You guys are going to love this because Google is finally letting third-party app stores run on Android starting July 22 and it's actually worth talking about in detail instead of just skimming the headline. They launched a Play Catalog Access Program where any US store can pull apps from the official catalog, which means your favorite indie storefront could officially be installed through Play itself now. There's a whole story behind this — Google folded on their "Registered App Stores" plan last week after realizing fighting Epic Games in court was just going to drag things out forever and create uncertainty for everyone. So they pivoted to the Catalog program instead of continuing litigation, which is basically them conceding that walled gardens need some cracks opened up. But here's what you should know: third-party stores have to pay $5000 upfront for security review plus another $5k every year just to use the catalog, and legally they can only distribute those apps in the US — not globally. Plus all downloads still go through Google Play's backend so their fees are always involved somewhere. But on the bright side, app purchase commissions dropped from 30% down to a flat 10%, and developers now have permission to link users directly to their own sites for payments or offer alternative billing methods entirely. It's not total freedom but it is real progress after years of fighting this battle.

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2215452/google-allow-third-party-app-stores-android-july-22/