Why Your Phone's Freedom Just Got Complicated Your Android phone is about to get a little less Android-y. Google just a.

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

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

Google being able to ban developers operating outside the Play Store transforms Android into an iOS-like walled garden. When ...

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

Currently, developer verification is already required for the Play Store but not for apps installed from other sources. Today ...

Google is introducing an identity verification requirement for developers to register applications for installation on ...

Google has announced a rather strict requirement which enforces all apps (including sideloaded software) to come from ...

Google will be starting an early access program for verification in October 2025, where participants can join a community ...

Google notes that the requirements will begin full rollout in September 2026. Google has introduced new requirements for app ...

For years, Android has been known as the free-spirited cousin in the world of mobile operating systems. Unlike Apple's walled ...