A US judge has ordered Alphabet's Google to overhaul its mobile app business to give Android users more options to download apps and to pay for transactions within them, following a jury verdict in 2023 for Fortnite maker Epic Games.
The injunction by US District Judge James Donato in San Francisco on Monday outlined the changes Google must undertake to open up its lucrative app store, Play, to greater competition, including making Android apps available from rival sources.
Donato's order said that for three years Google cannot prohibit the use of in-app payment methods and must allow users to download competing third-party Android app platforms or stores.
The order restricts Google from making payments to device makers to pre-install its app store and from sharing revenue generated from the Play store with other app distributors.
Google said in a statement it will appeal the verdict that led to the injunction to the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, and will ask the US courts to pause Donato's order pending appeal.
"Ultimately, while these changes presumably satisfy Epic, they will cause a range of unintended consequences that will harm American consumers, developers and device makers," Google said.
Epic Chief Executive Tim Sweeney posted to X on Monday that Donato's order was "big news" and said his Epic Games Store and other app stores will come to Google Play in 2025.
Sweeney said app developers, store makers and others have three years "to build a vibrant and competitive Android ecosystem with such critical mass that Google can't stop it."
Alphabet shares closed 2.5 per cent lower at $US164.39 ($A243.21) on Monday, following the ruling. Donato said Epic and Google must establish a three-person technical committee to implement and monitor the injunction. Epic and Google each get a pick, and those two members will select the third person.
Donato said his injunction would go into effect on November 1, which he said will give Google time to "bring its current agreements and practices into compliance."
With AAP.
