’s DMA compliance duties disclosed in a 2025 filing from Zedge, a publicly traded app developer, with similar obligations expected to reach Google. Regulators in the UK and India have scrutinized Google’s grip on Android too, and now have a live US test case to point to.

Six days from now, the gate opens. Google still owns the toll booth.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Google Play Catalog Access Program?

It’s the mechanism that lets a qualifying third-party US Android app store display and distribute apps pulled directly from Google Play’s own catalog, starting July 22, 2026. It’s distinct from Google’s separate Registered App Stores program, which covers markets outside the US and still relies on sideloading rather than in-Play-Store hosting.

How Much Does It Cost to Launch a Rival Store on Google Play?

Google charges enrolled stores $5,000 a year for security and policy reviews, and some reporting describes an added $5,000 upfront fee in year one. That flat fee only buys visibility inside Google Play. It doesn’t replace or reduce Google’s own service fee, which still applies to every download no matter which storefront placed it.

Do Android Developers Need to Do Anything Before July 22?

Only if they want to opt out. Google notified developers on June 22 that app listings would be shared automatically with enrolled third-party stores unless developers turned that off inside Play Console, the same dashboard they already use to manage listings. Doing nothing means automatic enrollment.

Will This Program Work Outside the United States?

No. The Play Catalog Access Program is limited to stores that target US users, and third-party stores are legally barred from using the Play catalog to reach anyone outside the country. Other regions stay on Google’s separate Registered App Stores track, which still requires sideloading.

Can I Still Sideload Apps Instead of Using This Program?

Yes. Sideloading remains untouched by this change and keeps working exactly as it did before July 22. The new program adds a second, in-Play-Store path; it doesn’t remove the older one.

Does Google Still Get Paid When I Buy Something Through a Rival Store?

Yes. Google’s service fee, cut from a flat 30% to 20% for most transactions and as low as 10% for developers using outside billing tools, keeps applying no matter which storefront placed the download.