Judge Grants Temporary Delay on Google Play Store Overhaul Order

A federal judge in California has granted Google’s request to temporarily delay his order, which required the Alphabet unit to overhaul its Android app store, Play, by November 1st, to give consumers more options for downloading software.

U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco made the decision on Friday as part of an antitrust lawsuit filed by “Fortnite” creator Epic Games against Google. Google argued that the October 7th injunction could harm the company and introduce significant safety, security, and privacy risks into the Android ecosystem.

The judge postponed the injunction to allow the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review Google’s separate request to pause the order. However, Donato rejected Google’s request to delay the order for the entire duration of its broader appeal.

In a statement, Google expressed satisfaction with the temporary pause, stating, “We’re pleased with the District Court’s decision to temporarily pause the implementation of dangerous remedies demanded by Epic, as the Court of Appeal considers our request to further pause the remedies while we appeal.”

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Epic, on the other hand, downplayed the ruling, calling it a procedural step, and criticised Google for using “fearmongering and unsubstantiated security threats to protect their control over Android devices.”

Epic’s lawsuit previously resulted in a jury finding that Google had illegally monopolised the methods consumers download apps and make in-app payments on Android devices. Donato’s order embraced many of Epic’s recommended changes based on this decision.

The order required Google to allow users to access competing third-party app stores through Play and to support alternative in-app payment methods. It also prohibited Google from making payments to device manufacturers to preinstall its app store and from sharing Play Store revenue with other app distributors.

Google has appealed the jury’s antitrust findings and has argued that the Play Store competes directly with Apple’s App Store, disputing claims that it holds a monopoly.