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Your phone is about to stop being yours. Keep Android Open!

Accepted submission by Anonymous Coward at 2026-04-29 08:11:56
Digital Liberty

https://keepandroidopen.org [keepandroidopen.org]

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.

Every app and every device, worldwide, with no opt-out.

What Google is doing

In August 2025, Google announced [android.com] a new requirement: starting September 2026, every Android app developer must register centrally with Google before their software can be installed on any device. Not just Play Store apps: all apps. This includes apps shared between friends, distributed through F-Droid, built by hobbyists for personal use. Independent developers, church and community groups, and hobbyists alike will all be frozen out of being able to develop and distribute their software.

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

If a developer does not comply, their apps get silently blocked on every Android device worldwide.

Continued here [keepandroidopen.org].


Original Submission