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Google is requiring mandatory developer verification for all Android apps in 2026
(keepandroidopen.org)
If you haven't seen this yet, Google is planning to require mandatory developer identity verification for all Android apps, including apps distributed outside the Play Store, taking effect September 2026. This affects every independent and open source Android developer directly.
This is not just about the Play Store. After September 2026, on any certified Android device, applications from unverified developers will be blocked by default. The only proposed bypass, the "advanced flow", exists only as a blog post and has not appeared in any beta, dev preview, or canary release. No one outside Google has seen it.
The community has been fighting back at keepandroidopen.org:
- Read the full breakdown of what this means
- Sign the open letter (organisations only)
- Contact your national regulators — contacts listed by country on the site
- Add the countdown banner to your project
September 2026 is closer than it looks. The time to push back is now.
Everyone freaking out when this is actually something you would want as a consumer. I want to know who the fuck is making my apps, where they are from, and where my data is going. If you don't want this. I am guaranteeing you get viruses and shit all the fucking time.
No I rightly don't care wrote it if I can see the source code and verify where all my data is.
If you want to know where where your apps come from then Id suggest you stop downloading from the playstore and start downloading from the sources. Get connected with the community. Learn something. It'll be good for you
Nope. As a consumer i dont want one conglomerate to have power to decite what i can and cannot do on my personal device.
It would mean they have 100% control over me as a consumer.
As a consumer I want privacy and freedom, not a monopoly that controls what I can or cannot do on MY device that I bought with MY money. So up until now I installed any app that I wanted and never got any virus ever:) While you might be happy with your data going to google, I'm not.
In play store fine, but any other sideload store, why?