Google, through a blog post, announced that Android 12 will make it easier to use third-party app stores. The change has come into existence specifically for Google Play's payments policy. The American tech giant, Google has supposedly brought this change in response to the continuous conflict with Epic Games, the game publisher over the cut they take for purchases made through Google Play.
Even though it is possible for the users to use third-party app stores on their smartphones, like the Galaxy Store, Google is hoping to make the process much simpler and very secure. Google will add features to Android 12 that will “make it even easier for people to use other app stores on their devices while being careful not to compromise the safety measures Android has in place.”
Google further highlight in the blog post that they do not follow the model that Apple uses for its app store and has “always allowed people to get apps from multiple stores.” Nonetheless, Google has amended its payment policy for app developers who choose to continue using Google Play.
Further, in response to Epic Games’ anti-competitive behavior's allegation, Google has stated that their policies are applied uniformly to all the apps shared on Google Play which also include the in-house apps. “We use the same standards to decide which apps to promote on Google Play, whether they're third-party apps or our own apps,” Google mentioned.
Google has also mentioned that they support the developers who introduce new innovations to the app. Google will also consider taking feedback from the developer community which will be a vital tool for retaining the trust and loyalty of the developers while having several legal challenges from companies like Epic Games.
