July 20, 2021

Google is delaying a controversial update, a decree requiring all Play Store apps to use Google’s in-app filing or face a ban.

While this came a week after Google was sued by dozens of state attorneys general for limiting app store competitions, Google’s recent decision means that developers can now apply for a six-month extension of the deadline.

Play Store apps were supposed to switch to Google’s new rule by the end of September.

In an update released on Friday, the tech giant said: “After carefully considering feedback from both large and small developers, we are giving developers an option to request a 6-month extension, which will give them until March 31, 2022, to comply with our Payments policy.”

Google did not mention the antitrust lawsuit but instead said the delay had to do with an engineering problem, claiming that the pandemic is making it difficult for developers to quickly switch to Google’s in-app billing system.

For more information, read the original story in Arstechnica.