Tag: Play Store

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Mobile Syrup

Android apps will need to let users delete their accounts and data

Soon, Android apps that let you make an account will also have to let you delete the account and its data from both the app and website.

According to a blog post on the Android Developers Blog (via Engadget), Google hopes to create “a more intuitive experience” and ” better educate our shared users on the data controls available to them.”

Along with providing the option to delete your account and data, developers will need to wipe data for an account when users request the account be deleted. And the web requirements are intended to help ensure users don’t need to reinstall an app just to delete their account.

The policy won’t come into effect right away, though. According to the blog, developers will have until December 7th to answer questions about data deletion in apps’ safety forms, and Play Store listing will start showing the changes in early 2024. Developers can also file for an extension until May 31st, 2023.

It’s worth noting Apple made a similar change with the App Store a couple of months ago.

The move to require account and data deletion is part of a wider concern about privacy violations and, as Engadget notes, perhaps a response to growing regulatory efforts in the U.S. to give consumers control over accounts and services (though that might focus more on subscriptions).

Source: Android Developers Blog Via: Engadget

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Mobile Syrup

Here’s why Apple’s App Store is better than Google’s Play Store

For most of us, the App Store on iOS or the Play Store on Android is where we download our apps.

Even though Android supports side-loading, unlike iOS, most users still download their apps directly from Google’s marketplace. Recently, there has been a lot of conversation around the potential of the European Union requiring Apple to allow third-party app stores on iOS, similar to Android and macOS. 

Admittedly, I have my frustrations with Apple’s App Store, primarily with the company’s decision to include ads within the store. Yet, for many reasons, I prefer the idea of Apple’s managed marketplace over the concept of side-loading.

This prompted a thought, how does an app store on a platform without side-loading compare to a platform with side-loading? 

App Store Overviews

Here are some facts you likely already know. The App Store is Apple’s app marketplace available on all of the company’s operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS. Mind you, there are not the same app offerings between all platforms. For this piece, I’m focusing on the App Store available on iOS and iPadOS, specifically.

Meanwhile, the “Play Store” is the app marketplace managed by Google and comes available by default on all Android devices. The main difference between iOS and Android is that Android allows a process called “side-loading.” This is where a user can download an app from a source outside the Play Store, such as from the internet or another app store. You’re likely familiar with the concept of a third-party app store if you use Setapp on your Mac or Steam on your Windows PC. 

App Store Benefits

Both the App Store and Play Store provide numerous user benefits over side-loading.

1. Automatic Updates. True, most side-loaded apps have an automatic update process, but that likely requires some background item, and frankly, I rarely find they work well. Instead, apps downloaded from the App Store or Play Store get controlled updates to minimize disruption to your day and protect system resources.

2. Saved Payment Information. No one enjoys typing in their payment information over and over again. A unified marketplace has the benefit of remembering your payment information for any app purchase instead of typing it in on every vendor’s website.

3. Simple Refund Processes. Both Apple and Google act as middlemen in the app purchasing process. A developer may be incentivized to not refund you if you are dissatisfied with your purchase or, even worse, if a malicious app doesn’t provide the functionality you paid for. Apple and Google have simple (albeit hard-to-find) processes for refund requests. In my personal experience, Apple is pretty generous with providing refunds, providing you delete the app before requesting the refund.

4. Unified Marketplace. Search for any app in the App Store or Play Store, and you’ll likely find it. On iOS, this isn’t surprising, being that it’s the only app store allowed on the platform. Yet, on Android, apps still opt to be in the Play Store to ensure users can easily find them, as directing users elsewhere is often too inconvenient.

5. Clean Removal. When deleting an app on iOS, you can be assured that no “cruft” will be left on your device. This is in contrast to where apps on macOS and Android, even when deleted, can still leave bits and pieces on your device. Sometimes these bits only take up storage, while other times, they impact the device’s performance.

6. App Reviews. Most consumers read reviews before making a purchase. This is often true for new apps too. Both the App Store and Play Store have product reviews written by real users. Compared to visiting a developer’s website, where they will likely only show you positive reviews about their product.

8. Gift Cards. Don’t want to use your credit card? Both Apple and Google have gift cards that can be purchased from your local retailer. Gift cards are a low-risk and secure way of buying apps for yourself or younger children.

