Enrolling in the Third-party App Store on Play Program

Starting on July 22, 2026, subject to the terms set forth and at this page, third-party US Android app distribution platforms or app stores ("app store") can be distributed through Google Play to US users ("3PAS on Play"). To participate in the Third-party App Store on Play Program, review the requirements and complete the enrollment steps described below.

Requirements

Third-party US Android app stores participating in this program must comply with the following requirements:

1. Must have their app store available and target users in the US.
2. Be registered as an organization.
3. Operate as a Legitimate Marketplace
   • Open Access: Function as an open 3P marketplace for all eligible third-party developers, with clear, non-discriminatory policies. For the avoidance of doubt, app stores may curate or limit their catalog.
   • Developer Authorization: Have and maintain written authorization from developers and all license rights and permissions necessary to distribute their apps, including the content of such apps.
   • IP Compliance: Respect intellectual property rights and maintain a clear process for handling IP Disputes.
4. Provide a Transparent User Experience
   • Primary Purpose: The app store's main function must be the discovery, installation, and management of apps. The app store must be consumer-facing (with a user destination and launcher icon) that is either pre-loaded or explicitly installed by the user. An app store may have additional features beyond its main function, such as social features (friends, chat, game clip sharing), and utility features (authentication, parental controls, account and family management).
   • Clear App Info: For the apps in the app store's catalog, display essential app details, including app name, developer name, description, version, size, permission list, applicable legal disclosures, and contact information for the developer.
   • User Control: Ensure app installations and ownership changes occur only with explicit user consent and provide clear user controls for automatic or manual updates.
   • User support: Offer direct and accessible customer support channels.
5. Ensure Ecosystem Trust & Safety
   • Security: Proactively and in good faith prevent the distribution of malware and Potentially Harmful Apps (PHAs) and prohibit illegal or fraudulent activity through robust policy enforcement.
   • Privacy & Compliance: Publish and in good faith enforce clear privacy policies, do not materially violate applicable laws and regulations (for example, COPPA, CCPA), and manage government requests appropriately.
   • User Safety: Provide parental controls and enforce policies against deceptive or disruptive practices.
6. Satisfy Google Play policies, and only distribute apps that follow Google Play policies
7. Submit all updated versions and APKs of your app store for review, in a timely manner, and before serving these versions to users
8. Submit all updated versions and APKs of all apps in your app store's catalog for review before serving these versions to users
9. Adhere to applicable laws & regulations including but not limited to age assurance and minor protection
10. Pay Google the following fees:
    • Annual Fee: An upfront service fee of $15,000 to perform the necessary security and policy reviews during onboarding for distribution through Google Play. To maintain distribution through Google Play, you must pay this fee on an annual basis thereafter for continued security and policy reviews.
      • $5,000 of the fixed fee will serve as a credit for the third-party app store and will be applied to the manual review costs described below.
    • Review Costs: Detailed per review pricing will be provided to qualified app stores following an eligibility review (step 2 below). Review costs (subject to periodic adjustments) are determined by two types of reviews and represent a portion of the costs Google incurs to conduct these reviews. To help aid in predictability and operational efficiency for Developers as well as to ensure Google is compensated for the reviews it completes, Google will invoice Developers when review costs reach $10,000 or on a monthly basis, whichever occurs first
      • Manual security review of an app or app update. Google will conduct this review if its automated review systems identify an issue with the app or if Google has other reasons to believe the app may constitute malware.
      • Manual content review of an app or an app update. Google will conduct this review on a sample of apps or if it has reasons to believe that an app violates Google's content policies.
11. Failure to meet any of these requirements, including non-payment of invoices by the due date, may result in Google pausing app reviews and/or removing your app store from the program until the issues are resolved. Google will provide advance notice with an opportunity to remediate the issues prior to taking any such action.

Enroll your Android app store in the Third-party app store on Play Program

To enroll in the program, you must complete the following steps:

1. Review the requirements on this page to determine if your app store meets the criteria.
2. Submit a declaration form, including accepting the Third-party App Store on Play Service Agreement, with necessary information about your app store to begin the onboarding process.
3. Successfully pay the upfront service fee before getting access to the Play Console for app stores.
4. Open Play Console for app stores and complete the remaining onboarding steps:

   a. Create your app store account and your app store.

   i. Complete the necessary identity verification process for an organization.

   ii. Add the name and package name of your app store.

   iii. Provide a verified website that identifies your app store and provides a mechanism to distribute your US Android app store.

   b. Add app store details

   i. Provide the name, descriptions, icon, and screenshots to help us understand your app store.

   c. Submit policy declarations

   i. Complete the following standard declarations for your app store: Privacy Policy, Health apps, Government apps, Advertising ID, Target audience and content, Sign in details, Ads, Financial features.

   ii. Additionally, complete the following declaration about your app store's policies and processes:

   1. Publicly accessible Trust & Safety policies: In addition to providing a publicly accessible link to your app store's trust and safety policy, provide links to each of the policy areas similar to those of Play Policies (if applicable): Restricted Content Policy, Impersonation, Intellectual Property, Privacy, Deception and Device Abuse, Ads, Use of SDKs In Apps, Spam, Functionality, and User Experience, Malware, Mobile Unwanted Software (MUwS).
   2. Attest that you have a developer agreement or sufficient rights and authorization for content you distribute and a privacy policy with third-party developers and provide the publicly accessible links if available.
   3. Attest that your app store has a terms of service and privacy policy for users using your app store and provide the publicly accessible link.
   4. Publicly accessible links to your app store's support processes:
      1. For users to get direct customer support;
      2. For users to understand parental controls including your app store's mechanism for parents to control app downloads, especially in jurisdictions where mandated by law;
      3. To kick off IP dispute processes (for example, US: DMCA process, Worldwide: General IP processes);
      4. To submit and action government and legal requests; and
      5. To remove illegal content including but not limited to potentially harmful apps, fraudulent activity, or child endangerment.

   d. Submit all APKs of your apps in your app store's catalog along with metadata and standard declarations through the third-party app store review API

   i. Integrate with the third-party app store review API to submit APKs and metadata of apps in your app store’s catalog for review.

   ii. You must provide all standard declarations for each app in your app store (if applicable to the app category): Privacy Policy, Health apps, Government apps, Advertising ID, Target audience and content, Sign in details, Ads, Financial features.

   e. Upload your app store APK and send for review

   i. Create a release in Releases and upload your app store's APK.

   ii. Attest that you have submitted all of your apps in your app store's catalog through the app catalog submission API

   iii. Submit your app store for review.
5. Once your app store's participation is approved (and the Third-party app store on Play Program is live), your app store will be available on Google Play to US users.
6. When your app store is updated, submit all updated versions and APKs of your app store for review, in a timely manner to maintain distribution through Google Play. This must be submitted to Google prior to being served to users but you do not need to wait for the outcome of the review before updating your app store.

If you have any additional questions, you can contact our support team here.

Frequently asked questions