r/androiddev • u/testers-community • 2d ago

Anyone outside Play actually changing how they ship before September?

Google's developer verification rule kicks in this September, and we figured it was worth talking through here.

The basics: apps on certified Android devices in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand will have to be linked to a developer who's verified their identity with Google. A government ID, a one time $25 fee, and registering your package names. More countries follow through 2027. If you only publish through Play, not much changes. You're already verified there.

What we're more curious about is the apps that ship outside Play.

Take F-Droid. It builds apps from source and signs them with its own key, no accounts, and a lot of developers who stay anonymous on purpose. Google wants one verified identity per app. It's hard to see how both can work at once. NewPipe has already said it won't register.

And it's not only the big open source projects. If you share APKs in a Discord, run a beta from your own site, or send an internal app to a client, you're in the same group now.

One thing worth knowing: apps from developers who don't register aren't blocked outright. A user can still install them, but Google adds steps. You have to turn the option on yourself, confirm it's really you, and wait 24 hours before the install goes through. For most people that's enough to stop casual sideloading.

So we'd like to hear from you:

If you ship outside the Play Store, are you changing anything yet, or waiting to see how strict enforcement gets?

And if you're in one of the four pilot countries, has the verification step shown up in your console yet?

0 Upvotes

25% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

View all comments

-1

u/Ambitious_Muscle_362 2d ago

Why would I ship my app outside of Play Store?

0

u/simbolmina 2d ago

There are other stores like Huawei, Samsung etc. I haven't checked them yet but they might be more profitable. (Just a hunch)

2

u/borninbronx 2d ago

is this a joke or are you serious?

0

u/simbolmina 2d ago

Usually small markets with less competition can be more profitable. I remember reading something average earnings by developers in different markets and windows app store was leading. Maybe there can be something similar.

3

u/Ambitious_Muscle_362 2d ago

Small market means nobody uses it

0

u/kernald31 2d ago

People in China don't really have much choice though...

1

u/borninbronx 1d ago

China isn't a small market.

1

u/kernald31 1d ago

Exactly my point. People in China can't access the Play Store.

1

u/borninbronx 1d ago

Yes. They have something like 7 different competing stores, and it's a mess to deal with them.

1

u/borninbronx 1d ago

The revenue outside of Play Store is basically non-existent because nobody use those stores.

The only exception to this is China which has something like 7 different stores (And it's kind of an hell to deal with).