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.

A US judge on Friday let Google delay opening Android-powered smartphones to rival app shops, suspending a November 1 deadline ordered in an antitrust case brought by Fortnite-maker Epic Games.

A federal judge on Friday delayed an order requiring Google to open up its Android app store to more competition until an appeals court decides whether to block the shake-up because of legal questions surrounding a jury's verdict that branded Google as an illegal monopolist.