On 25 August, the tech giant announced that all developers — whether publishing on the Play Store or via sideloading — will soon be required to verify their identities. This marks a major shift in Android's approach to app security. Sideloading will still be allowed, but anonymous publishing will no longer be an option.

Google will require developer identity verification for all Android apps, including sideloading. New non-Play Developer Console will collect legal name, address, email and phone; info won't be public.

Google will extend developer verification to all Android apps, not just those installed from the Play Store, beginning with Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand in September 2026, and followed by global rollout in 2027 and beyond.