Android Sideloading: Developers can now register with Google

Google is continuing with its plans for stricter app rules on Android devices: Developers for the Android platforms can now verify themselves with Google in the Play Console or the Android Developer Console. This registration is a prerequisite for them to continue publishing easily installable apps for Android.

Last August, Google initially announced that in the future, only applications whose publishers have registered with Google and then signed the respective application will be installable on certified Android devices. Unlike the previous procedure, this fundamentally affects not only apps in the Play Store but also applications offered via sideloading.

Google has since clarified that the new system will also allow unregistered apps to be sideloaded onto phones. However, this will be more complicated than before: Users of Android phones will first have to switch to developer mode and then activate the new “Advanced Flow” option. According to Google, these additional steps are intended to prevent users from falling for scams and installing malware on their phones.

CCC Criticizes

Certified apps from registered developers bypass these additional steps even if they are not offered in the Play Store. Nevertheless, Google's new system is subject to criticism: The Chaos Computer Club and the Free Software Foundation, among others, have signed an open letter calling on Google to abandon its plans. They accuse Google of endangering the open Android ecosystem.

It will take some time before Google's new system is implemented in practice. Google has currently opened registration for developers to give them sufficient time. The new rules will be enforced internationally only in 2027, Google writes in a blog post. Only in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand will the new app protection be introduced this September.

(dahe)