[…]
In the new blog post, Google’s Matthew Forsythe confirms that the developer verification system is slated to come online on September 30 of this year. The initial deployment will be limited to countries with a high level of app scams: Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.
[…]
Google released its new developer console back in March, inviting external developers the opportunity to pay $25 and verify their identities early. Developers who don’t register will find that their apps cannot be sideloaded on Google-certified Android devices once verification has rolled out. Google says that almost every app in the Play Store is now ready for the change, and a “large majority” of apps outside Google Play have completed verification.
[…]
Google says it will verify the apps in the following stores when it begins enforcing the new restrictions.
Google (Google Play)
Honor (HONOR App Market)
OPlus (OPPO App Market)
Samsung (Galaxy Store)
Transsion (Palm Store)
vivo (V-Appstore)
Xiaomi (GetApps)
[…]
The next step toward verifying apps will come this month as Google deploys a new system service on most certified devices. The package (com.google.android.verifier) will appear on phones and tablets running Android 8 or higher, allowing Google to block the installation of unverified apps. It will remain dormant until verification is activated in your specific region.
In July, Google plans to roll out the new developer APIs and begin testing for “limited distribution” accounts. This is Google’s solution for hobbyists who want to make their own apps and share them with a small group. Limited accounts won’t require a fee or government ID verification, but you can install these apps on up to 20 devices.
In August, the advanced flow will become available globally ahead of verification becoming mandatory in the first markets. As detailed a few months ago, the advanced flow will allow users to bypass verification, but the process isn’t easy. You’ll have to navigate to a buried menu, confirm you understand the risks multiple times, and wait a whole day before completing the process.
And that brings us to September, when Android devices in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand will begin checking verification status before installing apps. However, things get murky after that. Google will undoubtedly monitor how verification works as millions of users are suddenly limited to verified apps, which could affect how it moves forward. Google says it intends to expand developer verification in 2027, eventually making it a global device policy.
So is there a way to bypass this or is basically everyone using a phone that isn’t one of the fancy Linux ones essentially fucked?
https://github.com/woheller69/FreeDroidWarn#solutions
Here’s a copy/paste, sans hyperlinks:
Developer verification will be enforced on certified devices with Google Play Services installed, which is the majority of Android devices. There are options to bypass the restriction:
Android is open source (and also Linux), so there are many custom OSs that aren’t “fancy linux”, but just Android without Google apps. See: LineageOS, GrapheneOS, e/OS. You might be able to install one of them on your phone if it’s compatible!
Just reinstall the OS without google.
Or you could buy a new or used device that’s already degoogled. Or go to your local phone repair shop and pay them to do it for you.
Can you do that even if the bootloader is locked (as it is on many phones nowadays)?
Yeah, you just go into settings and unlock the bootloader.
If you have some really shitty phone that you can’t unlock the bootloader, then you don’t own the phone. Put it in the nearest electronics recycling bin, and buy one that you can own. You can buy phones that are already degoogled for a few hundred.
Fortunately its illegal in many countries to sell a phone whose boot loader can’t be unlocked.
Then “reinstall without Google” isn’t a solution you can suggest universally to everyone even if you don’t know their phone model
Sure I can. Because buying a degoogled phone costs just a few hundred