Android will quickly require app builders to undergo an id verification course of earlier than their apps might be put in on customers’ gadgets—no matter if the apps are downloaded by way of the Play Retailer or sideloaded.
“Consider it like an ID examine on the airport, which confirms a traveler’s id however is separate from the safety screening of their luggage; we will likely be confirming who the developer is, not reviewing the content material of their app or the place it got here from,” Suzanne Frey, VP of Product, Belief & Development for Android, wrote in a weblog publish.
Google will likely be beginning an early entry program for verification in October 2025, the place contributors can be part of a neighborhood dialogue discussion board, get precedence assist for the brand new guidelines, and be capable of present suggestions.
Then, beginning in March 2026, all builders will be capable of begin verification. Verification necessities will go into impact in September 2026 in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, after which broaden to different nations the next yr.
To raised assist builders in gentle of the brand new necessities, Google will construct a brand new Android Developer Console particularly for builders who distribute their apps outdoors of Google Play to allow them to simply full their verification.
Google additionally says that builders who distribute their apps by way of Google Play probably already meet the brand new necessities.
“To be clear, builders could have the identical freedom to distribute their apps on to customers by way of sideloading or to make use of any app retailer they like. We consider that is how an open system ought to work—by preserving selection whereas enhancing safety for everybody. Android continues to point out that with the appropriate design and safety ideas, open and safe can go hand in hand,” Frey wrote.
