Starting in August, installing APKs from unverified developers will require a new procedure called Advanced Flow. It involves enabling developer mode, rebooting the device, and waiting 24 hours with biometric verification.
After that, you choose: allow the APK installation for 7 days or indefinitely. The procedure is a one-time process and applies to all versions of Android.
Will the 24-hour wait stop you from installing APKs outside the store?
No, it won’t.
My entire job relies on an app not on the Play Store. I wonder how this change is going to affect business. They’re hiring a lot of people like they either have a backup plan or no idea what’s coming.
My boss is Gen Z and as such she’s tech illiterate, so she doesn’t really understand what I’m trying to say when I voice my concerns.
God I’m such a millennial because I never thought I’d read the sentence “she’s been Z and as such she’s tech illiterate.” I always figured the next couple generations would just experiment and figure shit out like we did but, phones became the default. Crazy.
While there is definitely an oddly surprising amount of z’ers who seem to barely get tech, I would like to biasedly add that the older of us are largely tech literate, of course exceptions apply. We grew up with computers in the home and at the very least know our way around a file browser. But some folks just a few years under me don’t have any other tech then there phones and don’t seem to care or even think about pc’s.
Got a new job recently and the other person training with me didn’t own any kind of pc and said that she didn’t like them. It was weird to me I kept asking her like but what about when you need one and it didn’t seem that she ever did. As a tech addled fiend I can’t fully comprehend this, I can only get by with my phone for so long on certain tasks before I put it down and pull out my computer. But to each their own I guess?
You’ll have to pry apk installation out of my dying hands.
If only the procedure was the same for their own store… there’s soo much crappy adware there.
My mom’s phone is filled with so much adware from the damn sponsored apps in Googleplay she can barely use the phone unless I wipe it every three months.
When I checked the security, it was still set to not allow unverified apps and yet…
Have you considered switching her to a child account and then simply disabling app installs? Or just disable the Play Store entirely via ADB.
If Google actually cared about security they ought to stop Samsung from automatically installing TEMU and Candy Crush in their random “updates”. It installs that shit whether or not you remove the check marks. The “updates” contain no further updates.
Weird, I’ve never had that issue on neither my Fold 3, nor my current Fold 7. The GF’s Flip 3 doesn’t have that issue either.
Maybe it’s something Samsung does on their non-Flagships to make a little extra money?
Yes it is. Their entire vendor shit can go to hell. I don’t need a Samsung app-store, Samsung photos, Samsung parental controls etc. on a cheap phone that already has Google’s versions of the same crap. It’s like having 2 operating systems in constant conflict on the same phone, and the only real purpose is for Samsung to collect your data.
It’s nice that an American company will enforce a 24-hour cooling-off period for the installation of a few 1s and 0s on a device I already own.
They wouldn’t do this for the purchase of a firearm.
This biting satirical take is brought to you by a disillusioned Android user seriously thinking about switching to an iPhone. If a walled garden is inevitable I might as well go where most stuff gets developed for first.
The comment about the firearm comparison really got me. That is so fucking true.
They wouldn’t do this for the purchase of a firearm.
A little more than 1/4 of states (14) have a mandatory waiting period for buying guns ranging from 3 days to 30 days.
That’s still 36 states too many without.
on a device I already own
It seems that’s less true than we had thought.
I have to admit I’m in the same boat, ive been on android for 15 years, but if they take away Graphene Im just switching to iPhone, at least then I won’t get complaints from friends and family about lack of Imessage.
That depends on the state. Some do require waiting periods for buying guns.
Do they require waiting times after you attached a flashlight or switched to a bigger magazine, though?
Because that is what Google is doing here - enacting limitations / hurdles for phones that were already sold.
For myself I wouldn’t be going to Iphone, but I am going to make sure any phone I buy will have the option of installing LineageOS or another rom from now on.
PSA: GrapheneOS is not affected by this, one of many good reasons to use it.
I’d switch but it’s not available for my Fold 7, and I don’t want to get a different foldable because I like that this one is as thin and light as a non-foldable when folded. Plus I actually like the gimmicks exclusive to Samsungs (Good Lock is a game-changer). Do I even have any other OS options for this device? Pretty sure the bootloader is uncrackable due to some BS tamper-evident seal in the hardware itself.
(And no, I won’t get a regular phone. Once you go foldable, there’s no going back. The benefits far outweigh the negatives.)
It is still going to affect us indirectly. The problem is that Google is demanding developers to go through KYC even if they are not distributing their app through the Play Store. Not going through with it means nobody with a stock device will be able to install their app, unless they do that crazy workaround Google claims is going to implement.
This means open source app developers will be called to choose between doxing themselves to Google, or keep developing for us, the 0.01% who is on custom ROMs. It’s not hard to imagine that many will just decide to move on and invest their time on doing something else.
You should read that link you posted because your info is out of date
If you are referring to the suggested “advanced flow” this is what I am referring to as “crazy workaround” in my original comment. And in practice that doesn’t mean anything.
