Short answer: The US injunction does not simply order Google to run rival app stores on its servers. It creates two related but distinct duties: third-party Android stores must be able to access the Google Play catalog, and apps that are themselves third-party app stores must be allowed to be distributed through Google Play. The restrictions apply in the United States for a three-year period identified by the Ninth Circuit as November 1, 2024, through November 1, 2027, subject to any later court-approved modification.
The injunction has two separate app-store requirements
1. Rival stores can access the Google Play catalog
The permanent injunction says: “Google will permit third-party Android app stores to access the Google Play Store’s catalog of apps so that they may offer the Play Store apps to users.” In practical terms, an eligible rival store can obtain the information needed to present Play-distributed apps in its own storefront and offer those apps to Android users.
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This is a catalog-access remedy. It does not mean Google must operate a competitor’s storefront, copy every Play feature, or give a rival control of Google’s own user interface.
2. Rival app-store software can be distributed through Google Play
The order also addresses the opposite direction of distribution: a third-party app store application may be offered through Google Play. That is different from catalog access. One rule lets a rival store reach Play’s app catalog; the other lets the rival store’s own Android application reach users through Play.
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Calling this “forced hosting” is therefore shorthand. The legal mechanisms concern distribution and catalog access, not a requirement that Google manage or endorse competing stores as if they were Google-owned products.
Where the order applies and how long it lasts
The district court’s permanent injunction applies in the United States. The Ninth Circuit described the covered period as three years, from November 1, 2024, through November 1, 2027. The district court gave Google eight months to implement the technology needed for catalog access.
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The order came from the US District Court for the Northern District of California on October 7, 2024. Its three-year restrictions also cover other conduct affecting Android distribution, not just the two app-store mechanisms.
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Other conduct restricted by the injunction
- Google is restricted from certain exclusivity arrangements involving Android app distribution.
- The order limits certain payments or arrangements connected with preinstalling or excluding competing app stores. The Ninth Circuit specifically noted that, at the time of its opinion, the prohibition on paying smartphone manufacturers not to preinstall Play Store competitors had taken effect while other provisions had been stayed during the appeal.
- Google may not require developers or distributors to use Google Play Billing in the situations covered by the injunction.
These limits are separate from the catalog-access and Play-distribution duties. A store could gain catalog access without receiving relief from every other commercial or billing restriction in the order.
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Google can still apply security rules and charge a cost-based fee
The injunction does not remove Google’s ability to protect users. It permits reasonable security and content measures, so Google can maintain safeguards against malware, abuse, and prohibited material while carrying out the distribution and catalog obligations.
The order also allows a reasonable fee based on Google’s actual costs. The remedy is therefore not necessarily cost-free for participating third-party stores, but the permitted charge must be tied to actual costs rather than functioning as an unrestricted barrier.
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How the case moved through the courts
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| October 7, 2024 | The Northern District of California entered the permanent injunction. |
| November 1, 2024–November 1, 2027 | The Ninth Circuit’s description of the injunction’s three-year period. |
| July 31, 2025 | The Ninth Circuit affirmed the injunction in full, writing, “We uphold the injunction in full.” |
| October 6, 2025 | The Supreme Court denied Google’s application for a partial stay. |
What Google says took effect on July 22, 2026
Google’s current developer-policy page says its Play Catalog Access and Third-party App Store on Play programs took effect on July 22, 2026. Those are Google’s operational labels for implementing the two connected parts of the remedy.
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Play Catalog Access
Google says developers were notified that their listings would be provided to third-party US Android app stores unless they opted out by July 22. That statement describes Google’s policy operation; it does not by itself establish that every rival store has adopted the program or that every Play app appears in every alternative storefront.
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Third-party App Store on Play
This program concerns distribution through Google Play of applications that function as third-party app stores. It is not the same as giving those stores access to Play’s catalog, even though both programs stem from the injunction.
Google’s March 2026 settlement announcement remains procedurally unresolved
Google says it reached a new settlement with Epic on March 4, 2026, and that both parties asked the district court to enter a revised Modified Injunction. The cited policy page does not say whether the district court entered that revision and does not provide final amended terms.
Unless a later court document confirms the change, readers should not assume that the settlement announcement itself altered the injunction’s duration, covered conduct, catalog-access rules, or distribution requirements. The publicly described court rulings and Google’s policy page establish the obligations and implementation claims above, while the final status of any revised injunction remains unresolved on that record.
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- Users: A third-party store may be able to offer apps from the Play catalog, and the store’s own app may be distributed through Play, but Google’s security and content controls still apply.
- App developers: A listing can be made available to participating third-party US Android stores under Google’s catalog-access program unless the developer uses the stated opt-out process.
- Competing stores: They receive a legal path to both catalog access and Play distribution, subject to eligibility, security measures, content rules, and any reasonable actual-cost fee.
- Google: The company remains subject to the injunction’s limits on specified exclusivity, preinstallation, and Play Billing practices during the covered period, unless a later court order changes them.
The core distinction is the one the headline obscures: Google must facilitate access to Play’s catalog and allow rival-store apps to be distributed through Play, but that is not the same as Google operating or endorsing those stores.
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