By Sean Hollister
Publication Date: 2026-01-22 18:55:00
Today, I am sitting in the courtroom that may decide the fate of Android. Epic CEO Tim Sweeney is here. Google Android boss Sameer Samat is here. Together, they’ll try to convince Judge James Donato that they’re no longer enemies — that Google’s illegal monopoly on Android app stores can be resolved with a mutual settlement instead of the consequences the judge had ordered. And I’ll be posting anything interesting I hear live in this Verge StoryStream.
Now, Epic and Google are giving Judge Donato two different options. If he approves the settlement as-is, Google will agree to reduce its app store fees globally, not just in the United States, making app development a better job prospect around the world, and create a Registered App Stores program where rival app stores could make it onto Android without gobs of friction — but where those stores might still be under Google’s thumb and have to pay complicated fees.
If Donato doesn’t, Google seems to be threatening an…