Quickly, builders who simply wish to make Android apps for sideloading should register with Google. Thirty-seven know-how firms, nonprofits, and civil society teams suppose that the Chocolate Manufacturing unit ought to maintain its nostril out of third-party app shops and have requested its management to rethink.
The signatories, together with Article 19, the Digital Frontier Basis, the Free Software program Basis, F-Droid, Fastmail, and Vivaldi, on Tuesday revealed an open letter to Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, founders and board members Larry Web page and Sergey Brin, and Vijaya Kaza, normal supervisor for app and ecosystem belief, to voice their opposition to the plan.
“Whereas we do acknowledge the significance of platform safety and person security, the Android platform already consists of a number of safety mechanisms that don’t require central registration,” the letter says.
“Forcibly injecting an alien safety mannequin that runs counter to Android’s historic open nature threatens innovation, competitors, privateness, and person freedom. We urge Google to withdraw this coverage and work with the open-source and safety communities on much less restrictive alternate options.”
In August 2025, Google introduced that apps put in on licensed Android gadgets would must be tied to a verified developer account. Builders should full id checks, with a $25 one-time charge for traditional distribution accounts.
“Beginning subsequent yr, Android would require all apps to be registered by verified builders to be able to be put in by customers on certified Android devices,” the corporate stated. “This creates essential accountability, making it a lot tougher for malicious actors to rapidly distribute one other dangerous app after we take the primary one down.”
The verification scheme [PDF], in early preview since November 2025, opens to all builders in March 2026. Come September, when the system shall be prolonged to Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, builders who haven’t verified their identities and registered their apps may have their apps blocked from set up on licensed Android gadgets.
This does not change a lot for Android builders distributing purposes via Google Play – Google has required them to be verified since 2023. Nor does it have an effect on various Android or AOSP builds like /e/OS, LineageOS, or GrapheneOS.
However it’s a significant departure for Android builders distributing their apps via various app markets just like the Amazon Appstore, Galaxy Retailer, and F-Droid. It converts the polytheistic Android ecosystem into an imitation of the monotheistic Apple’s iOS ecosystem.
The letter signatories object to Google requiring Android devs who search to distribute apps via various channels to first search permission from Google, to comply with Google’s phrases and situations, to pay a charge, and add government-issued identification.
“This extends Google’s gatekeeping authority past its personal market into distribution channels the place it has no reliable operational function,” the signatories argue. “Builders who select to not use Google’s companies shouldn’t be pressured to register with, and undergo the judgement of, Google.”
Additionally they argue that obligatory registration imposes boundaries on builders with restricted assets, researchers, and lecturers; raises considerations about privateness and surveillance; extends Google’s opaque, unaccountable app assessment course of to a broader set of builders; and raises antitrust and regulatory considerations.
In an electronic mail to The Register, Marc Prud’hommeaux, F-Droid board member and an organizer of a prior petition to halt Google’s plans, stated, “We genuinely hope that Google will hearken to the overwhelming group opposition in opposition to their threatened lockdown of the Android platform and take this chance to reverse course and begin rebuilding their status as a devoted steward of Android.”
Google didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. ®
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