New Delhi: Tech giant Google is once again under legal fire, this time from Portuguese app store operator Aptoide, which has accused the company of maintaining an illegal monopoly over Android app distribution. The case has been filed in a US federal court in San Francisco and accuses Google of unfairly limiting competition by preferring its own Play Store and billing systems.

Aptoide has over 436,000 apps and serves over 200 million users per year and claims that Google policy has hampered its development and restricted its competitiveness. The company asserts that it would otherwise have been able to offer more competition with a reduced fee and superior deals to a developer and the user without such restrictions.

Aptoide alleges “Anticompetitive Chokehold”

Aptoide, in its complaint, asserts that Google is encouraging developers to move to the Google Play Store by preloading it with the basic services on Android devices. The company claims that this establishes a system of alternative app stores that can hardly get visibility and trust among users.

Aptoide even accuses Google of exerting more control over the ecosystem by controlling in-app billing systems. The lawsuit claims that such two-fold control of distribution and payments is against the US antitrust laws and is detrimental to healthy competition. The company has filed an injunction to eliminate these practices and triple damages on the losses it alleges to have suffered.

Long-standing dispute resurfaces

It is not the first occasion when Aptoide has been concerned with the dominance of Google. In 2014, the company had lodged a complaint with the European Union regulators, citing similar problems. It now asserts that the policies and security procedures of Google have been perpetually unfavourable to third-party app stores and have caused the loss of a lot of users in the long run.

The new lawsuit rekindles those issues, Aptoide claiming that it has been the victim of unrepairable damage as a result of what it refers to as unjust market circumstances.

Google’s antitrust battles continue

Google has already been seriously questioned on its app store practices. In 2023, a federal jury decided in favour of Epic Games in a historic case, declaring that Google had illegally ensured a monopoly on Android-based app distribution and billing systems. The case resulted in some crucial policy modifications and a more pervasive influence on the industry.

Subsequently, in December 2025, Google settled the claims of US states and other jurisdictions with similar claims against Google to the tune of $700 million. Opponents cited that the practices of the company resulted in increased prices and fewer options to customers.

What this means for android users and developers?

The success of the lawsuit Aptoide brings forward may further transform the Android ecosystem, according to industry analysts. Successfully, it can create access to more third-party app stores, a greater amount of competition, and possibly reduce expenses for developers and consumers.

Aptoide believes that the last changes were not enough. The company claims that there should be more legal action to even the playing field in Android app distribution.

With increasing legal pressure, the issue of Google controlling its app ecosystem is again under scrutiny, but with consequences that potentially have far-reaching implications on the global mobile market.