Keep Android Open

In August 2025, Google announced that starting next year, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:

• Paying a fee to Google

• Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions

• Providing government identification

• Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key

• Listing all current and future application identifiers

What this means for your rights

➤ You, the consumer, purchased your Android device believing in Google’s promise that it was an open computing platform and that you could run whatever software you choose on it. Instead, starting next year, they will be non-consensually pushing an update to your operating system that irrevocably blocks this right and leaves you at the mercy of their judgement over what software you are permitted to trust.

➤ You, the creator, can no longer develop an app and share it directly with your friends, family, and community without first seeking Google’s approval. The promise of Android — and a marketing advantage it has used to distinguish itself against the iPhone — has always been that it is “open”. But Google clearly feels that they have enough of a lock on the Android ecosystem, along with sufficient regulatory capture, that they can now jettison this principle with prejudice and impunity.

➤ You, the state, are ceding the rights of your citizens and your own digital sovereignty to a company with a track record of complying with the extrajudicial demands of authoritarian regimes to remove perfectly legal apps that they happen to dislike. The software that is critical to the running of your businesses and governments will be at the mercy of the opaque whims of a distant and unaccountable corporation.

How you can help

Consumers: Contact national regulators

Regulators worldwide are genuinely concerned about monopolies and the centralization of power in the tech sector, and want to hear directly from individuals who are affected and concerned. When contacting regulators directly, you should be polite and specific about the harm you believe these policies will cause, both to consumers and to competition.

Complaints are especially impactful when they are authored by a citizen of that country or region, and when the language of the email is written in one of the official languages of the region’s governing body. Request a written acknowledgement of the complaint, and consider forwarding any responses you receive to victory@keepandroidopen.org so that we might highlight and reference them.

European Union

• Email Digital Markets Act team: EC-DMA@ec.europa.eu
• Contact DMA team: https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/contact-dma-team_en
• Send feedback on EU interplay between DMA and GDPR: Consultation on joint guidelines on the interplay between DMA and GDPR until December 4.
• Email Antitrust: COMP-GREFFE-ANTITRUST@ec.europa.eu
• Complain to the EU Competition Policy
• [EXPIRED] Send feedback on EU Digital Fairness Act: EU Digital Fairness Act: Have Your Say

United Kingdom

• Email: general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk
• Make a report to the UK Competition & Markets Authority

United States

• Make a report to the US Department of Justice Antitrust Report Online
• File a complaint with the US Federal Trade Commission: Antitrust Complaints
• Email (DEFUNCT): antitrust@ftc.gov
• Email (DEFUNCT): antitrust.complaints@usdoj.gov
• Note: Due to the ongoing US government shutdown, it may take a long time before complaints are acknowledged and registered.

Brazil

• Email: superintendencia@cade.gov.br
• Reach out to Procon (depends on your state) and Senacon
• Note: Brazil is slated to be one of the initial 4 countries where developer registration will be enforced

Singapore

• Email: cccs_feedback@cccs.gov.sg
• Contact the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS)
• Note: Singapore is slated to be one of the initial 4 countries where developer registration will be enforced

Thailand

• Email: saraban@tcct.or.th
• Contact the Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC)
• Note: Thailand is slated to be one of the initial 4 countries where developer registration will be enforced

Indonesia

• Email: infokom@kppu.go.id
• Contact the KPPU for Competition Complaints
• Note: Indonesia is slated to be one of the initial 4 countries where developer registration will be enforced

Switzerland

• File a report with the Competition Commission

Australia

• Email: international@accc.gov.au
• File a report with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
• Send a request to Australian Consumers’ Association (CHOICE). Ask them to lodge a designated complaint to the Australian Competition & Consumer Comission (ACCC).
• Contact your local Member of Parliament or State Senator. If you don’t know your electorate, you can find it here, and you can search for your Parliamentarians or Senators here.

Japan

• Email: intnldiv@jftc.go.jp
• Contact the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC)

South Korea

• Email: kftc@korea.kr
• Contact the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC)

India

• Email: cci‑chairman@nic.in
• Contact the Competition Commission of India (CCI)

Canada

• Email: info@competitionbureau.gc.ca
• Make a complaint to Competition Bureau Canada
• File a report with the https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en

Taiwan

• Email: ftc@ftc.gov.tw
• Contact the Fair Trade Commission (FTC)

Turkey

• Contact the Rekabet Kurumu / Turkish Competition Authority (RK)

Argentina

• Email: cndc@produccion.gob.ar
• Contact the Comisión Nacional de Defensa de la Competencia (CNDC)

Mexico

• Email: denuncias@antimonopolio.gob.mx
• Contact the Comisión Nacional Antimonopolio

Philippines

• Contact the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC)

Czech Republic

• Email: posta@uohs.gov.cz
• Contact the Office for the Protection of Competition (Úřad pro ochranu hospodářské soutěže – ÚOHS)

Ukraine

• Contact the National Commission for the State Regulation of Electronic Communications
• Contact the Ministry of Digital Transformation
• Contact the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine

Developers: Resist and refuse

If you are an app developer, do not sign up for the early access program, perform identity verification, or accept an invitation to the Android Developer Console. Respond (politely) to any invitation with a list of your concerns and objections.

