If you haven’t seen this yet, Google is planning to require mandatory developer identity verification for all Android apps, including apps distributed outside the Play Store, taking effect September 2026. This affects every independent and open source Android developer directly.

This is not just about the Play Store. After September 2026, on any certified Android device, applications from unverified developers will be blocked by default. The only proposed bypass, the “advanced flow”, exists only as a blog post and has not appeared in any beta, dev preview, or canary release. No one outside Google has seen it.

The community has been fighting back at keepandroidopen.org:

  • Read the full breakdown of what this means
  • Sign the open letter (organisations only)
  • Contact your national regulators — contacts listed by country on the site
  • Add the countdown banner to your project

September 2026 is closer than it looks. The time to push back is now.

  • mesa@piefed.socialEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    For me its maps. Getting directions is mostly why im still on /e/. I would love a linux phone! But im stuck at the moment.

    • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      Well, FairPhone has GPS support on Ubuntu and that opens the world to a bunch of native GPS apps

      Note that I haven’t tested this, I’m an iOS user, but Linux with Fairphone is starting to sound better and better. I moved from Android to iOS because Android started feeling so restrictive compared to what it used to be in the single digit version numbers era, it stopped making sense to prefer it over the more convenient OS. Now it seems Linux on certain phones is starting to get usable enough that it can be what Android used to be a decade ago when I still liked it.

      • Valmond@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        1·
        23 hours ago

        Friend have a non-google fairphone and has some maps-like app that works at least well enough.

        Her bank app worked most of the time? Guess it’s a cat & mouse game until it’s finally established or killed.

        • boonhet@sopuli.xyzEnglish
          1·
          1 day ago

          Do let everyone know if you do, I think there’s actually quite a few people here who’d be willing to make the change to Linux if the Fairphone is truly as well supported as the UBPorts website claims

          • mesa@piefed.socialEnglish
            1·
            1 day ago

            100%. I have one app for work that i also need. Do you happen to know if two oses can work on a phone? Like grub allows?