Even Google thinks sideloading apps on Android is horrible

So much is revealed when court documents are officially unsealed, and in the case of Epic Games’ antitrust lawsuit against Google, we now know that Google has considered purchasing the Fortnite manufacturer outright “quell this threat”. Google also apparently tried to convince Epic Games not to limit Fortnite sideloading on Android devices as it will lead to poor user experience.

In the court documents, which you can download and browse on your own, Epic cites an internal document in which Google called Epic’s plans “contagion” on its business. The company also alleges that “Google is using its size, influence, power and money to push third parties into anti-competitive deals that further strengthen its monopolies.”

There is no public documentation to indicate that Google approached Epic with an offer to buy the games company, nor any clear timeline. Epic CEO Tim McSweeney tweeted in response to The edgethat Google’s plan was “unbeknownst to us at the time”.

Epic also alleges that Google offered it a special offer for the launch Fortnite in the Play Store. While details remain sealed and drafted, the document goes on to describe how senior Google Play officials approached Epic about its plans to restrict Android users from loading the game aside.

An official reached out to Epic’s vice president and co-founder to gauge Epic’s interest in a special offer and, among other things, discussed “the experience of getting Fortnite on Android” via direct download. The manager’s call notes indicate that she viewed the direct download of Fortnite as “downright abysmal” and “a horrible experience,” and that Epic should “be concerned that most don’t get through the 15+ stages. “.

Elsewhere in the document, there are allegations that Google has acknowledged that downloading apps “leads to a [po]or user experience ”because it requires more steps for Android users than installing an app directly from an authenticated app store. A Google employee even reviewed the “installation frictions” that make direct downloading a “bad experience” for users.

Google’s bits at Epic read as a persuasion as to why it should follow the Play Store rules and distribute through it. It is even mentioned that sideloading would prevent users from receiving consistent application updates necessary for game performance and security, ultimately resulting in “significant user confusion.”

Epic Games is to pursue Apple and Google for deletion Fortnite of the two app stores after being banned for using his own in-game payment system. But the deal has become part of an important state antitrust lawsuit against Google, which argues that its general practices are anti-competitive. The side part is intriguing because the ability to install apps outside of official app stores is part of what makes Android more open than Apple’s platforms. But if Google tells app developers that sideloading is awful and pushes them to bring apps to Google Play, well, that’s not exactly in the spirit of openness. For its part, Google denies the allegations and maintains that its ecosystem is open to all developers wishing to distribute apps securely through its app stores.