Starting September 2026, Google will require all Android app developers to register centrally, pay a fee, agree to terms, and submit government ID before their apps can be installed on any Android device worldwide — including apps distributed outside the Play Store via F-Droid, shared between friends, or built for personal use. The 'escape hatch' for power users involves a nine-step process with a mandatory 24-hour waiting period, run through Google Play Services (not the OS), meaning Google can tighten or remove it at any time. Critics including the EFF, FSF, F-Droid, KDE, GNOME, Proton, Brave, and 69 other organizations argue this is not a security measure but a power grab that threatens open-source app distribution, enables censorship, endangers activists and dissidents, and retroactively breaks the openness promise that distinguished Android from iOS. Over 100,000 people have signed a petition opposing the change.
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