When the settlement with the states was announced in September, Epic CEO Tim Sweeny said that if it "left the Google tax in place" his company would fight on. Google also argued at its Epic trial that consumers were able to get games by sideloading and other means, but that failed to sway the jury. A court still needs to formally approve the states' settlement. It also doesn't include Epic Games, which won its own lawsuit against Google earlier this month (Google has vowed to appeal). The settlement sum represents a miniscule portion of Google's turnover and the other terms are relatively minor changes over what it already does. "Google is not required to allow developers to include links that take a User outside an app distributed through Google Play to make a purchase," the settlement agreement reads. In other words, it could feasibly cut off access to sideloading or third-party app stores after that point, or make it harder for the average consumer to find the option.Īnother big thing missing is exterior payment links. The company will only be required to make these changes for five or six years maximum (seven years for alternate means to download apps). "Developers are also able to show different pricing options within the app when a user makes a digital purchase," Google states. It's also expanding user choice billing that will allow Android apps and games to offer their own payment system in the US. Google will also include language stating that "OEMs can continue to provide users with options out of the box to use Play or another app store." Starting with Android 14, third-party stores will be allowed to handle future app updates, including automatic installs. It'll do that via updated "language that informs users about these potential risks of downloading apps directly from the web for the first time." However, these actions will be time limited to seven years for the sideloading and five years for the updated language, according to settlement's wording spotted by The Verge. The other major change is that Google must allow developers to steer consumers toward sideloading to avoid Google's Play Store fees on subscriptions and the like.
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