—— It is only through developer acquiescence that their takeover plan can possibly succeed. ——

Discourage fellow app developers and organizations from signing up to the program. Use community forums, social media, and blog posts to spread the message. Include the FreeDroidWarn library in your code to inform your app users.

If you are a Google employee or contractor of good conscience and have additional insight about the program, including planned technical implementation details or additional rationales for the program, please reach out to tips@keepandroidopen.org from a non-work machine and a non-gmail account. Your information will be kept in strict confidence.

Everyone: Make your voice heard

• Install F-Droid on your Android device(s). The more people that use alternative app marketplaces, the harder it will be to shut them out.
• Add your organization’s signature to the draft Open Letter to Google Regarding Mandatory Developer Registration for Third-Party App Distribution by emailing signatories@keepandroidopen.org with your name, title, and affiliation.
• Provide feedback directly to Google using their Android developer verification requirements survey.
• Make your voice heard on social media and with blog posts, and link to https://keepandroidopen.org
• Combat astroturfing: when you encounter suspect posts on community forums and social media in support of the policy (“Well, actually…”), challenge them and do not be shy.
• Help this project out by editing this page with more useful information.
• Sign this change.org petition

Contact These Consumer/Digital Rights Groups

• Euroconsumers
• Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Digital Rights Ireland
• Digital Freedom and Rights Association (Sweden)
• European Digital Rights
• La Quadrature du Net (France)
• April (France)
• Free Software Foundation
• Free Software Foundation Europe
• Free Software Movement India
• IT-Political Association of Denmark
• Digital Rights Watch (Australia)
• Open Rights Group (UK)
• Bits of Freedom (Netherlands)
• Swecha Andhra Pradesh

Support These Projects

These projects are working to provide much-needed competition in the mobile hardware space.

• Librephone by the Free Software Foundation
• Graphene OS
• PinePhone by Pine64
• Spirit Smartphone by V3lectronics
• Shiftphone
• PureOS by Purism
• PostmarketOS
• Replicant
• Ubuntu Touch by the UBPorts Community
• Fairphone
• Sailfish OS
• Mobian
• LineageOS
• /e/OS

References

Overview

• https://consumerrights.wiki/w/Android_Developer_Verification

Editorials and Blogs

• “Your Smartphone, Their Rules: How App Stores Enable Corporate-Government Censorship” - https://www.aclu.org/news/free-speech/app-store-oligopoly
• “Application Gatekeeping: An Ever-Expanding Pathway to Internet Censorship” — https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/application-gatekeeping-ever-expanding-pathway-internet-censorship
• “What We Talk About When We Talk About Sideloading” — https://f-droid.org/en/2025/10/28/sideloading.html (Hacker News Thread)
• “F-Droid and Google’s Developer Registration Decree” — https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html (Hacker News Thread)
• “Pluralistic: Darth Android” — https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/01/fulu/
• “Google plans to block side-loading like Apple, declaring war on Android freedom” — https://tuta.com/blog/android-side-load-apps-google
• “Keep Android Free and Open” - https://www.swechaap.org/blog/keep-android-free-and-open/
• “Join The Protest Against The Closing Of Android” - https://www.i-programmer.info/news/193-android/18419-join-the-protest-against-the-closing-of-android.html

