Aptoide Is Back on Google Play: The First Competing Store Inside Google's US Marketplace

The Portuguese company Aptoide has become the first third-party app store to return to Google Play in the US. On Monday its game store reappeared on Google's platform after an absence of more than a decade. The company itself attributes this to the easing of restrictions that had previously been criticized as anticompetitive.

For the first time in years, American users will be able to install a rival to Android's official store directly from Google Play. It's a notable step toward opening up the app market to greater competition.

What Aptoide Is

Aptoide is one of the largest independent Android app stores outside of Google Play. It offers more than 40,000 apps and serves roughly 25 million monthly active users. The US remains the service's biggest market, yet until now the store had to be installed outside the official platform (through sideloading), which limited its reach.

Where Epic Games Comes In

The change was made possible by a ruling from District Judge James Donato in the Epic Games lawsuit. Among other things, it requires Google to allow the installation of third-party apps from sources beyond the Play Store. On June 22, 2026, Google began opening up access to the Google Play app catalog for third-party stores through the Play Catalog Access Program. It lets competitors use Google Play's infrastructure, including its app catalog, while remaining independent stores.

Epic Games first sued Google in 2020, accusing the company of abuses in the Android app market. In 2023 a jury sided with Epic. Google appealed the ruling but lost. Earlier this year the company said it would drop Play Store commissions and make it easier for Android users to install alternative app stores.

Source: TechCrunch