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Android developer verification: Early access starts

android-developers.googleblog.com

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Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#11

Post by silisili »

erohead wrote: post #2

Sounds like they're rolling back the mandatory verification flow: Based on this feedback and our ongoing conversations with the community, we are building a new advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn't verified. We are designing this flow specifically to resist coercion, ensuring that users aren't tricked into bypassing these safety checks while under pressure…

I feel like if safety was really their top priority, they would have done this long ago and not bothered with this mandatory signing nonsense to begin with...

Still, it seems like good news, so I'll take it.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#13

Post by IlikeKitties »

zb3 wrote: post #9

I have to admit I couldn't even understand this problem, because for me the "stock OS" is already unbearable and I'd simply never be able to use it - I've never used it for more than a hour..

The issue is that of network effects. Making it harder to sideload for example f-droid makes the already small market for it even smaller, leading to less apps. It also forces people developing Apps that they don't want to reveal to be developing for completly valid reasons (Imagine developing a porn app in saudi arabia or an abortion support app in the USA) to validate against google aka the US Government.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#14

Post by gpm »

8 days ago Google and Epic announced a proposed settlement and modification of a permanent injunction that Epic won, I believe this proposed settlement would likely have prohibited Google's plan to forbid installation of third party apps (excluding app stores from the definition of apps) unless those app developers had paid google a registration fee. The proposed settlement is here [1], the relevant portion is

> 13. For a period beginning on the Effective Date through June 30, 2032, Google will [...] and will continue to permit the direct downloading of apps from developer websites and third-party stores without any fees being imposed for those downloads unless the downloads originate from linkouts from apps installed/updated by Google Play (excluding web browsers).

6 days ago the court expressed skepticism as to the proposal and announced that they'd have a hearing, with testimony from expert witnesses, as to whether it would prevent the market harms that the original injunction was trying to cure [2].

Today Google announces this, effectively confirming that they're backing down from their requirement that third party app developers pay google prior to distributing their apps.

Nothing (yet) is explicitly tying these together, but I can't help but suspect that this move is in large part being made to convince the court that they're actually intending to honour this portion of the proposed injunction even though Epic would have little reason to enforce it.

[1] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.36...

[2] https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.36...

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#15

Post by add-sub-mul-div »

zb3 wrote: post #9

I have to admit I couldn't even understand this problem, because for me the "stock OS" is already unbearable and I'd simply never be able to use it - I've never used it for more than a hour..

Ask yourself how relevant and interesting you'd find this comment if someone else had posted it.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#16

Post by boxedemp »

themafia wrote: post #3

> Keeping users safe on Android is our top priority. I highly doubt this is your "top" priority. Or if it is then you're gotten there by completely ignoring Google account security. > intercepts the victim's notifications And who controls these notifications and forces application developers to use a specific service? > bad actors can spin up new harmful apps instantly. Like banking applications that use push or SMS…

Only a few things in life are for sure. Death, taxes, and corpospeak.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#17

Post by Lammy »

svat wrote: post #7

From the very first announcement of this, Google has hinted that they were doing this under pressure from the governments in a few countries. (I don't remember the URL of the first announcement, but https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-... is from 2025-August-25 and mentions “These requirements go into effect in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand”.) The “Why verification is important” s…

Google have their own reasons too. They would love to kill off YouTube ReVanced and other haxx0red clients that give features for free which Google would rather sell you on subscription.

Just look at everything they've done to break yt-dlp over and over again. In fact their newest countermeasure is a frontpage story right beside this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45898407

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#19

Post by _factor »

boxedemp wrote: post #16
themafia wrote: post #3

> Keeping users safe on Android is our top priority. I highly doubt this is your "top" priority. Or if it is then you're gotten there by completely ignoring Google account security. > intercepts the victim's notifications And who controls these notifications and forces application developers to use a specific service? > bad actors can spin up new harmful apps instantly. Like banking applications that use push or SMS…

Only a few things in life are for sure. Death, taxes, and corpospeak.

Hey, sometimes the dumbest people it works on are also the ones with the decision making ability. What a world to live in.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#20

Post by charcircuit »

Lammy wrote: post #17
svat wrote: post #7

From the very first announcement of this, Google has hinted that they were doing this under pressure from the governments in a few countries. (I don't remember the URL of the first announcement, but https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-... is from 2025-August-25 and mentions “These requirements go into effect in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand”.) The “Why verification is important” s…

Google have their own reasons too. They would love to kill off YouTube ReVanced and other haxx0red clients that give features for free which Google would rather sell you on subscription. Just look at everything they've done to break yt-dlp over and over again. In fact their newest countermeasure is a frontpage story right beside this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45898407

You would still be able to adb installs them. They wouldn't die.
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