{"id":743594,"date":"2026-08-10T21:55:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T18:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/aptoide-becomes-the-first-rival-app-store-to-return-to-google-play-in-the-us\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T21:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T18:55:33","slug":"aptoide-becomes-the-first-rival-app-store-to-return-to-google-play-in-the-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/aptoide-becomes-the-first-rival-app-store-to-return-to-google-play-in-the-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Aptoide becomes the first rival app store to return to Google Play in the US"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p id=\"speakable-summary\" class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Competing Android <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a> stores are now back on Google Play in the U.S., and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/en.aptoide.com\/\">Aptoide<\/a> is the first to take advantage of the new option. On Monday, the Portugal-based app distributor brought its <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s store back to Google Play after more than a decade, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prnewswire.com\/news-releases\/aptoide-returns-to-google-play-after-more-than-a-decade-opening-a-new-chapter-for-competition-on-android-302847083.html\">crediting<\/a> the loosening of restrictions that had been criticized as anticompetitive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the first time in many years, U.S. users will be able to install a competitor to Google\u2019s Android app store directly from Google Play itself, a milestone in terms of opening the app market to more competition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aptoide\u2019s independent app store is one of the larger Android app marketplaces outside of Google Play, offering more than 40,000 Android applications to its roughly 25 million monthly active users. The U.S. has been Aptoide\u2019s largest market to date, but until now, the store had to be sideloaded on Android devices, limiting its reach.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"680\" width=\"424\" src=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?w=424\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3151598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg 600w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=94,150 94w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=187,300 187w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=424,680 424w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=268,430 268w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=449,720 449w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=561,900 561w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=499,800 499w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=417,668 417w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=234,375 234w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=385,617 385w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=331,531 331w, https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Appstore.jpg?resize=31,50 31w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><span class=\"wp-block-image__credits\"><strong>Image Credits:<\/strong>Aptoide<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That changed following U.S. District Judge James Donato\u2019s ruling in the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Epic_Games_v._Google\">Epic Games lawsuit,<\/a> which, among other things, now requires Google to allow the installation of third-party apps from outside the Play Store. As of June 22, 2026, Google began allowing third-party app stores to access Google Play\u2019s app catalog through the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/googleplay\/android-developer\/answer\/17117200?hl=en\">Play Catalog Access Program<\/a>. This allows competitors to access Google Play infrastructure, including its catalog of apps that can be offered to users, while remaining an independent store. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Epic Games first sued Google in 2020, alleging anticompetitive abuses in the Android app ecosystem. A jury trial ruled in Epic\u2019s favor in 2023. Google appealed the ruling, but lost. Earlier this year, the comapny said it would drop Play Store commissions and make it easier for Android users to install alternative app stores.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2026\/08\/10\/aptoide-becomes-the-first-rival-app-store-to-return-to-google-play-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Competing Android app stores are now back on Google Play in the U.S., and Aptoide is the first to take advantage of the new option. On Monday, the Portugal-based app distributor brought its games store back to Google Play after more than a decade, crediting the loosening of restrictions that had been criticized as anticompetitive&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-743594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=743594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743594\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=743594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=743594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=743594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}