Android changes its DNA. Google will exclude the apps from unidentified developers … even if they are not in the play store

Google just activate the countdown for the Android we know. Since September 2026, any application you want to install on your Android – Come on Play Store, an alternative store or downloaded from a website – must be signed by a verified developer.

It is the end of anonymity in the Android ecosystem.

Why is it important. Android has always presumed to be the alternative open to iOS. That opening allowed to install applications of any source, without even Google knowing who developed them. With the advantages and disadvantages that that supposes.

Now, All developers must reveal their real identity to Googlewithout exceptions.

• The company justifies the change with data: it detects 50 times more malware in applications downloaded via web than in the Play Store.
• Cybercounts take advantage of anonymity to distribute malware, commit financial fraud and steal personal data.

The backdrop. This bomb comes in full legal earthquake for Google. Epic Games has won his antitrust case And the courts have ordered Android to open to third parties. Just when Google must allow more competition, impose unpublished control over who can develop for Android.

It is a master play of Timing:

• Google maintains control of the ecosystem even when the courts force him to open it.
• Alternative stores may exist, but all applications must go through the Google verification filter.

In detail. The new Android Developer Console will be mandatory for all:

• Developers must provide legal name, address, email and telephone.
• Organizations will also need corporate web and Luns number.
• Google promises not to show this information to users, but you will have it.
• There will be a “simplified” account for students and fans, without the rate of $ 25.

The calendar does not leave much margin of maneuver:

1. October 2025: Early access for selected developers.
2. March 2026: Open registration for all.
3. September 2026: Effective blockade in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
4. 2027: Global expansion.

Google points first to countries “specifically impacted” by scams. But the message is clear: this will be global and inevitable.

Yes, but. Thousands of independent developers will lose their privacy. Those who created useful tools without wanting to expose themselves now must choose: reveal their identity to Google or leave Android.

He Sideloadingthat exhaust valve that historically differentiated Android from iOS, is injured in death. Technically it will continue to exist, but only for developer applications that Google has verified.

Between the lines. Google says That this is like “showing the DNI at the airport”, which verifies identity, but not contained. The comparison is very good because airports are spaces of maximum control where we sacrifice freedoms for security. Just what Google is looking for.

The current documentation does not explain what will happen if you try to install an un verified application. Google will probably distribute a white list through Play Services and your Android will simply reject anonymous developer applications.

Deepen. This change replicates the model Gatekeeper Apple in macOSwhere developers must register for their apps to work. Android is converging with iOS in control, losing its main differentiator.

Google insists that Android will remain “open”, but the semantics is not an exact science, and for many, “open” will not fit as a definition a system where each developer must ask Google permission to exist.

The Android we knew has died today, although we will not bury it until September 2026.

In Xataka | Notifications with advertisements of some of the apps that we use most are kidnapping our mobiles. And there is not much to do

Outstanding image | Denny Müller