9. App Privacy Information. Both app stores provide privacy information on the apps within their marketplace. This is nice for users like myself that consider if an app is worth downloading based on the data it collects and uses to track.

Platform Unification

Having the largest platform isn’t necessarily a great thing if there is no uniformity. One reason Android appeals to so many device manufacturers is that you can basically throw it on any device with any sized screen. The challenge here comes to app developers when they have to adjust their app’s layout and design to accommodate nearly endless displays and form factors. This is especially apparent with foldables, where most apps aren’t optimized for the larger-size displays.

On the other hand, many developers find efficiency in developing for the Apple platform because of its reasonably limited number of displays and pretty consistent aspect ratios. On top of having fewer device formats, Apple developers have to use more concise developing languages, including Objective-C, Swift, and SwiftUI.

Meanwhile, Android developers can use Java, C, C++, and Kotlin. While I am not a developer, I recently read a developer claim that a feature took less than forty lines of code to implement on iOS, whereas it took 500+ to implement on Android. Considering both display sizing variables and overall lines of code, you can see how a developer could save a lot of time working on a project for iOS over Android.

Monetization

Say a developer thought, “well, even if an app takes longer to develop for Android than iOS, surely I’ll make that money back because Android is a massively larger platform, right?” Sadly or not, the answer is no. While Android takes a whopping 70 percent of the international smartphone market share compared to iOS’s 28 percent, iOS users spend twice as much as Android users on apps, in-app purchases, and subscriptions. 

One report found that Android users value free apps much more than iOS users. Android users tend to skew older and in a lower income bracket. Where iOS users tend to be more affluent, skew younger, and have more disposable income. This translates into Apple making nearly twice as much as Google from app store revenues despite having almost a third of its market share.

App Availability

It’s hard to blame a developer for being attracted to Apple’s platforms over Android if it means they can access a market more willing to spend money and a platform requiring less overall development time. As a result, many of the best third-party apps are iOS only. Even if they do come to Android, it’s after they’ve had a successful run on iOS first. We saw this scenario play out with Super Mario Run several years ago. 

In fact, the most popular third-party podcasting app (after Apple Podcasts, Google, and Spotify), Overcast, is iOS only. Recently, the developer of Overcast said that despite the odd person asking for an Android app, there isn’t nearly enough incentive to develop an Android version. 

As a one-man development team, Overcast on iOS provides a good living for him. Working on an Android app would require him to take away time from iOS to learn Android development or hire an Android developer. It simply isn’t worth it. 

App Quality

Another tricky part about the Google Play Store is that it has over 3.5 million apps. This is compared to Apple’s App Store on iOS, with around 1.6 million apps. In most cases, you’d assume quantity is better. After all, more choices. However, once again, this isn’t the case. 

It’s widely known in the developer community that Apple has some pretty strict guidelines for user interface, app usefulness, and uniqueness. Around 40 percent of all app rejections are due to apps not being completed enough to Apple’s standards. Additionally, Apple has content moderation guidelines and other rules that developers must follow to publish to the App Store. 

Compare this to Google: other than not being allowed to have illegal, nudity, or malware, you’re pretty much free to publish anything. As a result, the Play Store is full of similarly looking, similarly functioning, or half-finished apps. It’s not hard to argue that apps on iOS are typically better designed, more performant, and sometimes even more functional than their Android counterparts. 

Security

Credit where credit is due, neither Apple nor Google does a perfect job moderating their app stores. Security controls are an area I hope to see both platforms improve upon to help keep users secure. Both marketplaces push submitted apps through automated scans that check for malware, copyrighted material, nudity, and general guideline compliance. 

However, Google typically has a lower bar for security and privacy than Apple. After all, Apple is far better respected for its stance on platform security and privacy. For starters, app reviews conducted by Google are typically faster than Apple, which often takes around 48 hours and seems to have a much higher rejection rate. 

Next, Apple requires apps to respect a feature called “Sandboxing.” Even on macOS, where apps can run outside of being Sandboxed, the app must be sandboxed to be listed on the App Store. 

Sandboxing is where an app must work within the confines of its own dedicated space. It cannot access or control another app or piece of data on the device. This is great for security but can lead to some limited feature sets. On iOS, Sandboxing is what allows the platform to maintain being so secure. In contrast, both macOS and Android have much higher levels of malware. 