Press Reactions

• “‘Keep Android Open’ movement fights back against Google sideloading restrictions” – https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/keep_android_open_movement/
• “Resistance to Google’s Android verification grows among developers” – https://www.techzine.eu/news/devops/135878/resistance-to-googles-android-verification-grows-among-developers/
• “‘Keep Android Open’ Movement Challenges Google’s Developer Verification Rule” — https://www.opensourceforu.com/2025/10/keep-android-open-movement-challenges-googles-developer-verification-rule/
• “Google kneecaps indie Android devs, forces them to register” — https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/android_developer_verification_sideloading/
• “Open-Source Android Apps at Risk Under Google’s New Decree” — https://www.techrepublic.com/article/news-f-droid-warns-google-developer-decree-open-source-android/
• “Google’s New Developer ID Rule Could Harm F-Droid, Says Open-Source Advocate” — https://reclaimthenet.org/googles-android-id-rule-threatens-f-droids-future
• “Google’s developer registration ‘decree’ means the end for alternative app stores” — https://cybernews.com/tech/googles-developer-registration-decree-end-alternative-app-stores/
• “Open-Source Android Apps Threatened by Google’s New Policy” — https://www.datamation.com/open-source/android-apps-google-policy/
• “Google’s new ID requirements could destroy independent app stores” — https://www.techspot.com/news/109728-google-confirms-new-android-rules-significantly-restrict-app.html
• “Google’s Requirement For All Android Developers To Register And Be Verified Threatens To Close Down Open Source App Store F-Droid” — https://www.techdirt.com/2025/10/07/googles-requirement-for-all-android-developers-to-register-and-be-verified-threatens-to-close-down-open-source-app-store-f-droid/
• “Google’s new developer rules could threaten sideloading and F-Droid’s future” — https://www.gizmochina.com/2025/09/30/googles-new-developer-rules-could-threaten-sideloading-and-f-droids-future/
• “Google is restricting one of Android’s most important features, and users are outraged” — https://www.slashgear.com/1962802/google-restricting-important-android-feature-reason-why-users-outraged/
• “Android’s sideloading limits are its most anti-consumer move yet” - https://www.makeuseof.com/androids-sideloading-limits-are-anti-consumer-move-yet/
• “Google’s dev registration plan ‘will end the F-Droid project’” — https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/29/googles_dev_registration_plan_will/
• “F-Droid says Google’s new sideloading restrictions will kill the project” — https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/f-droid-calls-for-regulators-to-stop-googles-crackdown-on-sideloading/
• “Google will require developer verification for Android apps outside the Play Store” — https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/25/google-will-require-developer-verification-for-android-apps-outside-the-play-store/
• “Google will verify Android developers distributing apps outside the Play store” — https://www.theverge.com/news/765881/google-android-apps-side-loading-developer-verification
• “Google will require developer verification to install Android apps, including sideloading” — https://9to5google.com/2025/08/25/android-apps-developer-verification/
• “Android Security or Vendor Lock-In? Google’s New Sideloading Rules Smell Fishy” — https://news.itsfoss.com/new-android-sideloading-rules/
• “Google Demands Dev Identity For All Android Apps” - https://www.i-programmer.info/news/193-android/18276-google-demands-dev-identity-for-all-android-apps.html
• “Google Defends Developer Verification” - https://www.i-programmer.info/news/193-android/18356-google-defends-developer-verification.html
• “Keep Android Open – Abwehr gegen Verbot anonymer Apps von Google“- https://www.heise.de/news/Keep-Android-Open-Abwehr-gegen-Verbot-anonymer-Apps-von-Google-10965483.html

Video Responses

• “Google: ‘Your $1000 phone needs our permission to install apps now’” — Louis Rossmann — https://youtu.be/QBEKlIV_70E
• “F-Droid Will Die in 2026 Unless We Act Now — Techlore” — https://youtu.be/wRvqdLsnsKY
• “Google is Removing Sideloading” — LMG Clips — https://youtu.be/-R76VJtTDJ8
• “Google’s changes to sideloading could end F-Droid - Linux Weekly News” — https://youtu.be/iMqpm2Ahmt0
• “Is F-Droid in Trouble? Google Developer Verification” — https://youtu.be/-SOOoQWv4kk
• “Google is Applefying Android: The End of Openness” — ChiefGyk3D — https://youtu.be/WFOPzixHoLY

Discussions

• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45742488
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45409794
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45507173
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45569371
• https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45742488
• https://lobste.rs/s/x1sdu5/f_droid_google_s_developer_registration
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1n1m699/horrible_news/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1n3jtrf/google_you_royally_screwed_up/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1n0uy6g/just_received_this_email_now_you_can_get/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1n2im4j/this_may_mark_the_end_of_android_development_for/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1n0f41c/google_will_require_developer_verification_to/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1km8jof/google_play_developer_verification/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1mzw877/android_developers_blog_a_new_layer_of_security/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1n7g0cc/to_all_android_devs_speak_up_now_before_you_lose/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/androiddev/comments/1oaj908/collection_of_actions_we_can_take_to_stop/

Official Documentation

• Initial announcement — https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-android-security.html
• Let’s talk security: Answering your top questions about Android developer verification — https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/09/lets-talk-security-answering-your-top.html
• Android developer verification: Early access starts now as we continue to build with your feedback — https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/11/android-developer-verification-early.html
• Android developer verification: Guides — https://developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides/android-developer-console#complete-identity
• Android developer verification: Frequently asked questions — https://developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides/faq
• Introducing the Android Developer Console: A first look — https://developer.android.com/developer-verification/assets/pdfs/introducing-the-android-developer-console.pdf
• Download an early look of the new Android Developer Console — https://support.google.com/android-developer-console/answer/16450960
• API Documentation — https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/PackageInstaller#DEVELOPER_VERIFICATION_FAILED_REASON_DEVELOPER_BLOCKED

Miscellaneous

• Android Developer Verification Discourse by Termux developer agnostic-apollo
• Opposition recommendations