Google to Pay £260 Million Settlement and Enforces New Android Memory Limits

Google agreed to settle a UK class action brought by Android app developers over Play Store terms for 260 million pounds, reported by Reuters at about $353 million. The claim centered on restrictions preventing developers from distributing apps by alternative means and on the commission Google charged, usually 30%. The case was due to go to trial next month at London's Competition Appeal Tribunal, making it the fourth such action there. Under the deal, 160 million pounds will be made available to developers who sold an app on the Play Store between August 2018 and July 2026. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Separately the same day, Google told Android developers it will begin enforcing limits on how much memory apps may consume. The Register reported the specifics: bitmap memory usage capped at 200 MB in user-perceived services and in the background and 400 MB cached, with a 1.5 GB background allowance, and devices carrying more than 16 GB of RAM largely exempt. Enforcement arrives in two stages, with bad-behavior and code-optimization thresholds effective February 2027 and device migration rules in April 2027. Games are held to somewhat different limits.

The two items are separate but rhyme: one is a legal cost of how GOOGL has run the Play Store economically, the other is a tightening of how it runs the store technically. Both narrow developer latitude on Android, and both land while European and UK regulators are actively pressing platform operators on distribution terms.

What to watch: the take-up rate on the 160 million pound developer pot, whether the settlement invites follow-on claims in other jurisdictions rather than closing the matter, and how much engineering work the February and April 2027 thresholds force onto app publishers. Market analysis, not investment advice.

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