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Google is requiring mandatory developer verification for all Android apps in 2026 (thelemmy.club)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/android@lemmy.world
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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.

Keep Android Open
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[–] 8 points 5 months ago (1 child)

Graphene isn't a ROM, it is a standalone mobile OS based on the Android Open Source Project. So yes, Google primarily develops it, and has de-facto control. But Graphene is actively working to change that, especially with partnering with OEMs so that they can increase device driver support and give more devs incentive to work on AOSP/Graphene in general. For mobile devices the device drivers are huge, unlike desktop/server linux where MOST (obviously not all) things work.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    I beg to defer on the device drivers. Maybe you don't remember, but it's been decades before Linux would adapt, reimplement or convince manufacturer to provide drivers for it.

    Modems first. Graphics card next. Wi-Fi networks also. Winprinters. They all come to my mind. And it's only by time and effort that now looks just works everywhere.

    And now while graphene indeed is doing a great job that I appreciate very much, at the same time they are not developing an operating system. Google is.

    There is a huge effort behind developing a full operating system, and it also requires standardization and somebody who defines what the standards are.

    At this point, Google is the only one doing that. And if they go closed doors, no open source AOSP clone could keep up with Google changing standards and still be compatible, which would end up as an incompatible operating system.

    My point is that currently Android needs Google, and there is no fooling around. We are years away of being independent from Google, whatever the great effort other developers are doing.

    I appreciate everybody's work and I have been a lineage supporter and maintainer myself.

    There are tons of issues that we need to solve to be really independent from Google. Forking he's the least of those.

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