New Announcement from Google

[axendoax]

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/11/android-developer-verification-early.html

Google recently announced that while working on Developer Verification, they will add a way for users to bypass it if they tolerate the risk of downloading from unverified developers. I don't know how this will play out in practice, but this seems like Google bending to what we wanted.

This begs the question. What should we do with this site now?

I think there are a couple of options:

1. We continue to push for Google to rollback developer verification even more. While Google's recent announcement (assuming they actually follow through on it) is something I'm fine with personally (depending on how they implement it), I understand that this still might not be the case for third party app stores and developers who would rather developer verification be even more rolled back
2. Now that Google has given us this inch, we take a mile and start advocating for other stuff. I personally think better boot loader unlocking and the ability to re lock boot loaders without forever tripping the device's security features is the next thing we should push for, though I'm not sure how much Google could influence individual OEMs to do this. We could also push for Google to reopen AOSP to be completely open source again
3. We make an effort to meet with individuals at Google to ensure this system of allowing users to bypass developer verification will be implemented well (i.e. not be overly intrusive, not continue to kill third party app stores like F-Droid, etc.)
4. We tackle other specific issues with developer verification, like the amount of personal data developers have to give Google
5. We simply wait for developer verification to be rolled out and see how Google implements bypassing developer verification and then go from there, updating the site to reflect this info

We can also do a combination of these different options.

Ultimately, though, I think this announcement is good news. I'm cautious to say that the problem is completely solved (though it might be for some people), but either way this shows that Google CAN bend to community feedback. If anything, we should take this and try to demand more from Google now that we know we can influence their decisions in some way.

[marcprux]

I agree that it does sound potentially promising, but the devil will be in the details (as they say). I'm trying to gather more concrete information and hope to be able to provide an update in the coming week. For the time being, though, their statement is so vague that I'm inclined to take the view that nothing has materially changed at this point.

All that being said:

We could also push for Google to reopen AOSP to be completely open source again

That isn't a bad idea. If AOSP hadn't been closed off back in March, then they wouldn't have been able to slip in the developer verification infrastructure without the community noticing, and we wouldn't have been blindsided by their announcement. We'd need to consider the best way to propose this that will appeal to, and be comprehensible by, the various interested groups.