Is that an official Google form and/or who am I providing my (required) email address to?
Is there an official Google page that links to this? Sorry but anyone can share a Google form.
this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2025
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Yes, there is.
Here's the official Android Developer page on the developer verification program. Bottom of the page, green square on the right labeled "Do you have any additional questions or feedback?"
Link is the same as in the post.
Very good. I've seen too many random Google Forms going around just harvesting emails / info to plug my details into any that I don't click into from a legit/verified site. Not that I'm accusing OP of that, just that I don't know where they got that form link.
Good point, I actually got it from another Lemmy user on the relevant thread from !android@lemdro.id.
Didn't even think that there could be a potential risk with email harvesting.
You need to verify yourself before you submit. They testing.
Na. Used throwaway email tied to nothing. Selected the options that applied to me. Left them a cordial "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" feedback letter in the message box and submitted. No verification needed. The only chance for defense is giving them a number they can measure of people who will switch devices if they continue to pursue dev verification.
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This is silly. Google doesn't give a single fuck. This decision will make money for key players and that's the end of the conversation.
I dunno, I'm sure there's a part of them that doesn't want to scare off all the free labor they get from the community developers. They are probably legitimately trying to gauge how much of an impact on that this will have. That doesn't mean they are going to stop or change anything, but they probably genuinely care enough to know.
This is the exact same argument the Hackintosh community had. "Apple will never put a stop to us, we're the hardcore tinkerers who find bugs in their software before any normal user!"
Google doesn't care. The hardcore users on the bleeding edge make up 0.001% of people with an Android phone. Pissing them off will not affect the shareholders.
I dunno, I’m sure there’s a part of them that doesn’t want to scare off all the free labor they get from the community developers.
Google’s thinking has gone short term “next quarter must go up.” They would absolutely trash their Android dev community for a quick buck, 100%.
It's very likely that no amount of negative feedback will change anything. Why not waste some of their time anyway? Write to them, call them, spread the word. This is the only thing we can do. Even if it goes through regardless - at the very least we can make it as unpleasant as possible.
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Doesnt matter.
Give feedback and pray it somehow does something!
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Public pushback on stuff like this does work on occasion. It even worked on Apple when they proposed upload filters for CSAM.
Google's intent in the short term probably is just about malware, but in the long term it gives them, and governments which can pressure them the ability to ban any app from nearly all Android devices. Once deployed, there's a near 100% chance of such a mechanism being used for evil.
I don't buy the malware arguement. Most major social apps function like malware (tracking location and anything they can). In the 90s, any app that did that (say to your laptop) would be treated as spyware.
No doubt many "legitimate" apps, including some of Google's own are spyware. This claims to be about the sort of malware that steals your bank account login.
I'd even speculate that most of the people involved are working in good faith; they think they're the good guys and they can be trusted with that kind of power. Nobody should have that kind of power though because it always leads to corruption.
I would love to see an interview with the team. Because you’re probally right.
It's only spyware if Google can't monetize it. Which is ironic if you think about it.
Also the true malware is currently signed and it still reaches millions of people, most of the time downloaded straight from store.
I would argue that was the definition even in the early 2000s. then it became a business model for famous companies.
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Google aren't opposed to evil any more though, they removed their motto of "Don't Be Evil".
Alphabet Agency company was never opposed to evil. They're like the "nice” drug dealer giving you what you like until you keep coming back. Or the guy in the van giving out free candy.
The malware argument falls like a house of cards when you just dig a bit nd see that Play Store is full of indiscutible malware like flashlight "apps".
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Closing the side loading option is a path to antitrust suits, a slap in the face to privacy, a kick in the teeth to independent devs and personal use.
There is zero reason for this other than wanting full control of how I use my own phone and how much money/data google can squeeze out of everyone.
I did not purchase a phone to have it later be functionally broken as features it had have been stripped in the name of 'security'.
A warning message is all that is needed. The current toggle is enough.