While both platforms require developers to submit privacy information for their apps to inform users what data is being collected and used to track them, Apple is better known for implementing privacy-focused features. Some of these features inform users about app network traffic, accessing the device’s clipboard, using the microphone, and activating the camera. In situations where Apple does collect data, it is all anonymized and as much processing as possible is done on-device instead of being sent to a cloud. 

Even Apple’s developer fee acts as a small barrier to protecting quality. Google’s developer fee is only $25 compared to Apple’s $100. Many might say that Google is more accessible because of its price. This is true. However, spending that $100 on Apple compared to one-fourth of the cost on Google makes a person feel more invested in the platform, making them want to make sure they get the most out of their investment. 

Cross Platform Availability

With the release of Windows 11, Android apps can run on Windows at least in some capacity. And, of course, there are Android tablets and Android wear devices. However, bang for your buck is another area I’d say Apple wins here. A single purchase or subscription can unlock a single app for iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and macOS.

Although, not every app developer allows for a single purchase for all platforms. For example, Reeder, an RSS reader, has one purchase for iOS and iPadOS, whereas macOS is a separate buy. But it’s the fact that a developer can bundle multiple app versions into one or two purchase prices that make for a pleasant user experience. Apple Silicon Mac users can sometimes benefit from downloading an app’s iOS version and running it natively. 

Plus, there’s no app license limit if you own multiple Apple devices. You can continue to download the app across all of your devices. Even family members can benefit from your purchase. Family sharing allows family members to download a paid app at no additional cost once bought by another member through a feature called Purchase Sharing. Developers have to opt into Purchase Sharing. However, the majority do. 

Support

Finally, I want to address support for each platform. Have you ever tried contacting Google support? Don’t bother. It basically does not exist. This lack of customer support has frustrated Android users who need refunds or Play Store-related support. 

Meanwhile, Apple has a phone number, 1-800-MY-APPLE, where support agents can transfer you to the iTunes support team to assist with refund or support requests. Being able to talk to a human can go a long way in having happier customers. 

The fact is, if you have a free app that you want on as many devices as possible, Android is likely the platform for you to develop. However, if you want to prioritize development time and revenue, iOS is likely the platform for you.

As a user, both platforms have their merits, but I’ll be sticking with the App Store and Apple ecosystem, at least for a while longer. 

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Play Store API update to help developers separate real users from bots

The world’s most used application store, Google’s Play Store, doesn’t just take the number one spot because of the Android market share but also because a majority of developers want to build games and applications for it.

The Play Store’s UI is not just user-friendly, but also intuitive for developers to manage their applications. As an added feature, Google is adding the ability for developers to distinguish real users from bots on its apps and games, as reported by Android Police.

Google announced the Play Integrity API for app developers at its annual I/O event in 2022. “The Play Integrity API helps protect your apps and games from potentially risky and fraudulent interactions, allowing you to respond with appropriate actions to reduce attacks and abuse such as fraud, cheating, and unauthorized access,” according to Google.

As part of the API, which is set to replace Google’s current ‘SafetyNet’ sometime in 2024, Play Store users would be categorized depending on their activity. The categories include: ACTIVITY_LEVEL_UNSPECIFIED, UNEVALUATED, UNUSUAL, UNKNOWN, TYPICAL_BASIC, and TYPICAL_STRONG.

Subsequently, Google Play will provide a signal that will help developers differentiate between “likely genuine” and “likely non-genuine” traffic on their apps and games.

Although this feature update serves no benefits to the end user, it does make help developers gauge the traffic on its apps, and is a constant reminder of the upgrades being added to the Play Integrity API. However, on the user front, Google is looking to place ads directly in the Play Store Search bar.

Source: @MishaalRahman Via: Android Police

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Google’s new Play Store policies include restrictions on fullscreen ads

Google has outlined several policy changes heading to the Play Store later this year, impacting everything from fullscreen ads to subscriptions and more.

While many changes will only impact app developers, some will also change things up for consumers. You can check out all the new changes on the Play Console Help page, but we’ll run through them quickly below.

Fullscreen ads

First and foremost, Google will implement new restrictions on when apps can display fullscreen ads starting September 30th. Unfortunately, the change doesn’t remove these types of ads altogether, but the policy does say “unexpected” fullscreen ads are no longer allowed.

