Google’s New Developer Rules Threaten to End the F-Droid Open-Source App Store

Android’s openness has always been its strength, but that freedom is about to face some resistance. Starting next year, unverified developers will be blocked from distributing apps even from outside the Play Store. Open-source app store F-Droid has some serious concerns about this.

If you’re the type of Android user who values privacy and open-source software, you’re probably familiar with F-Droid. It’s an alternative to the Google Play Store that only hosts open-source apps, and it actually screens them for ads, trackers, and hidden data-collection tools. Now, that community is under threat. Last month, Google announced new developer registration requirements that could make it impossible for independent app repositories like F-Droid to distribute apps.

Essentially, Google’s “developer registration decree,” which begins rolling out in phases in September 2026, will require every single Android app to be tied to a registered developer identity. This identity must be verified through government IDs and other personal details—and it costs $25. The icing on the cake is that the rule doesn’t just apply to the Play Store. Developers will also need to declare all of their app identifiers and signing keys directly to Google.

This is where things get sticky for F-Droid. Alternative app stores simply won’t be able to offer apps directly because they won’t control the necessary keys or IDs. F-Droid’s project relies on independent, often anonymous, contributors. In a blog post, the platform has stated clearly that it can’t take over app identities on behalf of these developers or force them to register with Google. F-Droid puts it very bluntly:

If it were to be put into effect, the developer registration decree will end the F-Droid project and other free/open-source app distribution sources as we know them today, and the world will be deprived of the safety and security of the catalog of thousands of apps that can be trusted and verified by any and all. F-Droid’s myriad users[^howmanyusers] will be left adrift, with no means to install — or even update their existing installed — applications.

Google, of course, frames this entire move as a security measure designed to stop malware. The Play Store already has systems and restrictions in place to help prevent the distribution of malware, but sideloading has always been a workaround. This new decree would be the first time Google has really tried to crack down on what you can install from unofficial avenues—and that’s where the worries come from.

Quite frankly, it would be a huge blow to the Android ecosystem to lose F-Droid and similar projects. F-Droid urges people to write to their Congressperson, Member of Parliament, or other representative, sign petitions in defense of sideloading, and contact the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) team to express their concerns.

Source: F-Droid