r/opensource

If the requirements for developer registration, fees and identification Google indicates it plans to impose on all apps before they can run on most useful Android devices take effect, will it then violate the GPL (and possibly LGPL) to distribute applications relying on those licenses with the mandatory signatures?

It seems this would conflict with copyleft requirements that users must be able to modify and update GPL applications and LGPL components of applications without further restrictions or requirements imposed.

Will apps like Kodi and VLC be no longer operable on Android TV devices?

So in case you missed it, Google is requiring every app developer to register with them, pay a fee, hand over government ID, and upload their signing keys just so their app can be installed on your phone. Even apps that have nothing to do with the Play Store. This starts September 2026.

F-Droid apps, random useful tools from GitHub, a student testing their own app on their own damn phone, all of that gets blocked unless the developer goes through Google first. And they keep saying "sideloading isn't going away" while their own official page literally says all apps from unverified developers will be blocked on certified devices. That's every phone running Google services so basically every Android phone out there.

And the best part is that the Play Store is already full of scam apps and malware that passes right through their "verification". But sure, let's punish indie devs and hobbyists instead.

The keepandroidopen.org project lays out the full picture and has actual steps you can take, filling out Google's own feedback survey, contacting regulators, etc. If you don't trust random links just search "Keep Android Open" and you'll find it.

Seriously, if you care about this at all, now is the time to make noise about it before it's too late.

Update! Some fair corrections from the comments. To be precise, Google has stated in their FAQ that they are building an "advanced flow" that will allow experienced users to install unverified apps after going through a series of warnings. So it's not a total block with zero options.

That said, two things worth noting. First, the FAQ and the official policy page are not the same thing. The policy page still states, without any exceptions or asterisks, that all apps must be from verified developers to be installed on certified devices. The advanced flow is mentioned only in the FAQ section, and described as something they are "building" and "gathering feedback on". These two pages currently contradict each other, and we don't know which one reflects the final reality.

Second one is that we have no idea what "high-friction flow" actually means in practice. It could be two extra taps. It could be something so buried and discouraging that most people give up. Google themselves describe it as designed to "resist" user action. Until someone can actually test it, we're trusting a description.

F-Droid's concern (and the reason I made this post) isn't that their apps will be technically impossible to install. It's that their developers are anonymous volunteers who won't register with Google, their apps will be labeled as "unverified", and over time the ecosystem slowly dies from friction and lost trust. F-Droid themselves said this could end their project. These are not my words, this is what the F-Droid team itself thinks.

Pressure is what got Google to announce the bypass in the first place. Therefore, we must not stop and make sure that the market is not completely captured by them alone