What that really means is fullscreen ads that would interrupt regular use of the app are no longer allowed — for example, ads popping up when an app first loads, while you’re playing a game, or scrolling through content. However, fullscreen ads are still allowed in other circumstances, such as when users opt-in (for example, when a game offers users a reward for watching an ad).

Google will also permit fullscreen ads at appropriate times, like after a round or level in a game, or before a video. That said, fullscreen ads must be skippable within 15-seconds (again, excluding opt-in ads where users choose to view them).

Arguably, these changes should apply to those pesky YouTube ads that appear in the middle of a video, but these changes don’t apply to that.

Health misinformation

Next up, Google adjusted Play policies around apps featuring health misinformation. Android Police notes that these have always been a problem for the Play Store, but the pandemic exacerbated it. Google now says that apps containing “misleading health claims that contradict existing medical consensus, or cause harm to users” are no longer allowed on the Play Store.

The new rule will go into effect on August 31st, although Google has more or less enforced a version of this for the last few years.

Subscriptions, impersonation, and more

The rest of the changes are much smaller in comparison, and likely users will feel the impact less. First is a change to the subscription policy that requires apps to include an accessible method for cancelling or managing subscriptions. Google doesn’t seem to care how the option is made available — it can use an in-app page, website, Google Play billing, etc. — as long as there’s a way for users to manage their subscription.

Example of impersonation apps. Image credit: Google

Another new policy will attempt to curb impersonation apps starting August 31st. This will target apps that try to impersonate other well-known apps, such as by copying app icons or names.

Google’s new policies also crack down on ‘stalkerware,’ a scary name for monitoring apps, such as those offered to parents to manage kids’ digital experiences (for example, content blockers). The policy change now requires these apps to offer clear disclosures about data privacy on the Play Store, as well as include the ‘IsMonitoringTool’ flag in the metadata file so that systems recognize when users install these apps. Developers have until November 1st to implement these changes.

Finally, Google will introduce new policies around apps with special permissions, like accessibilities tools, to improve security and privacy without hampering functionality.

You can review all the new changes here.

Source: Google Via: Android Police

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Google walks back Play Store Data Safety change

Google churned up some ire last week when it rolled out a new ‘Data Safety’ section that replaced the permissions list on the Play Store. The change meant users could no longer check the permissions an app needed before installing it.

In a tweet from the Android Developers account, Google acknowledged the “feedback” it received and “decided to reinstate [the permissions section].”

Going forward, permissions and Data Safety will live side-by-side on the Play Store in a best-of-both-worlds solution. The Data Safety section was intended as an evolution of the old permissions list, offering expanded information about why developers need certain data.

For example, the old permissions list would simply say whether an app would request a permission — for example, location access — but not why. Data Safety, on the other hand, requires developers to add explanations for the data shared and collected by an app, and the purpose of sharing or collecting that data. Moreover, the section can include information about whether the app encrypts data, and if users have the ability to request that developers delete said data.

Both sections feature helpful information. Although some information overlaps, neither section is a replacement for the other. Maintaining both is ideal. Now Google just needs to figure out a way to enforce adding correct, useful information to the Data Safety section.

Currently, that falls on developers to do — many either haven’t added information or added barebones details with basic explanations like “data is collected for app functionality.” Unfortunately, that’s not particularly helpful for anyone involved.

Google says the permissions section will return to the Play Store “shortly.”

Source: Android Developers (Twitter) Via: Android Police

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Google introduces new Play Store policy, banning third-party call recording apps

Google is seemingly banning all third-party call recording apps from the Play Store in the imminent future. As a part of an upcoming Google Play Store policy change, apps can no longer use the ‘Accessibility’ API for call recording on Google Play Store.

While intentionally designed for people with disabilities, some apps utilize Accessibility API to gain audio functions of an Android device. In Google’s pursuit of stopping call recordings on Android, the company is banning the use of Accessibility Service for call recordings, according to a Reddit user.

As per the updated Play Store policy guidelines, Google states, “Apps with a core functionality intended to directly support people with disabilities are eligible to use the IsAccessibilityTool.” However, “Apps not eligible for IsAccessibilityTool may not use the flag and must meet prominent disclosure and consent requirements. The Accessibility API is not designed and cannot be requested for remote call audio recording.”

Since the heyday of Android 6, Google has been incrementally working on eliminating call recording from third-party apps. This was largely a success during that era. Upon the advent of Android 10, Google banned the microphone for call recording. Now, Accessibility API use is the last peg on the ladder.

