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Title: Samsung and Epic Games Call a Truce In App Store Lawsuit

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/07/07/21282...

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Epic Games, buoyed by
the massive success of Fortnite, has spent the last few years throwing elbows
in the mobile industry to get its app store on more phones. It scored an
antitrust win against Google in late 2023, and the following year it went
after Samsung for deploying "Auto Blocker" on its Android phones, which would
make it harder for users to install the Epic Games Store. Now, the parties
have settled the case just days before Samsung will unveil its latest phones.
The Epic Store drama began several years ago when the company defied Google
and Apple rules about accepting outside payments in the mega-popular
Fortnite. Both stores pulled the app, and Epic sued. Apple emerged
victorious, with Fortnite only returning to the iPhone recently. Google,
however, lost the case after Epic showed it worked behind the scenes to
stymie the development of app stores like Epic's. Google is still working to
avoid penalties in that long-running case, but Epic thought it smelled a
conspiracy last year. It filed a similar lawsuit against Samsung, accusing it
of implementing a feature to block third-party app stores. The issue comes
down to the addition of a feature to Samsung phones called Auto Blocker,
which is similar to Google's new Advanced Protection in Android 16. It
protects against attacks over USB, disables link previews, and scans apps
more often for malicious activity. Most importantly, it blocks app
sideloading. Without sideloading, there's no way to install the Epic Games
Store or any of the content inside it. Auto Blocker is enabled by default on
Samsung phones, but users can opt out during setup. Epic claimed in its suit
that the sudden inclusion of this feature was a sign that Google was working
with Samsung to stand in the way of alternative app stores again. Epic has
apparently gotten what it wanted from Samsung -- CEO Tim Sweeney has
announced that Epic is dropping the case in light of a new settlement.
Sweeney said Samsung "will address Epic's concerns," without elaborating on
the details. Samsung may stop making Auto Blocker the default or create a
whitelist of apps, like the Epic Games Store, that can bypass Auto Blocker.
Another possibility is that Epic and select third-party stores are granted
special access while Auto Blocker remains on for others, balancing security
and openness. A "more interesting outcome," according to Ars, would be for
Samsung to pre-install the Epic Games Store on its new phones.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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