A new day has dawned in the Play Store, and it’s one that Google tried very hard to avoid. The first third-party app store has arrived in Google Play as a result of the long-running antitrust lawsuit with Epic. Those in the US can now head into Google Play and download Aptoide, a game-focused store that has been available as a sideloaded client since the early days of Android.
Forcing Google to distribute third-party app stores in Google Play was one of several remedies imposed by Judge James Donato after Epic emerged victorious in 2023. The remedies also included lowering developer fees, mirroring Google Play apps in other app stores, and allowing developers to use alternative payment systems. But it was the app store stipulation that seemed to irk Google the most.
Google almost avoided this outcome when it agreed to a settlement with Epic, which was announced early this year. Under the terms, Google would certify third-party app stores to allow users to install and use them with less friction, but it would not host them in Google Play. However, Google and Epic withdrew the settlement when it appeared the court would not approve it. This Registered App Store program is still slated to launch internationally, but in the US, Google is only doing what it must to comply with the judge’s orders.
There are no sideloading warnings when installing approved app stores.
Credit:
Google / Aptoide
The upshot is that you can now download Aptoide from the Play Store on your Android device from this link. You can install the store just like you would any app—you don’t have to enable sideloading or tap through any scary warnings. Likewise, you can install games via Aptoide just as easily as you can through the Play Store. This is much smoother than the previous sideloading process.
Aptoide’s offerings are currently quite sparse compared to Google’s, but Aptoide CEO Paulo Trezentos confirms the company has access to the full app catalog of 1.9 million apps and 295,000 games, as allowed under the judge’s ruling. More will be added in the future, giving users the option to download much of the same content available in the Play Store. Developers can opt out of this sharing arrangement, but it’s really just another acquisition channel that uses the same versioning and billing as the Play Store, so it’s unlikely many will want to stay Google-only.