Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google.
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@jbz It’s a great time to develop more Linux‑based mobile apps to replace Android, which is becoming increasingly closed. Linux phones are improving every day, but they still lack sufficient developer support. I’ve seen several Android apps recently ported to Linux, and I hope more people will start buying these phones—especially in Europe, where digital sovereignty remains insufficient.
You can follow Linux‑mobile accounts such as @furilabs, and @postmarketOS to stay updated!
@clero @jbz @furilabs @postmarketOS i didn't even know there are Linux phones! Where does one buy them?
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiersFFS...
Are they seriously just *trying* to piss us off...??
No better reason to de-google and no better time to de-google...
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers@jbz I just paid $250 (USD) for a BOLD N4 phone. If only there were a Linux phone half as good for twice the price! (5G, 3D AMOLED 6.78" 120Hz display, 1200x2652. NPU 655, Ovta core CPU, 512GB storage, 32GB ram. 50MP camera. Big battery, fast charging.)
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@jbz So, as has become the refrain over the past few years, Fuck Google, you evil rat-fucking bastards.
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers@jbz It would not surprise me one bit if everyone pushing back on them as suggested on that site lost their Google access entirely, from Gmail to appdev.
Did it anyway because it's the right thing to do, but have alternate plans in place.
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers@jbz All talking about switching to a Linux-phone but Linux is much unsafer than Android. Android has sandboxes, app based permissions and nearly no root access for a reason.
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What's the opinion of the EU about this? IIRC they ruled that Apple has to permit apps from sources outside their monopoly app store?
I don't know.
I hope they will see how google is just laughing at them now with such rules and take appropriate measures, but it seems this topic doesn't really get the noise it deserves.
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers -
@clero @jbz @furilabs @postmarketOS i didn't even know there are Linux phones! Where does one buy them?
@Dubikan @jbz @furilabs @postmarketOS
The Flx1s is probably the best Linux phone currently available on the market. You can purchase it at https://furilabs.com/. -
@jbz All talking about switching to a Linux-phone but Linux is much unsafer than Android. Android has sandboxes, app based permissions and nearly no root access for a reason.
@gay_garstly @jbz Today, with Flatpak, apps are containerized with app‑based permissions. With Waydroid you can even run Android apps in containers. It’s true the OS isn’t as optimized for a phone as Android or iOS, but if more people start using it, especially in the EU, developers could boost performance and build a safe and truly de‑Googled OS.
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers@jbz When I was in grad school, for Computer Science, I had a course where we programed apps on our phones to do some sort of sensor data collection.
Mine was focused on sound and noise pollution.
The students with apple phones were massively handicapped by Apple policies.
It's disappointing, to say the least, that Android will also be handicapping.
https://kristinhenry.medium.com/the-making-of-mycitysounds-a9757d59e3e4
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers@jbz oh wow thats so bad. So, what is our response? move to iOS? GrapheneOS not mature enough yet and others are lacking behind by a lot..
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers@jbz@indieweb.social This increasing platform friction and centralization is precisely why Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are a better path forward. They bypass this kind of gatekeeping entirely. Unless a feature absolutely requires native integration - which is increasingly uncommon - the open web is the superior platform. #PWA #Apps
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiersGoogle announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform
for the android platform, or for their market?
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Google announced that as of September 2026, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:
- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers@jbz Sometimes the smartphone world makes me really want to wipe the thing and figure out a way to install Windows 98.
(No, really, the way I see it, there are way too many things - at least in Android - that are a step backwards compared to Windows 98, and I'm aware that system is far from flawless (and that a non-locked-down UNIX-like system would be much better)... but at least you could install what you wanted to, you could access the whole filesystem, and you didn't need system changes to access application data).)