Until Google provides a shipping implementation that can be independently verified, our position remains unchanged: all apps from non-registered developers will be blocked once their lockdown goes into effect in September 2026.
It means there is no demand for KYC, as you suggested.
Yes, you do. Unless you are developing an app just for your friends, or you expect everyone not on a custom ROM to go through the ridiculous “advanced flow”.
In addition to the advanced flow we’re building free, limited distribution accounts for students and hobbyists. This allows you to share apps with a small group (up to 20 devices) without needing to provide a government-issued ID or pay a registration fee. This ensures Android remains an open platform for learning and experimentation while maintaining robust protections for the broader community.
The above is from the official update by Google.
Will other custom ROMs still allow for sideloading? Like PostmarketOS, e/OS/, LineageOS etc.?
Yes, custom ROMs are not affected, this is just Google bullshit.
Yes, and PostmarketOS isn’t even Android
Right, honestly forgot about that. Not something I use personally, but hear a lot of buzz about. Anyhow, could a good thing be then to support companies like Fairphone, who sells their phones with e/OS/ already installed? I’ll try and recommend it to my friends, if that is the case.
GraphenOS is supported only by Pixel. So we’re waiting for a port to other devices! Although I think it’s impossible, since only Pixel has a security chip.
Oh, that’s pretty cool. I think I’ll consider switching to GrapheneOS in the coming months.
Time to bite the bullet and move the phone to Linux as well.
I pre ordered the new jolla phone, but since then I haven’t heard anything.
Hopefully this will give me a phone with Linux and Android app compatibility layer, until there is more competition in this sector
“bUt aPpLE is a WaLLeD gArdeN!!”
Yes, and android now too. Unless you have a device with an older rom.
It is. And still worse in this regard.
Lol of fucking course apple is a walled garden. This move literally is an apple idea getting copied to Android. If apple hadn’t set this shitty example, showing it can be gotten away with, maybe Google would not have.
And if my grandmother had wheels she’d be a bus.
And if laws didn’t exist apple would literally just steal your money directly (obviously google would too)
But way to dodge the valid point. You idiotically implied apples shit isn’t a walled garden or that people would be okay with this move and that was too stupid to even defend, so I guess I get it
Never implied that at all. I was simply pointing out the hypocrisy of Android users who, for years, have died on the hill that their beloved platform of choice was a free and open alternative to Apple.
It isn’t and it never was.
Lol android fanboys are almost non existent, especially on this platform. Non cultists have pointed out that shit like this which has existed on Apple’s bullshit platform since day one sucks ass. Now that android has mirrored this particular shitty behavior, zero people are defending it and this entire thread is people very pissed about it. As far as the IsNt AnD nEvER WaS aspect, they did indeed hold off from this egregious move for what, 15 years?
The point that people have actually been making which you are railing against is that they didn’t do shit like this for years. This time 15… So exactly what do you think you’ve proven again?
How many days does Apple make you wait?
Not even possible, there is no appstore like F-Droid on iOS.
Yes that was the point, thank you.
I am angry that this outcome makes me happy.
Do you have to go through this procedure for every APK or just once?
If it’s for every side loaded app, does this include updates of already installed APKs?
That would make the system actual more insecureAs far as I understand, this is done for every application installed. Every time. And it seems that the certificates are not unlimited and they will have to be renewed.
A similar system is already present on iOS.
Wanna give a source for that? Everything I read said that after the 24 hour scare screen, you could optionally enable third party installation permanently. Literally nothing about certificates expiring. Where are you even getting this from?
From what I’m reading it sounds like it is not per-app:
Once you confirm you understand the risks, you’re all set to install apps from unverified developers, with the option of enabling for 7 days or indefinitely. For safety, you’ll still see a warning that the app is from an unverified developer, but you can just tap “Install Anyway.”
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/android-developer-verification.html
Not that this makes it ok, this process is still something the vast majority of users will not do in practice and will kill the viability of apps with developers unwilling to show ID to Google.
That’s what I’m actually afraid of
Hopefully Linux can soon step up and fill the gap.On a site note:
I’ve pre-ordered the new jolla phone in hopes to have pretty much a Linux phone with Android app compatibility layer.
But since my pre-order I haven’t heard anything about it anymore and I can’t find a blog/news page providing any information about progress or something.
Maybe people in this thread are similarly inclined to Linux phones and have a link for me…?
I’ve already sent a mail to Jolla about that - but just today…
If it’s like existing hurdles, once, like enabling developer mode. I don’t think updates or subsequent apps will require more hoops.
I don’t think so either, but at the current level off stupidity all around, I would like to have something at face value
Advanced flow sounds like a naturopathic prostate therapy.
Or you just turn off system updates and keep using the flow you have now.
Would that not get rid of security updates as well?
Whelp, looks like I’m spending my PTO week installing a new OS in my pixel and trying to make bank/payment shit work.
