Starting September 30, Google will introduce a mandatory registration requirement for Android developers. Although the policy will apply worldwide, it will first take effect for users in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. From that date on, they will only be able to install apps from verified developers. A global rollout will follow in 2027. The measure has faced significant criticism due to privacy concerns and the potential threat to alternative app stores.
Anyone wishing to publish an app must provide Google with their name, address, email address, and phone number, and upload a copy of their ID. This applies not only to apps in the Play Store but also to apps distributed through alternative stores or via sideloading. Google monitors installations from sources including the Samsung Galaxy Store, Honor App Market, OPPO App Market, Xiaomi GetApps, and the Vivo V-Appstore.
For regular users, there is no easy workaround. Anyone who still wants to install apps from unregistered developers must enable specific options, wait 24 hours, and then restart their phone.
Expansion of existing Play Store policy
The new registration requirement is an extension of existing policy. Play Store developers have been subject to a verification requirement since 2023. At that time, they were required to confirm their identity using a D-U-N-S number. According to Google, malware is 50 times more common in apps from third-party sources than in apps from the official Play Store. “Verifying Android developers helps prevent malicious actors from hiding behind anonymity to continue causing harm,” Google stated earlier this year.
Google announced the verification requirement in August 2025 and opened the system to all Android developers in March of this year. Non-certified devices, such as certain Huawei devices and Amazon Fire tablets, are exempt from the requirement.
Criticism regarding privacy and openness
F-Droid, the alternative app store for open-source software, previously warned that its very existence is seriously threatened by the measure. According to F-Droid, the registration requirement is not primarily about security, but about the concentration of power: Google is effectively becoming the gatekeeper for the entire Android ecosystem. The app store is calling on EU and U.S. regulators to intervene.
A group of developers launched the “Keep Android Open” petition to oppose the measure. The creators of the Brave browser also stated that a centralized database containing the personal data of all Android developers, managed by a single entity, poses a major privacy risk.