Epic is suing Samsung, saying its phones’ UI is built to restrict competition, namely the Epic Games Store. Samsung’s latest OneUI update, 6.1

Epic Sues Samsung Over OneUI’s ‘Auto Blocker’ Setting

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2024-09-30 15:00:06

Epic is suing Samsung, saying its phones’ UI is built to restrict competition, namely the Epic Games Store. Samsung’s latest OneUI update, 6.1.1, was built on Android 14 and blocked app sideloading by default on the latest phones. Now, Epic is suing both Google and Samsung for “blocking every other store from competing on a level playing field.”

In its lawsuit , Epic argues that Samsung and Google have been in cahoots to keep the Play Store dominant and put its own Galaxy Store “on the back burner.” The publisher claimed, “Google called on its longtime collaborator Samsung to defang these competitive threats and renew the moat protecting the Play Store from competition” when it limited sideloading separate app stores by default in OneUI.

The case will hinge on whether there was really collusion between Google and Samsung. Epic pointed to how Auto Blocker was not default on phones before Google Play Store was labeled a monopoly. The “Auto Blocker” setting on Samsung devices creates a wall between users and third-party app stores. While the feature was optional on older devices (it’s off by default if you’re updating from a previous version of OneUI to 6.1.1), it came pre-enabled on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Z Fold 6 phones the Korean tech giant released earlier this year. We still have to see if Samsung will enable Auto Blocker by default on its latest Samsung Galaxy S24 FE devices .