Google has updated its support pages to confirm that it’s abiding by the court’s order. In the US, Play Store developers now have the option of using external payment platforms that bypass the Play Store entirely. This could hypothetically allow developers to offer lower prices, as they don’t have to pay Google’s commission, which can be up to 30 percent. Devs will also be permitted to direct users to sources for app downloads and payment methods outside the Play Store.
Developers won’t be offering lower prices. They’ll be pocketing more.
It doesn’t mean that it’s a bad outcome, but let’s be careful about saying this actually benefits the consumer.
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I think it’s possible for digital sales, as opposed to subscriptions, might become a viable business model.
Everything is in subscriptions because its possible to mitigate that 30% tax by doing bulk inventory magic and pooling resources. No customer would pay an extra 30% on every individual transaction when they feel that owning something digitally should be cheaper than owning it physically. Thats why Google Play Movies/books/whatever is like pretty much the only pay-for-digital license thing in the play store and all the other 3rd parties are left only giving out rental subscriptions. 30% is simply far too much to add onto every item.
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Exciting news, if I understand this right, this means if more apps use external payment gateways, Aurora store may be all you need on custom ROMs to get your essential paid apps. As they won’t be tied to a google account or gservices to verify them.
Apps may need to add appropriate sdk to process and verify those payments but that’s way better than Google having a monopoly.
Devs will also be permitted to direct users to sources for app downloads and payment methods outside the Play Store.
…until they crack down in a way designed to circumvent the court order.
This is great!
Soooo, does them losing this anti trust lawsuit affect them trying to control app installations at all?
