thank god for brazil

.. Brazil is one of the first countries this'll go into effect and I also remember something about how that first batch of countries was chosen because their governmemts support this change.

The problem might be that Google will argue this isn't a downgrade at all, but an upgrade (for "security" reasons). I don't want to be a pessimist, but the tech illiterate judges could eat that up.

technically you will still be able to install apps from outside the play store, but the developer will need to verify their identity with google.

Of course, most developers will refuse to do so (myself included), and so most apps will not be able to be installed. From a technical perspective, installing apps from other sources will still be allowed. So i can see judges ruling that this is not a feature removal.

You and I both know this is google killing non play store apps, but I don't think the tech illiterate judges will see it that way.

Also, let's stop calling it "sideloading". Sideloading has a bad vibe. We just want to INSTALL software on our own devices.

Starting next year, Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed by users on certified Android devices.

Are they actually proposing to make any previously sold devices “certified” through a software update, though? Your points are right on if this edict applied to all devices.

They’re not removing a feature though, so that whole argument falls over instantly.