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Google is requiring Android app devs to verify identity, non-signed apps will be blocked.
Developer's you heard about this shocking news?
Google is requiring Android app devs to verify identity, non-signed apps will be blocked.
Starting Sept 2026, no more anonymous sideloads will be allowed.
https://9to5google.com/2025/08/25/android-apps-developer-verification/
Comments
This is stupid.
Yes security issues aside... The whole ethos of android was it was open and you can do whatever you want.
This is targeted at revanced and those who don't want to deal with Google (F- Droid).
It looks like it will only be applicable in 4 countries, at least initially
Want a totally free Android where you can sideload any app?
Buy a Fire tablet! aff nonaff
Fire tablet runs Android but does not come with Google applications, and therefore is not subject to these nonsense requirements.
We've been using Fire HD 8 since 2022.
We can sideload any app we want.
It's also possible to sideload the Google applications including the Play Store.
It is not a problem for developers on Google Play, because they have verified the previous identity
average chicken farmer: can't download-install apk off github
criminal: just stole / buy developer creds
yeah no. google is seething to notice normies using revanced & friends to access youtube.
replacing google with amazon is a wild move
This is a great time to invest in a fake ID marketplace, demand for fake IDs is about to get a boost. Opportunity knocks!
the enshittification began few years back
ya but he's not wrong that it's a way around this heh
To combat malware!!! google play store has hidden malware they should check those before implementing this
Android itself is malaware forget about third party apps from play store
LOL.
Google seems eager to corner the malware market, getting smaller malware competitors out of the way is a smart move.
I would not be surprised to see google monopolizing that market sometime in the future.
Sounds entirely reasonable given the threat landscape that could exist.
Android apps are already sandboxed. Plus, there's already plenty of malware in google play store with bad actors who use fake info.
This policy only discourages legitimate developers and will help google kick off apps they don't like, such as revanced or porn apps. A bunch of open source devs aren't going to do it and just tell people to install lineage.
Well, to get into more details, modern android hands out different encryption keys to each app based on the master key. The key allows them to decrypt only their own content. Technically, process to process (aka, memory exploits) exploits are still in the threat model (although, there are mitigations, just not as strong as cryptography).
So less sandboxed compared to Chrome tabs, given Android apps can run code directly on the CPU.
That said, it doesn't matter what threat could exist.
There are already strong protection against installing apps from unknown sources and a signature doesn't prevent malice apps from being installed from the Play Store.
This is like SmartScreen on Windows which can be bypassed with a valid signature from a Microsoft trusted CA (which malware does do).
From a security standpoint, this feels more like Google trying to increase their control over the ecosystem, then actually do something useful...
Heck no
F, Google