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Google is requiring mandatory developer verification for all Android apps in 2026
(keepandroidopen.org)
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.
Do they have their own app stores? How does that work? Already switched my PC to Linux. Maybe I'll look into that.
It's a weird Frankenstein mix with GrapheneOS. They have a Google compatibility layer, which allows some Google Store apps to run, but at the cost of providing tracking and telemetry to Google. There are other FOSS app stores as well.
You're advised to use containers and containerize Google, Meta, and other privacy violating social media apps, which will feed data back but limit what data the apps can send. Also, you can shut down the containers when not in use, which ends all telemetry from those apps.
But you do have to manage this. Privacy comes at the cost of complexity and effort. Is that worth it to you? It is for me.
You can use the Google Play app store if you want; or you can use alternate app stores like F-Droid, Aptiode, Accressent, or probably some other thing I've never heard of.
LineageOS doesn't have any store preinstalled, but you can install them yourself from the internet. F-Droid offers only open source apps, and Aurora Store is alternative front end to Google Play, which can download any app from GP.
GrapheneOS has basic apps, but you can get lot of alternative apps to Google on F-Droid