What happens on October 1, 2026 for Google Play developers?

Developers enrolled in Google Play's US external content links program or alternative billing program must begin reporting transactions and successful downloads that follow an external link and pay the relevant service fees. Google announced the date in a July 22, 2026 notice in Play Console Help.

What is the Google Play external content links program?

It is a US program, effective December 9, 2025, that lets developers of Play-distributed apps link users to external content, including purchasing in-app digital items outside Google Play Billing or downloading an app whose installs and updates are not managed by Google Play. Developers must only install apps at the user's explicit direction through a clearly labeled UI component and must provide direct customer support.

What was in Google's July 22, 2026 notice?

Developers were automatically enrolled to share their app listings with third-party US Android app stores unless they opted out by July 22, 2026. Two programs took effect: the Play Catalog Access program for third-party stores and the Third-party App Store on Play program for distribution platforms. The notice also set October 1, 2026 as the start of fee reporting for external links and alternative billing.

How does install attribution work on Android without an MMP?

Google Play's Install Referrer API passes a referrer string from the Play Store link to the app on first launch. If the link carries a click ID, the app can read it and send it to the attribution server, which matches the install to the exact click. This is deterministic and does not rely on device fingerprinting.

Does IdeaEquity support native Android apps?

Yes. As of August 2026 IdeaEquity provides a single-file Kotlin SDK that also works in Java apps. It reads the Google Play Install Referrer to attribute installs to the exact creator link, reports signup and purchase events, and requires only the Install Referrer library and an INTERNET permission. React Native and AppsFlyer postbacks are also supported.

Google Play's October 1, 2026 Deadline and the New Rules of Android Growth

The short version

Google Play's US rules have been changing in stages since the Epic ruling, and the next hard date is October 1, 2026. From that day, developers enrolled in the external content links program or the alternative billing program in the US "will need to report transactions and successful downloads and pay the relevant service fees," according to Google's Play Console Help page on the US policy update. Google gave notice on July 22, 2026.

The same notice made two other things official:

Developers were automatically enrolled to share their app listings with third-party US Android app stores unless they opted out by July 22, 2026, under the new Play Catalog Access program and the Third-party App Store on Play program.
The external content links and alternative billing programs themselves have been live since December 9, 2025.

In the EEA, the parallel external offers program got updated fees effective June 4, 2026, covering transactions and app installs that follow an external link (Play Console Help, EEA changes).

Google has not published the fee percentages on the US policy page, only that fees apply and must be reported. Check your Play Console for the terms you accepted.

The timeline

Date	What happened
September 2025	Ninth Circuit upholds the Epic v. Google remedies
December 9, 2025	US external content links, alternative billing, and payments policy take effect
March 2026	Settlement agreement announced, pending final court approval
June 4, 2026	Updated fees for the EEA external offers program
July 22, 2026	Auto-enrollment in catalog sharing with third-party stores unless opted out; Play Catalog Access and Third-party App Store on Play programs begin
October 1, 2026	Fee reporting and payment begin for US external links and alternative billing

What "linking out" actually requires

If you plan to use external links to sell outside Google Play Billing or to distribute an app that Play does not manage, the enrollment page sets conditions that are easy to underestimate:

Installs may only happen with the user's knowledge and at the user's explicit direction, for each app, through a clearly labeled UI component visible to the user.
You must provide direct, publicly accessible customer support through readily accessible channels.
You must publish user data policies and take responsibility for local regulations wherever your users are.
You must report every transaction and successful download that follows an external link, and pay the fee on it, starting October 1.

For a large publisher with a payments team, the math may work. For an indie developer, the reporting obligation alone often costs more than the fee it saves. Most small apps are better off staying on Play Billing and spending their energy on the part of Android growth that is genuinely cheaper than iOS: acquisition.

Android installs cost a third of iOS installs. That is the opportunity.

Across verticals, iOS cost per install runs 2.0 to 3.5 times Android in Tier 1 markets, per Admiral Media's 2026 benchmarks (published April 19, 2026). A casual puzzle game that costs $2.50 to $6.00 per install on iOS costs $1.20 to $3.00 on Android. A language learning app at $3 to $8 on iOS is $1.50 to $4 on Android. AppsFlyer's data shows why: user acquisition spend on iOS surged 35% in 2025 while Android spend was flat, so Android auctions are simply less crowded.

The catch has always been measurement. iOS attribution had to solve the App Tracking Transparency problem, and most performance platforms built their tooling for iOS first. Android's attribution primitive is actually better; it just gets less attention.

Deterministic attribution with the Install Referrer

Google Play passes a referrer string from the store link into the app the first time it launches, through the Install Referrer API. If the link that sent the user to the Play Store carried an identifier, the app can read it back after install.

That turns attribution into a lookup instead of a guess:

A creator's tracking link redirects to the Play Store with a click ID in the referrer parameter.
The user installs and opens the app.
The SDK reads the Install Referrer, extracts the click ID, and posts it to the attribution server along with the install.
The server matches it to the recorded click. Match confidence is 1.0, not a fingerprint probability.

No IDFA, no ATT prompt, no fingerprint collisions on shared Wi-Fi. It works on any Android device with Google Play services, which is nearly all of them outside China.

IdeaEquity now supports native Android (Kotlin and Java)

Until this month, IdeaEquity's SDKs covered iOS (Swift) and React Native. Developers with native Android apps had to attribute through AppsFlyer postbacks or link-only tracking. As of August 26, 2026, there is a native Android SDK:

One Kotlin file, no third-party HTTP library. It works unchanged in Java apps because Kotlin and Java compile together; every method is exposed as a static call.
Two dependencies: the Google Play Install Referrer library (one Gradle line) and the INTERNET permission your app already has.
Deterministic attribution via the Install Referrer flow above, with fingerprint fallback when a referrer is missing.
Events: signup, purchase, and custom events, including Google Play order IDs so subscription renewals can pay recurring revenue share.
Initialization is one line in your Application class: AppTracker.configure(this, "YOUR_SDK_KEY").

Full setup, including the Java snippets and Google Play Billing purchase reporting, is on the SDK Setup page in the developer dashboard. If you already run AppsFlyer, you can skip the SDK entirely and point a postback at IdeaEquity instead.

A practical Android growth plan for Q4 2026

Decide on external links by September. If you enroll, budget engineering time for the reporting requirement, and confirm the fee terms in Play Console before October 1. If you do not, opt out of anything you did not intend to join and move on.
Price Android installs separately from iOS. Use the benchmark ranges above as a ceiling. On a pay-per-install creator campaign, a rate that is 40 to 60% of your iOS rate is usually still attractive to creators because Android audiences convert in volume.
Attribute deterministically. Whether it is the IdeaEquity SDK or your MMP, make sure the Play Store link carries a click identifier and the app reads the Install Referrer. Without it, every Android install looks organic and every channel looks like it is not working.
Report signups and purchases, not just installs. Android install volume is cheap. The metric that tells you whether a creator's audience is worth paying for is the signup or purchase rate seven days later.
Use geo rates. If your revenue per user differs by country, set per-country install rates so a creator in a tier-2 market is paid fairly and you are not paying US rates for installs that monetize at a fraction of that.

Have a native Android app? Create a campaign, grab the Kotlin SDK from the SDK Setup page, and pay creators only for installs you can see in the Install Referrer.

Sources: Google Play Console Help, US policy update; Google Play Console Help, external content links enrollment; Google Play Console Help, EEA external offers changes; Admiral Media, Mobile App Marketing Benchmarks 2026; Android Developers, Install Referrer API.