A U.S. federal judge ordered sweeping changes to Google Play, the default source for Android applications. Rival Android software marketplaces will get a big boost as a result.
While the iPhone App Store is similar, Apple’s and Google’s situations are different enough that iPhone users shouldn’t expect similar changes anytime soon. Long term? That’s a different story.
An Epic antitrust decision against Google
Epic Games took Google to court in 2020, accusing the Android maker of abusing its hold on the application marketplace built into the operating system. Late last year, a judge agreed that the Google Play app store is an illegal monopoly.
On Monday, Judge James Donato issued multiple court orders intended to break that monopoly. For three years, Google must allow rival app marketplaces to be listed in the Play store. And Google must give these rivals access to the full catalogue of Android applications. It also can’t pay wireless carriers to put Google Play on the handsets they sell.
The judge stated his goal as “free and unfettered competition.” Of course, the changes only affect the U.S. version of Google Play and other Android software marketplaces. And Google will appeal the decision.
What about Apple’s App Store?
Google Play and the iPhone App Store are close enough that legal rulings affecting one invite a comparison with the other. In short, could something similar happen to Apple?
It’s unlikely, at least for the short term. That’s because when Epic Games sued the iPhone maker in 2020 and likewise accused it of being a monopoly, the judge in that case sided with Apple. While she ordered some changes to the App Store, she also ruled that Apple is not a monopolist.
Obviously, even if Apple had been found to be a monopolist, Judge Donato’s court orders about Google Play don’t directly affect Apple’s iOS software marketplace. However, they could set a precedent if there was some other judge out there weighing what actions to take against Apple. But there’s not.
That said, the U.S. Department of Justice and 16 state attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple this spring, claiming the iPhone maker of having monopoly-like power. This hasn’t yet moved to trial, and thus a ruling is years away. If Apple is unsuccessful at defending its actions, it might be looking at very similar court-ordered changes to what Google Play must deal with right now. They set a precedent, after all.
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
