1. What changed and when. Per Google's US policy update page (https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/15582165): on June 22, 2026 Google notified developers that unless they opted out by July 22, 2026, Google Play would begin providing their app listing(s) to third-party US Android app stores; third-party US Android app stores could sign up for the Play Catalog Access program and, from July 15, 2026, US Android app distribution platforms could begin onboarding into the Third-party App Store on Play Program - both in effect as of July 22, 2026.
2. Your control is an account-level setting, not a per-app negotiation. In Play Console open Settings -> Catalog Settings and confirm which mode the account is in: publish to all enrolled stores, control store by store, or opt out entirely. Check it explicitly once per account, because the default after the July 22, 2026 deadline was participation unless you opted out.
3. How the catalog is actually served. Third-party US app stores access the Play Catalog under the program's terms (https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/17117200). Play Catalog data is refreshed daily and delivered from Google Cloud Storage - consumable in a browser or programmatically via gsutil - and Google explicitly advises building retrieval systems that do not depend on the export being updated at a specific time.
4. New compliance deadline dated September 17, 2026. Google notified developers enrolled in the external content links program that they now have until December 1, 2026 to report successful downloads and pay the relevant service fees - an extension of the July 22, 2026 notice, which had set October 1, 2026 as the start of transaction reporting and service-fee payment for US external content links and alternative billing participants. If you use external links or alternative billing, this reporting obligation is now dated and yours.
5. Legal backdrop. These changes trace to the US Epic v. Google proceeding: on September 12, 2025 the Ninth Circuit upheld the injunction, and from October 29, 2025 Google no longer prohibits developers from communicating availability or pricing outside Play or linking to downloads and transactions, no longer requires Play Billing, and no longer requires a price to be set based on whether Play Billing is used. On March 4, 2026 Google entered a new settlement agreement with Epic and the parties asked the court for a revised Modified Injunction, so further policy updates are expected on the same page.
6. Assess before you participate or stay in. Evaluate the third-party store's distribution quality and anti-piracy/re-signing behavior, whether pricing and subscription terms stay consistent across every channel, who owns refunds and user support for installs that no longer originate from Play, and whether your own backend can attribute and license installs coming from another storefront.
7. Action items. Check Play Console -> Catalog Settings; read Play Console notifications and the developer account notification email for program notices; if you are enrolled in external content links or alternative billing, stand up the download/transaction reporting process well before December 1, 2026; and keep US pricing, refund policy, and listing text identical across every channel that now carries your catalog entry.