Samsung and Google are already in legal trouble over recent sideloading changes in Android

A missed opportunity to sue Epic Games is back in the news with the filing of a new lawsuit against Google and Samsung. It seems Epic isn’t a fan of Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature, which doesn’t allow sideloading of apps by default, as it has already announced that it will be removing all of its products, including Fortnite, from the Galaxy Store.

Well, in addition to ditching Samsung’s app store, Epic announced today that it is filing a lawsuit against both Samsung and Google, calling Auto Blocker a “coordinated effort to block competition,” while maintaining that this coordination undermines the jury verdict that found Google guilty of running an illegal monopoly.

Auto-locking isn’t that bad

The problem is that users are automatically enabled

One thing to remember about the auto-block feature is that it can be turned off and users still retain control over whether they can sideload apps or not. The problem, however, is that everyone automatically turns on this feature. And of course, Google and Samsung are right; this feature likely improves user security so they don’t accidentally upload an infected app/game, but it’s also clear that Epic probably has a worthwhile argument when this feature stifles competition like Epic, especially when it recently launched its own store this year with mobile gaming that accidentally has to be moved to the side, which will certainly slow down adoption of a store that could be a boon for Android.

Epic has already won against Google, proving its monopoly

Is this next case another slam dunk?

So it looks like the optics are on Epic’s side, and after winning the recent case against Google that defined the Play Store as a monopoly, it seems odd that Google and Samsung would be so eager to pursue a feature that would make it more sideloading Epic’s apps and games is difficult, especially when Epic has been so scrupulous in a previous case that Google has a history of paying its partners, such as Samsung, to keep rival stores off its services. Sure, it’s easy to argue that auto-blocking helps with security, but when Google allows malware-infected apps to end up in the Play Store, it’s increasingly difficult to believe that user safety is paramount.

Ultimately, Epic Games is continuing this new lawsuit so that the court can step in and “eliminate the auto-block feature by default,” which doesn’t sound that bad from a power user’s perspective. I know I’d rather have the opportunity to opt in than be forced to opt out.