The now-delayed order would have forced Google to make sweeping changes to its Play Store for Android smartphones starting Nov. 1.

The latest development is part of an ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed by Epic Games, the developer of "Fortnite." Google had recently approached the California federal court, seeki

A federal judge has temporarily granted Google a bit of leniency in its legal battle with Epic Games over the Android app store. The move puts most of Google's requirements for opening up the Play Store on hold.

Judge James Donato said halting enforcement of his order until the 9th Circuit rules on Google's appeal would not be in the public interest. "A much better argument could be made that the public's interest is best served by opening up the market to competition,

That means Google may not have to open up its Play Store for years, if at all, while it appeals the verdict. In December, a jury unanimously decided that Google’s Android app store, the Play Store, had become an illegal monopoly, though Google is now appealing that jury verdict as well as the court’s order.

E pic’s lawsuit against Google resulted in a final ruling that would require Google to open up its Play Store to third-party app store competitors, but that no longer appears to

The ruling by federal Judge James Donato spares Google from having to meet a November 1 deadline to open its Android smartphone operating system to rival app stores.

A federal judge in California has granted Google's request to temporarily pause his order directing the Alphabet unit to overhaul its Android app store Play by Nov. 1 to give consumers more choice over how they download software.