Google Confirms Non-ADB APK Installs Will Require Developer Registration
After the news cycle recently exploded with the announcement that Google would require every single Android app to be from a registered and verified developer, while killing third-party app stores …
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Link to the official blog post: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/09/lets-talk-security-answering-your-top.html
Link to the feedback form shared on the blog post: https://goo.gle/Android-verification-feedback
Make use of that second link.
That blog post is such a heap of shit. Do they think they’re fooling anyone? It’s politik-speak. Nobody believes them, yet they bother to make those statements anyway.
What about the fact that when I buy a device I fucking own it. I now should be able to do whatever I want.
It’s so pathetic. And yeah, I’m not going to buy a new phone for a very, very, very long time. I’ll stock up on Android phones that are decent but still have the freedom to do what I want.
This shit is obnoxious and if we really want to fight it, we need a serious, globally unified boycott that gets advertised and shared daily. If successful, the device sales would drop drastically and the registrations of higher Android versions, usage etc. data should all show they are throwing away their user base.
Because literally one and only one thing ever matters: the almighty dollar. So take your dollars back, make them lose money, and have a very well-established unified protest where they can see the losses are directly tied to their decision to take away ownership. This is the only way that POSSIBLY, we may gain back what we have now.
Also - on the same front, a companion campaign could be active to persuade any hardware maker to fully allow custom ROMs and GSIs to be installed. No e of this hacking and exploiting… fully endorsed but I would not expect support and that’s fine. Hardware warranty is ok. But anyone who wants should be able to change their OS and install whatever they want.
One day you’re gonna see big manufacturers like Dell, HP etc. make consumer lines of products that literally won’t run any OS other than Windoze, because of an agreement with Microshaft. That’s their next step I absolutely guarantee it. Try to install Linux, and the BIOS will be programmed to reject it.
Because money. Sorry, not because money; because MORE money. Sorry, not because more money; because more and more and more money. Sorry, not because more and more and more money; because insatiable greed for every farthing they can fuck out of your goddamn pores.
But back to this architecture: if there is a financial incentive for a few manufacturers to make devices we can own and install our choice of Android, they would have at least one demographic guaranteed to buy. That pressure may or may not change Google’s mind, but it would open up a whole world of FOSS options or even paid versions, to compete with the giant.
Thoughts?
Make use of that second link.
Done, thank you
Make use of that second link.
I get that participation is important, but why does it feel like google is outsourcing good, sane management decisions?
Because they are.
Make use of that second link.
Done. I'm not a dev, but I use apps from github/gitlab/etc. Requiring developer verification is absolutely removed. And only allowing ADB to install without verification is not the olive branch they're treating it as. It's a slap in the face to anyone who actually knows what they're doing.
Yeah, it's bad. At the very least there should be a dev option on the phone itself to enable the existing functionality. Ask the user to accept an agreement if you want but it should be possible to all do on-device, without access to the internet.
Bingo.
After I made that comment, I thought about it some more and realized an existing metaphor already fits:
Relating this to Android:
This verification bullshit will not only affect the developers who will be forced to register with google, but also the very people who made Android what it is today. Custom ROMs brought many features to Android that are now considered core elements:
....and that's not even scratching the surface. There is so, so much more.
Sounds like you've been with us since the beginning. ✊
What was your first?
I got a Nook Color back in 2010. Finding out it was based on Android was my gateway drug 😅. I was well aware of Android devices by that point, a couple of my buddies had HTCs.
Naturally, I rooted the Nook. Ended up flashing CyanogenMod.
Based. I think my first was an HTC Dream / myTouch 3G. Also with CM as soon as I figured out how.
