⚡️🚨 NEW - Starting September 2026, a silent update pushed by Google, will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID. Google calls the new rule Android Developer Verification. This starts with Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand expanding worldwide in 2027 every app on certified Android phones must come from a developer who has registered their real identity with Google. This covers apps from the Play Store, third-party stores, and sideloaded APKs. Here’s what developers have to do: They sign up in Google’s new verification system, share their legal name, address, phone number, and ID, and pay a one-time $25 fee. Apps from unverified developers will be blocked or come with big warnings and extra steps. Google doing this to fight malware, the company says sideloaded apps are about 50 times more likely to contain bad software than Play Store apps. Android is becoming a little more controlled with all of this changes

Replies (18)

SinedinZigan's avatar
SinedinZigan 1 week ago
Yes. And Aurora Store. More than eough for my purpose.
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Hofer99 1 week ago
Haven't heard of aurora.. Will look into it..
Starting September 2027, Google pledges to become "even gayer", mandating RFID- and GPS-enabled butt plugs for all developers, employers, AND users, part of a broader initiative to become more inclusive.
FLASH's avatar FLASH
⚡️🚨 NEW - Starting September 2026, a silent update pushed by Google, will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID. Google calls the new rule Android Developer Verification. This starts with Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand expanding worldwide in 2027 every app on certified Android phones must come from a developer who has registered their real identity with Google. This covers apps from the Play Store, third-party stores, and sideloaded APKs. Here’s what developers have to do: They sign up in Google’s new verification system, share their legal name, address, phone number, and ID, and pay a one-time $25 fee. Apps from unverified developers will be blocked or come with big warnings and extra steps. Google doing this to fight malware, the company says sideloaded apps are about 50 times more likely to contain bad software than Play Store apps. Android is becoming a little more controlled with all of this changes
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Karadenizli's avatar
Karadenizli 1 week ago
This will be the greatest ad for grapheneos imaginable. Practically the entire enthusiast userbase for android is here for some reason downstream of the ability to sideload. I can see this 10xing grapheneos/lineageos over the next few years. My prediction is it won't overtake android but it'll be too big to ignore (multiple % market share) and force android to take android closed source. This causes forces graphene and lineage and whatever remaining open source OS'es there are to band together and fork off that latest android version. The real question is whether Google then makes a breaking change to android so play store apks no longer work without them.
Karadenizli's avatar
Karadenizli 6 days ago
A multi step process hidden inside developer settings is barely a concession.
Karadenizli's avatar
Karadenizli 6 days ago
Its better to work on one phone well than be janky on every phone on the market. Nothing is stopping you from forking graphene and vibing it to work on your phone, but they made a calculated effort to focus their developer talent on one phone so it actually works well.
Thanks iphone users - yes i'm looking at you. You fed this mechanism. You agreed for Apple control over your own device. You are responsible for others to follow a similar pattern, like Google right now.
And then GrapheneOS will be pushed aside, no offical app will work on it, because it's "not certified". And every "open" system will end in a similar way. You know, I really wish to be wrong here.
But I'm 99% sure there will be a system-wide flag that this option is enabled and it will allow other apps to refuse working. Again, I hope I'm wrong, but judging by other corporations movements it will be bad. Microsoft will try to lock-down windows using TPM, especially the CA certification of TPMs. So agreeing for a slow death of device ownership is not the smartest move
frphank's avatar
frphank 6 days ago
There already is a system wide flat that developer mode is enabled and some apps already refuse to run on that. That's a problem with the specific app then and you may need a second phone to run just those apps.