Last year India fined Google for its control of the Android platform. The country’s Supreme Court has now upheld the decision and accompanying demands, which could force the Play Store to allow third-party app stores as early as next week.
As reported by Portal, the Supreme Court of India this week rejected Google’s request to block a number of claims by the Indian Competition Commission. The demands were made alongside last year’s fine. Google claimed they would “harm consumers” and “stunt the growth” of the Android platform.
What were those demands?
First, Google could no longer force manufacturers to preinstall its apps on Android devices to use the Play Store. Google would also be forced to allow access to the Play Store via Android “forks”, heavily customized versions of the platform.
The biggest demand, however, was that the Google Play Store must host third-party app stores and that Android would restrict app sideloading “in any way”. This Supreme Court ruling obliges Google to take all of these actions.
The company has seven days from the January 19 ruling to comply.
As Portal further points out, some developers in India are very happy with the news. The CEO of MapmyIndia, a mapping service that has had to compete with Google Maps since 2004, said he was “thrilled” by the news. The CEO of Indus OS, a third-party Android app store, called the move a “game changer” and would boost app usage.
It remains to be seen how Google will implement these changes.
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