We are not toddlers.
There are not possibly enough cases that it warrants such a restrictive policy aside from the stated reasons above.
Give me liberty or give me symbian.
How's that?
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Sounds like the thing that will finally get me onto another platform. Sideloading is the only way around most of these companys' draconian restrictions.
There aren't really many choices when it comes to mobile OS.
Not a lot currently, but what's needed is for the snowball to start rolling. This means the early adopters will have to make the more difficult decision of choosing "lesser" options wrt. comfort and convenience, compatibility, and bang for your buck. All decisions matter, and it will have long-term effects en masse.
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I will transition off Android if this gets deployed, this is unacceptable.
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I couldn't tell from the article, but does this impact ALL apps that do NOT go through the Google Play Store?
What about 3rd party App Stores? Amazon has one, there is also the FOSS app stores like F-Droid. Are those in or out?
F-Droid would likely be out because they rebuild many apps from source.
I have a feeling that this is a retaliation for those as Epic is leading a charge against Google Play, and rightly so, not that they are an ally. I just like watching pigs fight.
https://techbriefly.com/2025/08/01/epic-games-store-coming-to-google-play-after-court-win/
as long as your phone have GMS preinstalled and listed under Google certification. this will affect you. So, Chinese phone without GMS is fine.
Just today apple showed how stupid is this policy as they revoked the publisher certificate for a torrent app, proving that the end goal is not locking malware but stuff that they don't like
This is just a way to capture negative feedback in a way that leaves you feeling like you did something while impacting none of their business which they can then ignore and throw away with no issues. Make noise on social media, not feedback forms. Make them hurt.
if this policy is implemented. the easiest thing for noobs will be get a Chinese phone without certification from Google https://storage.googleapis.com/play_public/supported_devices.html like huawei (you can get a GMS support with emulator like Gbox)
The problem I see is that the independent app market will not survive this if the audience of "normal" Android devices is gone. Most devs won't bother developing apps that are not available on the play store, so alternative roms are not a solution in most markets.
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Here is the direct link to the form
Straight into the garbage.
Some poignant questions for these new platform requirements:
- How do you anticipate this being used against journalists and advocacy groups?
- What research and statistical quantification will be done to evaluate the amount of harm these restrictions can inflict?
- What precautions or safeguards will users have against malicious state actors or capitulating corporations?
- How can developers protect themselves from liable damages due to service interruptions caused by third party verification?
- Do you foresee legal restrictions in rollout due to national security concerns from differing nation states?
What a disappointing week. I was looking to replace my five year old iPhone with an android phone and now I'm just stumped. Pixel 10 looked pretty good but then this sudden verification requirement news hit. Both platform are now equally crap. The hell with both of these shitty companies. Maybe I'll go full retro and get a dumb phone instead.
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I did it and I told them exactly why and what I use and why and hopefully they will take heed. It's not even some freakishly avoid-y reason or anything. I'm not extremist because I know that if I'm going to use a lot of this stuff I have to make compromises because it's not magically going to get better overnight, but also we have to stand up for user freedom so we have some degree of ability to actually use our devices as we wish and install software that we want on our own computer.
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Its our chance to over turn this.
Let's hope this won't happen.
What has happened with mobile platforms has proven that the fact that we ended up with PC platforms that allow us the freedom to largely do whatever we want with them was more an outlier than the norm.
Apple and Google have gone out of their way at every step with their new platforms over the last 20 years to make sure that process does not repeat itself. Even the stuff that seems more open like Android technically supporting arbitrary app installs from anywhere and the Linux container in ChromeOS still allows the platform holder to step in and stop you from doing something with those tools should they desire using mechanisms that the OS depends on to be useful.
Come on, they don't care. I will use a custom mod for as long as possible and when this stops working I will switch to two phones setup: de-googled daily driver and second phone for work/car apps. And if I will have to choose between stock Android and iPhone for the second phone I will go with an iPhone.
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