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How does Google's Android developer registration affect sideloading and other stores?
Google has announced that
Starting next year, Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed by users on certified Android devices.
They claim (emphasis in original)
To be clear, developers will have the same freedom to distribute their apps directly to users through sideloading or to use any app store they prefer. We believe this is how an open system should work—by preserving choice while enhancing security for everyone.
But I don't think I understand. This sounds to me like full application control by the OS manufacturer.
What are the implications for submissions to third-party stores like F-Droid? What about sideloading APKs?
3 answers
F-Droid has a blog post on the announced changes. It contains the excerpt below, emphasis mine:
If it were to be put into effect, the developer registration decree will end the F-Droid project and other free/open-source app distribution sources as we know them today, and the world will be deprived of the safety and security of the catalog of thousands of apps that can be trusted and verified by any and all. F-Droid’s myriad users will be left adrift, with no means to install — or even update their existing installed — applications.
They also imply that application IDs are globally unique and linked to the developer key that registers them.
The F-Droid project cannot require that developers register their apps through Google, but at the same time, we cannot “take over” the application identifiers for the open-source apps we distribute, as that would effectively seize exclusive distribution rights to those applications.
This may mean that some alternative stores will continue to function (so long as the developers of the store and its apps all register with Google) since most stores don't recompile the APKs from source and sign them with their own key.
Installing apps with ADB is still reportedly possible, but it's a lot more hassle than using a store.
Update 2026-02-17
F-Droid now has a banner linking to Keep Android Open, an advocacy site opposing the changes with links to contact government regulatory agencies.
0 comment threads
While we don't know the details, and Google might back down with enough push-back, the effects on other stores seem fairly straightforward: They don't need to change anything, because they can still "distribute" apps, but official-Android might refuse any subset of those apps if the developer didn't pay tribute to Alphabet, which is a nice little dodge in their official statement.
Eventually, the other stores will probably get enough frustrated users that they'll want to check if each app is permitted, so that they can just de-list them from searches...but it's still perfectly acceptable to distribute whatever you want that way.
2025-11
If com.google.android.gms, and its dependencies, are installed, some of the more basic application stores, as they are currently implemented, shall cease to operate. That is because com.android.vending/com.google.android.finsky.protectdialogs.activity.PlayProtectDialogsActivity hooks into com.google.android.packageinstaller, and shall [1] prevent the installation of any .APK/.AAB that isn't signed via a key stored in Play App Signing. [2]
This appears to be bypassable via adb shell's /system/bin/pm install. [3] If so, Settings.Global.ADB_WIFI_ENABLED provides a workaround for most clients. [4] [5]
2026-01
Google intends to allow competent users to continue to bypass its new restrictions. [6] However, it shall add additional steps to accomplish this. Ultimately, this renders the change unimportant.
1 comment thread