Currently, developers who create “sideloaded” Android apps are exempt from Google’s verification requirements.

Scheduled for rollout starting in September 2026, the program aims to restrict malware distribution by requiring developer ...

Google wants to make sideloading safer on Android by verifiying the identities of developers who distribute apps outside the ...

The tech giant stresses that this does not mean developers can’t distribute outside of the Play Store through other app ...

With claims that sideloaded apps are 50 times more likely to contain malware, Google is tightening restrictions for ...

Google is tightening the screws on Android security. From March 2026, developers who distribute apps outside the Play Store ...

Today, a class of Android app developers represented by Hagens Berman reached a $90 million settlement with Google over Google Play Store policies.