Android will change radically from September: many free apps could disappear

For a long time, one of the fundamental differences between Android and iOS was that Google’s system was more open and Apple was more closed off. But both systems are developing towards each other: Apple was forced to do so, at least in the EU own ecosystem for third-party stores to open it, which admittedly doesn’t work particularly well. Google, on the other hand, will soon be tightening its restrictions.

From September 2026, all Android apps from verified developers must be registered in order to be available certified Android devices can be installed.

In Europe should the whole thing from 2027 start. After strong backlash from users, Google once again explicitly stated that the measure not the end of sideloading should mean, i.e. the installation of apps from sources other than the Play Store. But what should remain is registration and verification.

Developers must provide a phone number and address and sometimes additional ID, accept Google terms and pay $25; the fee is waived for hobby developers. But above all the providers of the alternative app store F Droid see massive problems.

Some apps may disappear

F-Droid and other organizations from the open source community criticize Google’s planned move. Key points of criticism:

• the measure restricts the openness of Android
• There would be disadvantages for alternative app stores
• Google is gaining central control over app distribution
• Google had hinted that experienced users might still be able to install non-verified apps, but according to F-Droid, concrete details are still missing
• If developers refuse to register with Google, numerous apps could disappear from the market

A central problem specifically for the F-Droid project is that many apps are built there themselves and then signed with their own signature keys. This is part of the basic security model of the platform.

Instead of taking over finished APK files directly from the developers, F-Droid downloads the publicly available source code of the respective app, creates a reproducible build from it and then signs the finished app with its own F-Droid key.

This should ensure that users can be sure that the published app was actually created from the open source code and was not manipulated in an external build environment.

If in the future every app must be clearly assigned to a verified developer account and updates can only be signed by the registered developer themselves, F-Droid can no longer take on this role.

Since F-Droid is not the actual developer of most apps, the platform would sign apps for which it is not officially registered as the responsible developer. This could result in such apps being viewed as unauthorized by the system or no longer being able to be installed or updated at all.

Around 80 percent of the approximately 4,000 apps on F-Droid are signed by the platform itself.

Android should become more secure

Google’s central argument for the measure is security. Criminals can spread manipulated apps or so-called fake apps that contain, for example, banking Trojans or spyware. By requiring developer identity verification, Google wants to make it easier to identify and permanently ban such actors.

Traceability is particularly an argument: Until now, developers whose apps were removed due to malware or fraud could create new accounts and continue their activities relatively easily. If developers have to confirm their identity with official documents and require a registered developer account, it becomes much more difficult to quickly create new disposable accounts. This is intended to reduce abuse in the long term.

Google also argues that a uniform minimum standard makes sense for all apps, regardless of the channel through which they are distributed. While apps in the Google Play Store are already subject to certain rules and checks, these requirements currently only apply to a limited extent for apps from alternative sources.