A campaign called Keep Android Open is urging developers and users to oppose Google’s planned verification requirements for Android software distributed outside the Play Store. The group frames the policy as a threat to independent app distribution, arguing that control over installation should remain with device owners.
According to the campaign’s account, Google announced in August 2025 that Android developers would eventually need to register before their applications could be installed on covered devices, including when software is distributed through channels other than Google Play. Keep Android Open says the requirement is scheduled to begin in 2027 and would affect hobby projects, direct sharing, internal tests and applications offered through alternative repositories such as F-Droid.
The campaign objects particularly to identity checks and the relationship between a developer’s verified registration and an application’s signing keys. It argues that mandatory identification could create disproportionate risks for anonymous open-source contributors, journalists, activists, whistleblowers and developers operating under repressive governments. The site also contends that smaller community organizations or students may face barriers that established commercial publishers can absorb more easily. These are the campaign’s claims and risk assessments; the supplied evidence does not include Google’s full policy text or response.
Keep Android Open acknowledges that Google has described a route for power users to install software from unverified developers. It nevertheless argues that the proposed process is intentionally discouraging, describing nine steps and a 24-hour waiting period. The campaign says the flow would depend on Google Play Services rather than the open Android operating-system layer, which in its view would let Google alter the process without a conventional operating-system update. It also states that the flow had not appeared in a beta, preview or canary release when its page was prepared.
The group disputes the security rationale for tying installation to developer identity. It points to Google Play Protect as an existing mechanism for scanning software and argues that knowing a publisher’s legal identity does not establish that an application is safe. Its broader concern is structural: registration would give one company a central role in deciding which developers can distribute software to Android devices, even outside that company’s store.
The campaign says 71 organizations across 23 countries have signed an open letter opposing the plan. It asks developers not to enroll in the proposed program or submit identity documents and invites people with knowledge of the implementation to contact it confidentially. The supplied source is the advocacy campaign itself, so it reliably establishes the group’s position and calls to action, but not the ultimate technical scope, rollout details or effects of Google’s policy. Those questions require Google documentation and independent reporting not included in this evidence packet.
