So I was playing PEAK today and after I died in game, I got pinged by a friend linking to an article here. It was an article discussing Google’s intentions to enforce developer verification, and if a developer refuses to verify, their apps will no longer work on Android, sideloaded or otherwise. I have been around following Android for a while, and this is not the first time that Google has decided to make stuff harder for power users or enthusiasts. The most biggest example of this is probably SafetyNet/Play Integrity, a system that lets developers restrict app access to devices that are modified in any way (like having an unlocked bootloader or running a custom ROM). This personally affected me in the past, and after that I basically refuse to run any apps or support any company that decides to give the middle finger to anyone that uses a custom ROM. Modern Android is full of these little middle fingers and pointless restrictions that are made in the name of security that makes you really wonder if Android is truly open source as they claim or if it is really under Google’s iron grip.
Developer verification is yet another of these stupid attempts for Google to fucking make Android work more as iOS, all in the name of “security”. (read as: control). The plan is that every developer, no matter whom they are, now must verify themselves behind the court of Google, and if they refuse, the apps they make will no longer be able to installable on Android (or at least, on certified devices or devices that have gapps), no matter if it is via the Play Store or via sideloading. Do you not believe for a second that Google won’t use the power they exercise over Android against apps they do not like? Do you really think that Google won’t ban Revanced, Grayjay, or Newpipe from being installed? Do you not think they will go against tools that also affect them negatively too? Do you not think that they will make Magisk nearly impossible to install, just because the devs are not verified?
And the worst part is this is very vague still. We do not know if this is mandatory or will it be an option you’ll now have to disable in settings. We do not know who and who cannot get a developer verification. We do not know if this will be a thing that will be baked into Android proper or something that is inside Google Play Services. And I worry by the time we finally figure out the shitstorm incoming, that it may be too late. I don’t need or want a company policing what I can and cannot do with my own device that is under my property which I paid with my own fucking money. If I so choose to install a fucking virus or trojan that steals all my money, then that is on me.
I look into this and I genuinely struggle to see who is Google trying to protect with this new change. Is it old people? Is it those who do not know any better? Or is the intention not to protect people, but to enforce control over the operating system? If Google doesn’t like an app, because it blocks YT ads or whatever, will that app developer not get a dev verification stamp of approval? If this is for security, then why not go against all the bucket loads of fucking malware on the Play Store first?
Google claims that “developers will have the same freedom to distribute their apps directly to users through sideloading or to use any app store they prefer.”. If this is true, then why do they need a fucking verification to be able to release apps that are installable on Android? What if the developer refuses to submit to Google’s iron grip, whether it is because of privacy reasons or because they do not agree with Google’s practices? Lets talk about malware developers, do you not think they can also get verified (by hiding their intentions) and release apps that are actually malicious, and since they are verified, they will simply be allowed to be installed?
For someone who has grown more and more tired of Android’s bullshit, I feel very cornered. There are very little alternatives for mobile operating systems: Windows Phone was shot dead after 2 decades of Microsoft’s incompetence, iOS is owned by Apple, another shitty big tech corp that is trying to enshittify adding stupid pointless AI and lie about caring about user privacy, Android custom ROMs like LineageOS and GrapheneOS could be impacted but we are still not sure yet, and Linux phones are a fucking joke, there is no good apps on that platform, and the phones that can run Linux are often very underpowered and very overpriced.