Google announced that Android 12 will make using third-party app stores easier, although Google Play Store apps must still use Google’s payment system.
Google outlines a host of new changes in its developer policies and promises to make using third-party app stores easier on Android 12.
The announcement addresses recent concerns about Android app development, including the struggle over alternative in-app payment systems and the difficulties facing online businesses due to COVID-19.
Android users can already install apps through third-party stores such as Samsung’s Galaxy Store.
Google says that in response to feedback from some developers, it is adding features to next year’s Android 12 release that “will make it easier for people to use other app stores on their devices while taking care not to compromise the safety measures implemented by the Android system.” More details about these changes will be released in the future.
By contrast, Google is not loosening its grip on in-app payments for Google Play Store apps.
“All developers who sell digital goods in their apps are required to use the Google Play billing system,” the company says, and any app that doesn’t already use the system for digital goods will be required to add it by September 30, 2021.
This has been a major point of contention for Epic Games, which pulled Fortnite from the Play Store in August after Epic added support for an alternative billing method.
Fortnite is currently only available through third-party stores and Epic’s website, and it doesn’t look like Google will back down like Apple did – it specifically points to Fortnite as an example of “even if the developer and Google don’t agree on business terms, the developer can use alternative methods but not on the Google Play Store.”
There’s one in-app purchasing category that’s particularly tricky: companies that started letting users sell “virtual” versions of their regular, non-digital offerings during the coronavirus pandemic.
These companies, including Airbnb and ClassPass, complained about being asked to pay fees for a new service on iOS.
Apple has begun waiving these fees in some circumstances, and Google says the good news for these companies is that they won’t have to use Android’s Google Play billing system in the future.
“We realize that the global pandemic has led to many companies having to face the challenges of transitioning their physical business to a digital business and engaging customers in a new way, for example, moving in-person experiences and classes online,” she says. “For the next 12 months, these companies will no longer need to comply with our payments policy, and we will continue to re-evaluate the situation over the next year.”
