Google has been given an emergency stay by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, granting it at least three weeks before it must implement major changes to its Google Play app store and business practices. This follows a ruling against Google in Epic Games' antitrust lawsuit, which required Google to stop forcing use of Google Play Billing and allow developers to link to external payment methods and app downloads. Google is also prohibited from offering financial incentives tied to app exclusivity or preinstallation. However, the most significant changes, such as hosting rival app stores inside Google Play, will not take effect until 2026. Google argues that rushing these changes could expose users and developers to security risks.