During a webinar video, Google discussed the topic at hand. “Remote in this context refers to call audio recording where the person on the other end is unaware of the recording is taking place.”

Google is removing third-party apps from the Play Store. However, apps such as Google Phone and Mi Dialer will not experience any changes. Both apps feature native call recording features.

Privacy and maintaining user security are undoubtedly important. Though, call recording functionality can often be a legitimate practice for many of Google’s users and businesses. Striking a balance between offering solutions from trusted sources will go a long way for users.

Source: Reddit, Via: Engadget

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Google bans apps with reported data-harvesting code

Google has banned a variety of apps after finding that they were secretly harvesting data, according to The Wall Street Journal. The report indicates that research found that weather apps, highway radar apps, QR scanners, prayer apps and others used a code to harvest a user’s precise location, email, phone numbers and more.

Reportedly, the scanning information was made by Measurement System, a company that’s said to be linked to a Virginia defence contractor that does cyber-intelligence for US national security agencies. The company has denied the allegations.

Researchers Serge Egelman from UC Berkeley and Joel Reardon from the University of Calgary were the first to discover the code. The two researchers spoke to federal regulators, Google and WSJ to confirm that the coding is best described as malware.

Additionally, Measurement Systems reportedly paid developers to add its SDKs to the apps. Then, the developers would get the money and receive information about their user base. The app was reportedly downloaded to at least 60 million mobile devices. An app developer said to WSJ that he was told that the app was collecting data on behalf of ISPs, financial services and energy companies. Further, Measurement Systems said it wanted data mainly from the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia.

Google pulled the apps from the Play Store; however, the researchers say the code already exists on millions of devices. However, they found that the SDK stopped collecting user data after their findings went public.

Measurement Systems told WSJ  “the allegations you make about the company’s activities are false. Further, we are not aware of any connections between our company and U.S. defense contractors nor are we aware of… a company called Vostrom. We are also unclear about what Packet Forensics is or how it relates to our company.”

Source: The Wall Street Journal

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Google’s upcoming Play Store changes make it easier to find good apps for tablets

Google announced plans to tweak the Play Store for people with big screen devices to make it easier to find quality apps that work well for large displays like tablets, foldables, or Chromebooks.

The announcement came via a post on Google’s Developers blog. The search giant says it will change how the Play Store ranks and promotes apps, how it displays reviews, alert messages and more.

On devices with big screens, the Play Store will use new logic for ranking and featuring apps that accounts for features like support for different device orientations, keyboard support, and more. The changes should prioritize high-quality apps in rankings.

“This will affect how apps are surfaced in search results and recommendations on the homepage, with the goal of helping users find the apps that are best optimized for their device,” Google explained in the blog post.

The search giant also said it planned to deepen investment in editorial content across Play “to highlight apps that have been optimized for large screens.”

As for reviews, Google plans to tweak the Play Store so it surfaces reviews for similar device types to what you’re using. In other words, Play will show smartphone users reviews left by other smartphone users, while tablet users will see reviews from other tablets users.

Finally, Google said it would change alerts that appear on apps that don’t meet compatibility requirements for large screen devices. The idea is that the alert will give users a better idea of how an app will run on their device after they install it, but Google didn’t provide much detail beyond that it will share more information later in 2022.

The changes to Play Store come as Google develops several improvements for large screen devices, such as the Android 12L update focused on improving the Android experience for tablets and foldables. What’s particularly interesting about the effort is that Google doesn’t make any tablets, foldables, and only one Chromebook (from 2019).

In other words, the company has virtually no skin in the large-screen game — could the work to improve these parts of the Android experience herald new big-screen devices from Google? Perhaps a return of the much-loved Nexus 7 (Pixel 7?) or maybe even a Pixel foldable? Only time will tell.

Source: Google Via: The Verge

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Finally, Google is redesigning the Play Store website

Finally! Google is reportedly redesigning the web version of the Play Store, a change that’s been a long time coming.

Android Police reports that the redesign is part of a server-side switch and isn’t widely available yet. Some people have had luck changing their Play Store to a different location (Korea and Taiwan reportedly work, although I couldn’t replicate it myself).

Regardless, Google redesigned Play Store goes from the old look (from the early days of Material Design) to what appears to be the current Play Store design blown up for larger displays. It generally looks good, although it really does look like the mobile Play Store stretched out for big screens on individual app pages.

