From Android 12, it will be easier to use other application stores than Google Play on your device.
Today, Google Play is included as standard on Android. Those who also want to use other application stores, for example, F-Droid, often have to install them via a detour, so that less experienced users are primarily tied to Google Play.
That will be from Android 12, which is currently under development, writes The Verge, without security in the behaviour. However, the company does not give further details yet.
Some major brands have been supplying their own application store on their devices for some time now. Although they are usually not filled with the most groundbreaking apps. Other application stores are relatively a niche and do not currently reach too broad an audience.
The question is, therefore, whether Google is doing this to make it easier for developers and users, or to avoid accusations of a monopoly position.
In recent weeks, both Apple and Google have come under fire because apps are obliged to use the payment system of the two when using the App Store or Google Play and often also have to give up a commission that is not always negotiable.
By allowing additional application stores, Google can say that developers are free to access Android through those channels, without having to compromise on its own Play Store, the world’s most popular source of apps.
