US judge orders Google to open its Android app store to competition

The judge’s order will also make the millions of Android apps in the Play Store library accessible to rivals (Alamy/PA)

A federal judge on Monday ordered Google to tear down the digital walls shielding its Android app store from competition as a punishment for maintaining an illegal monopoly that helped expand the company’s internet empire.

The injunction issued by US district judge James Donato will require Google to make several changes that the California company had been resisting, including a provision that will require its Play Store for Android apps to distribute rival third-party app stores so consumers can download them to their phones if they desire.