You should probably expect to see some changes happening to Google Play in the near future, as Google has just lost its appeal in an antitrust case brought forward by Epic Games. This means the company is going to have to make some serious changes to its app store policies (via Bloomberg).
The ruling comes from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the most important part of it is that the Google Play Store needs to lift restrictions that make it harder for rival app stores to operate. Android may be a more open system than iOS, in terms of app installation, but the strict app store policies were never exclusive to Apple.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh said that increased third-party billing systems are the bigger problem for Google — estimating that it could be "a $1-$1.5 billion drag on the company's gross profits."
Google is not particularly happy about the ruling, naturally. "This decision will significantly harm user safety, limit choice, and undermine the innovation that has always been central to the Android ecosystem," said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s vice president for regulatory affairs.
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