“Did you hear? On Red Square they’re giving away cars.”
“Not quite. First, it’s not on Red Square but on Dzerzhinsky Square. Second, they’re not cars but bicycles. And third, they’re not giving them away, they’re stealing them.”
I only trust this once they have finally detailed how they will allow "easy sideloading" (See one of the last fdroid news on this, currently google is on track to basically ban sideloading as it exists) and what exactly means "registered app store program".
Why are people thanking Google? That’s like another slap on the face of Epic who burned through their millions to put a (soft) end to Google and Apple’s dominance. They still get to keep a significant cut.
Yep. Spot on. And the reason you know this is true is because the arguments about increasing prices for customers due to App Store fees, which is one of the primary arguments, once removed does not result in price reductions for customers.
It's just big billion dollar corporations deciding on who keeps what cut.
'Google says that developers will be able to offer alternative billing systems alongside its own or "guide users outside of their app to their own websites for purchases." '
Finally. As a de-Googled phone owner I am glad that this will allow alternative payments where I can pay developers directly without Google taking it's protection money.
Am I correct that if you earn less than a million dollar a year and wish to continue using Google services it changes nothing? You will pay 10% service fee + 5% billing fee, the same as the old 15% fee?
Kind of funny to imagine installing the mobile Epic store on a Steam device to get access to the mobile apps that you would otherwise need Google Play Services to access.
I think Amazon finally killed its app store. I wonder if there are any others that have the clout and inclination to register as an alternative app store and actually get developers to bother uploading there.
> Rather than take its standard 30 percent cut of in-app purchases through the Play Store, Google is lowering its cut to 20 percent
> Third-party app stores will be able to apply to the company's new "Registered App Stores" program to see if they meet "certain quality and safety benchmarks."
> users will still be able to sideload alternative app stores that aren't part of the program
Apple can always choose to make less money. That said:
An estimated 98% of App Store developers qualify for Apple's 15% Small Business Program rate.¹ This doesn't help stuggling underdogs like Epic, of course.
App Store developers can now direct customers to alternative payment methods on the web through in-app links.
> For any developers interested in offering their own app store, Google says it'll launch its Registered App Stores program "with a version of a major Android release" before the end of the year. According to the company, the program will be available in other regions first before it comes to the US.
> What's a ballpark figure for what the monthly cost to Fdroid would be to scan all uploaded APKs for security vulnerabilities?
Will the user need to basically add a pubkey for each 3rd party repo? Could they install an APK from Play Store to add the key, or will there be something like the distribution-gpg-keys package?
Google changed the way their are the Gatekeepers. It now is tied to requiring a software developer ID attached to a real person; Developer Verification. [0]
And how side-loading will have to go through ADB versus just allowing the application to be installed by a file manager.
This is why GrapheneOS and /e/OS have been popping up, along with Linux based alternatives.
This is kind of a misleading title. While they "ended" the 30-percent cut, they are keeping a 20-percent cut.
worse title I've seen in a while
Soviet level of journalism...
“Did you hear? On Red Square they’re giving away cars.”
“Not quite. First, it’s not on Red Square but on Dzerzhinsky Square. Second, they’re not cars but bicycles. And third, they’re not giving them away, they’re stealing them.”
The majority of which is going directly to Visa, Amex, Mastercard.
Nah, credit card fees are like 1.5 to 3.5%.
i dont believe any of those companies take anywhere near a 20% cut per transaction
I only trust this once they have finally detailed how they will allow "easy sideloading" (See one of the last fdroid news on this, currently google is on track to basically ban sideloading as it exists) and what exactly means "registered app store program".
Why are people thanking Google? That’s like another slap on the face of Epic who burned through their millions to put a (soft) end to Google and Apple’s dominance. They still get to keep a significant cut.
Epic still deserves all the slaps it gets. They didn't do it for the good of the people. They just want to abuse their own position more efficiently.
Yep. Spot on. And the reason you know this is true is because the arguments about increasing prices for customers due to App Store fees, which is one of the primary arguments, once removed does not result in price reductions for customers.
It's just big billion dollar corporations deciding on who keeps what cut.
Honestly I believe they did it because Tim Sweeney has fuck you money and he got pissed off at Apple.
Google gets a 0% cut on Fortnite purchases in this new model.
It looks like they maintain gatekeeping via the Registered App Store program, where you get to be a kind of trustee while on good behavior.
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/a-new-era-...
'Google says that developers will be able to offer alternative billing systems alongside its own or "guide users outside of their app to their own websites for purchases." '
Finally. As a de-Googled phone owner I am glad that this will allow alternative payments where I can pay developers directly without Google taking it's protection money.
Am I correct that if you earn less than a million dollar a year and wish to continue using Google services it changes nothing? You will pay 10% service fee + 5% billing fee, the same as the old 15% fee?
This together with Valve's work on Fex may mean that Android users will be able to install Steam on their devices
Fex is not coming to Android https://wiki.fex-emu.com/index.php/FAQ
Fex is already running on android, within things like https://github.com/utkarshdalal/GameNative
Kind of funny to imagine installing the mobile Epic store on a Steam device to get access to the mobile apps that you would otherwise need Google Play Services to access.
I think Amazon finally killed its app store. I wonder if there are any others that have the clout and inclination to register as an alternative app store and actually get developers to bother uploading there.
"Welcomes" seems like a stretch.
Very happy to see this end of an era, and no more lock-in of app stores.
Finally have true choice of app stores to install and good news for FDrioid.
How would Google know how much money any app not using their billing system is getting?
> Rather than take its standard 30 percent cut of in-app purchases through the Play Store, Google is lowering its cut to 20 percent
> Third-party app stores will be able to apply to the company's new "Registered App Stores" program to see if they meet "certain quality and safety benchmarks."
> users will still be able to sideload alternative app stores that aren't part of the program
I'll wait to hear how the F-Droid team responds
Can we see this for Apple please?
Apple can always choose to make less money. That said:
An estimated 98% of App Store developers qualify for Apple's 15% Small Business Program rate.¹ This doesn't help stuggling underdogs like Epic, of course.
App Store developers can now direct customers to alternative payment methods on the web through in-app links.
¹ https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/18/21572302/apple-app-store...
Google ends its 30 percent app store fee and starts a 20 percent app store fee instead
Don’t forget it welcomes other app stores in the short term but no indication of a long term guarantee, because that’s how you get good PR.
Source: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/a-new-era-... (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251518)
> For any developers interested in offering their own app store, Google says it'll launch its Registered App Stores program "with a version of a major Android release" before the end of the year. According to the company, the program will be available in other regions first before it comes to the US.
From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37843650 :
> What's a ballpark figure for what the monthly cost to Fdroid would be to scan all uploaded APKs for security vulnerabilities?
Will the user need to basically add a pubkey for each 3rd party repo? Could they install an APK from Play Store to add the key, or will there be something like the distribution-gpg-keys package?
Why now?
Google changed the way their are the Gatekeepers. It now is tied to requiring a software developer ID attached to a real person; Developer Verification. [0]
And how side-loading will have to go through ADB versus just allowing the application to be installed by a file manager.
This is why GrapheneOS and /e/OS have been popping up, along with Linux based alternatives.
[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47251763
Now instead of using the excuse that "Apple does it too" they can use the excuse "Apple does it even worse"
You can thank Epic Games.