[HN Gopher] Android Developer Verification
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Android Developer Verification
Author : ingve
Score : 45 points
Date : 2026-03-30 22:05 UTC (54 minutes ago)
(HTM) web link (android-developers.googleblog.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (android-developers.googleblog.com)
| bstsb wrote:
| from https://9to5google.com/2026/03/30/android-developer-
| verifier... -
|
| > Starting in April, Android Developer Verifier will be installed
| on devices.
|
| so they're rolling out a system app that will call home to check
| whether any sideloaded apps have been "verified" with the
| developer's government ID? and this process will happen
| regardless of whether the user has enabled the "advanced flow" in
| Developer settings?
| birdsongs wrote:
| Good of a reason as any to go google-less on my Graphene pixel,
| I guess. But man it sucks, mostly for all the people who can't.
| I can manage my financials and 2FA from my laptop, that was my
| last real reason to have google play installed, but it's just a
| convenience. (I know it's mandatory for others.)
|
| I wonder how that sys app will be handled in GrapheneOS's
| google play sandbox?
| stuaxo wrote:
| Sorry, but absolutely not.
|
| I stuck with Android for years as a dev as I once did Android
| apps and occasionally do tinker.
|
| This is my last Android phone and Jolla is my next phone.
| birdsongs wrote:
| I really want to like the concept of Jolla / a European mobile
| alternative but I see no reason why they're closed source SW in
| 2026. Open source everything, let the community help develop,
| and sell your hardware (and support/deals for B2B).
|
| A single for-profit company owning the full HW and SW stack? My
| trust in companies lately is at a lifetime low. It just leaves
| a bad taste in my mouth.
| amarant wrote:
| Ooh, are you gonna go for their Ubuntu touch alternative, or
| their own OS?
| andrepd wrote:
| I don't see a way out of this except government regulation. The
| EU has the most motivation to do it, as a huge economic bloc with
| a _lot_ of motivation right now to become as independent from the
| US as possible.
|
| I guess I can sort of manage to keep my head above water and keep
| buying secondhand phones which I unlock and install a supported
| version of LineageOS. But it's cumbersome, it gets more difficult
| and more restrictive every time. And I literally have a doctorate
| in computers for crying out loud! Is there any hope for Granny?
| For a kid? For >99% of people? Of course not.
|
| This is so _clearly_ a matter for government oversight: prevent
| abuse, monopolies, protect the citizen 's safety, rights,
| welfare, etc. It's not reasonable to expect consumers to figure
| out if the meat they buy is tainted, just as it's not to figure
| out if their phone spies on them, manipulates information, or
| sells their data (especially when there's a duopoly). That's why
| we have laws and food inspectors, paid for by the public, working
| for the public. Same thing with digital rights.
| pzo wrote:
| > I don't see a way out of this except government regulation.
|
| IMHO governments are partially behind those initiatives so they
| are unlikely to regulate themself- reason in last few years
| they intensified work on Digital ID, Age Verification, Chat
| control, KYC, etc.
| zrm wrote:
| There are different governments and different subdivisions
| within any given government. The only thing you need to get a
| government that had been pushing Chat Control to do some
| trust busting is to get more votes.
| lokar wrote:
| For the limits on side-loading in particular, there are a few
| southeast asian nations (I can't recall, Vietnam? Thailand?)
| where almost all internet access is via Android, including
| banking. And social engineering fraud, where they call
| someone up, pretend to be the bank, and get them to side-load
| malware, has become a major financial, and political problem.
|
| AIUI, they have told Google to find a fix, or else.
| nout wrote:
| EU is schizophrenic enough that it often produces very
| conflicting directions, opinions and policies.
|
| One thing EU loves is regulation though, so I expect they
| will introduce preemptive regulations to enforce strict ID
| verification as well as regulations to fine big companies for
| breaching user privacy with strict ID verification policies.
| user34283 wrote:
| You'd think in 2026 regulators would finally step up their game
| to break up the mobile app distribution duopoly.
|
| And Google thinks it can pull this ridiculous stunt.
| Fordec wrote:
| Yeah, no, going back to web native. Keep your verification and
| your 20%.
| parrellel wrote:
| Yeah, no. No one needs your spyware.
| ethagnawl wrote:
| What % of Android users actually want this? Do they know or care?
|
| I've been using Android since 2010 because it was open in ways
| that the Apple ecosystem wasn't. I do not want this and imagine
| hardly any other power users (for lack of a better term) do. I'm
| already using a mostly deGoogled device but this really seals the
| deal. I have been longing for a true Linux phone for years and
| now seems like a good time to get serious about the search and
| migration plan.
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(page generated 2026-03-30 23:00 UTC)