Beyond that, there’s not a lot to say about the new Play Store design beyond that it’s modern, for better and worse. There’s now a navigation bar along the top for switching between apps and games. The Google account switcher in the top-right corner now hides a menu with access to subscriptions, order history and more.

The Games page features auto-playing trailers, there are scrollable screenshot galleries and more. Unfortunately, some aspects of the new design don’t work, likely due to the Play Store redesign being a work-in-progress still.

While I’m certainly excited for a refreshed Play Store website, I’m not sure how significant of a change it’ll be. I really only use the Play Store site to grab links to apps and games when I want to include them in stories I write for MobileSyrup — which, frankly, happens a lot.

In other words, your average user might not spend much time messing around with Play Store on the web. Regardless, the updated design is a move in the right direction and should further help unify Google’s web products.

Source: Android Police

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Google created a ‘Fortnite Task Force’ after Epic launched game outside the Play Store

Epic Games responded to Google’s countersuit over Fortnite on Android Monday, citing details about the search giant’s ‘Fortnite Task Force’ intended to deter developers from following Epic and launching apps and games outside the Play Store.

As a quick refresher, Epic Games — the company behind the massively popular Fortnite game — sued Google after the company removed Fortnite from the Play Store. The move came after Epic pushed out an update to the game that gave players the option to buy in-game items through Google’s payment system or directly from Epic at a reduced price. Epic also sued Apple for similar reasons. The focus so far has been on whether the app stores offered by Apple and Google are monopolies, with Epic using some more contentious store policies to support the argument.

The Apple trial has been the central stage of conflict between developers and the companies behind some of the largest digital storefronts. Following the verdict in the Epic v. Apple suit — which mostly came down in Apple’s favour, although the judge did require Apple to permit developers to offer alternate payment options — the spotlight has shifted to the Google lawsuit.

Google’s task force used a security issue to deter sideloading Fortnite

In October, Google countersued Epic, claiming the game-maker intentionally breached its developer contract with the Fortnite update that added an alternate payment method. However, in a filing on Monday, Epic responded by highlighting Google’s alleged efforts to control Android app distribution with the ‘Fortnite Task Force.’

Bloomberg reported that Google created the task force in 2018 — as a reminder, Epic originally released Fortnite outside of Google’s Play Store. People who wanted to download the game needed to install it from Epic’s website (in a process known as sideloading) or if they had a Samsung smartphone, could install it through Samsung’s Galaxy Store.

Epic cited internal Google documents in the filing, which alleged that the task force used a potential security problem with Fortnite to put the game in a bad light. When someone finds a security issue, standard practice is to give the developer 90 days to patch the problem before publicizing the details. However, Epic alleges that Google’s task force took the information to “friendlies” in the media within nine days.

Further, Epic accused Google of rushing to get the word out in the filing, saying the company wanted to “deter developers from launching outside of Google Play and maintain Google’s monopoly over Android app distribution.”

Google responded in a statement Monday. The search giant defended its actions, saying it took steps to protect users from the security flaw and doubled down on the accusation that Epic released Fortnite with security vulnerabilities.

However, Epic’s filing also alleged that Google’s software engineers thought the security warnings were overblown. In one email, the head of Android security wrote that the message “really does seem inappropriately dire.”

Task force was one of many alleged efforts to keep the Play Store on top

It’s also worth noting that Google’s ‘Fortnite Task Force’ isn’t far from the only measure the company took to keep apps and games on the Play Store. Previous details from other court filings — including from this same Epic Games case — show Google engaged in several anti-competitive practices. The company allegedly paid off developers to keep their software on the Play Store, created revenue share agreements with Android phone makers that prevented them from installing their own app stores and forced OnePlus to abandon a deal with Epic to pre-install Fortnite on the company’s phones.

Other court documents accuse Google of knowing the Android sideloading process was bad and trying to buy Epic to make the Fortnite problem disappear. Another report suggested Google tried to keep Netflix using its in-app billing system by offering the streaming company a special deal.

All the while, Google has defended itself by pointing to Android’s openness — specifically, the fact that Android allows users to sideload apps from anywhere. But, as court documents have repeatedly demonstrated, Google actively worked against that openness by trying to deter third-party app stores and sideloading.

Source: Bloomberg