In recent weeks the Fortnite scandal against the Apple and Google application stores has shaken the current situation of mobile devices. While Epic Games has started its legal procedures with the aim of “freeing us from monopolies”, the technology giants have decided to react each in their own way.
Google has been sued for monopolistic practices on so many occasions that the company has taken little to nothing to detail how they plan to change Android to make it a fairer operating system for the rest of the application stores, changes that will arrive with Android 12.
Well more or less.
Android 12 makes it easy to install third-party stores
We believe that developers should have the choice in how they distribute their applications and which stores should compete. Choice has always been at the center of Android, and therefore consumers have always had control over the apps they use. It can be your keyboard, messaging app, phone, or app store.
After indicating that some Android phones have at least two pre-installed application stores, that users can install the stores they want and that games like Fortnite can be downloaded in the Epic store and in the Galaxy Store, they wanted to take the comments into account from developers to facilitate the freedom to choose app stores.From Android 12, Google will make changes to make it even easier to install other app stores as long as they do not compromise Android security measures.All this without giving many details.
Epic bundles it with Fortnite and charges against Google and Apple monopoliesEpic Games is going all out against Google and Apple purposely breaking the rules to charge directly against their monopolistic practices.
Coincidentally now that they have been sued, the freedom of choice of stores does matter. Right now, the ad looks more like a public relations move to defend oneself in court than anything else, but we will have to wait a year to see how they decide to give greater freedom of choice of stores.
It is that it is a year, and for the few devices that are updated. If they really had a real interest, there would be faster ways and with a greater reach of users, such as a section in the Play Store or an extra adjustment in the initial configuration of Android.
The entry is official: installing alternative application stores will be easier in Android 12 appears first in The Free Android.
