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Ofline
Mar 4, 2026, 6:09 PM UTC
Sean Hollister is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
In November, Epic and Google jointly proposed a settlement that would change Android’s fate globally without cracking open Google’s Android monopoly quite the way it otherwise might. Today, Google has decided it’s not waiting for that settlement to be approved: it’s moving forward with many of its proposed changes right now, rolling them out globally through 2027.
By June 30th, Google writes, it will lower its app store fees in the US, UK, and European Economic Area to 20 percent or less, down from 30 percent. By the end of the year, it will launch a “Registered App Stores” program outside of the US, so that you can download and install third-party app stores (like the Epic Games Store) from the web without the friction that Google erected previously.
Google will also let app developers offer their own billing systems “alongside Google Play’s billing,” and so it’s separating its billing fees from its service fees in the calculations you’ll see below.
Here is the breakdown and example images of lower app store fees, according to Google, though you’ll note some involve signing up for specific programs whose terms have not yet been disclosed:
And here’s the timeline that Google is sharing for fee changes to roll out:
With Registered App Stores, another distinct program run by Google, the company is promising a relatively frictionless experience for sideloading those stores onto your Android device. It appears like this in court documents:
To be clear, “Registered App Stores” is not what a US court has ordered Google to create in the United States — Google must instead carry rival app stores inside of its own Google Play Store, and give them access to the full catalog of Android apps so they can meaningfully gain ground against Google’s prior monopoly.
“Enabling robust competition, can, we think, be accomplished by letting apps go through this Registered App Store program and be installed,” Google Android boss Sameer Samat tells The Verge. But he says that Google is still complying with Judge Donato’s original injunction until or unless he agrees to substitute Registered App Stores for store-within-a-store and catalog access.
You won’t get both Registered App Stores and store-within-a-store, Epic and Google say. Outside the US, you’ll be able to download Registered App Stores from the web; inside the US, Google will prepare to carry rival stores within its own store unless Judge Donato changes his mind.
Epic, which quietly negotiated a secret $800 million deal with Google before the proposed settlement, is applauding the changes. But they are nuanced, some may be controversial, and while Epic and Google both say these changes settle the companies’ disputes worldwide — “We are also excited to announce that we’ve resolved all our disputes with Epic Games globally!” writes Android boss Sameer Samat — both companies are still in court in the US where a judge has already ordered more to be done.
We’ve just spent time on a call with Samat and Sweeney to discuss the changes, and are adding to this story right now.
Developing… we’re adding more to this story right now.
Jay PetersAn hour ago
Sean HollisterTwo hours ago
Sean HollisterJan 22
Sean Hollister is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
In November, Epic and Google jointly proposed a settlement that would change Android’s fate globally without cracking open Google’s Android monopoly quite the way it otherwise might. Today, Google has decided it’s not waiting for that settlement to be approved: it’s moving forward with many of its proposed changes right now, rolling them out globally through 2027.
By June 30th, Google writes, it will lower its app store fees in the US, UK, and European Economic Area to 20 percent or less, down from 30 percent. By the end of the year, it will launch a “Registered App Stores” program outside of the US, so that you can download and install third-party app stores (like the Epic Games Store) from the web without the friction that Google erected previously.
Google will also let app developers offer their own billing systems “alongside Google Play’s billing,” and so it’s separating its billing fees from its service fees in the calculations you’ll see below.
Here is the breakdown and example images of lower app store fees, according to Google, though you’ll note some involve signing up for specific programs whose terms have not yet been disclosed:
And here’s the timeline that Google is sharing for fee changes to roll out:
With Registered App Stores, another distinct program run by Google, the company is promising a relatively frictionless experience for sideloading those stores onto your Android device. It appears like this in court documents:
To be clear, “Registered App Stores” is not what a US court has ordered Google to create in the United States — Google must instead carry rival app stores inside of its own Google Play Store, and give them access to the full catalog of Android apps so they can meaningfully gain ground against Google’s prior monopoly.
“Enabling robust competition, can, we think, be accomplished by letting apps go through this Registered App Store program and be installed,” Google Android boss Sameer Samat tells The Verge. But he says that Google is still complying with Judge Donato’s original injunction until or unless he agrees to substitute Registered App Stores for store-within-a-store and catalog access.
You won’t get both Registered App Stores and store-within-a-store, Epic and Google say. Outside the US, you’ll be able to download Registered App Stores from the web; inside the US, Google will prepare to carry rival stores within its own store unless Judge Donato changes his mind.
Epic, which quietly negotiated a secret $800 million deal with Google before the proposed settlement, is applauding the changes. But they are nuanced, some may be controversial, and while Epic and Google both say these changes settle the companies’ disputes worldwide — “We are also excited to announce that we’ve resolved all our disputes with Epic Games globally!” writes Android boss Sameer Samat — both companies are still in court in the US where a judge has already ordered more to be done.
We’ve just spent time on a call with Samat and Sweeney to discuss the changes, and are adding to this story right now.
Developing… we’re adding more to this story right now.
Jay PetersAn hour ago
Sean HollisterTwo hours ago
Sean HollisterJan 22