Thread by @onetallteen

Anyone who uses #Android - check this out. @Google is trying to block apps where the developer isn't "registered" from being sideloaded. (A thread)

Starting September 2026, a silent update, nonconsensually pushed by Google, will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID.

Registration requires:

Paying a fee to @Google
Agreeing to @Google's Terms and Conditions
Surrendering your government-issued identification
Providing evidence of your private signing key
Listing all current and all future application identifiers

@Google @Google has a documented track record () of complying when authoritarian regimes demand app removals. With this program, the software that runs your country's institutions will exist at the pleasure of a single unaccountable foreign corporation.aclu.org/news/free-spee…

@Google They say they're giving devs a back door.

24h cooling off period.

9 steps.

Worse:

This flow runs entirely through Google Play Services, not the Android OS. Google can change it, tighten it, or kill it at any time, with no OS update required and no consent needed.

@Google The principle being established: the company that made your device gets to decide, after you've bought it, what software you're allowed to run.

@Google In software, this is called a "rug pull"; but at least you could always install competing software. In hardware, it is a fait accompli that strips you of your agency and renders you powerless to the whims of a single unaccountable gatekeeper and convicted monopolist.

@Google Source:

keepandroidopen.org

@Google I know a lot of people, including me, who bought #Android because of the freedom to go "I'll install this, and I don't care if it's not on the #playstore." If @google rolls this out? Plenty will go to #iOS instead. So, share this thread with anyone with #Android
#KeepAndroidOpen

@Google @threadreaderapp unroll