Opening my weather app this morning I was greeted by this warning:
Google has announced that, starting in 2026/2027, all apps on certified Android devices will require the developer to submit personal identity details directly to Google. Since the developers of this app do not agree to this requirement, this app will no longer work on certified Android devices after that time.
It’s the first time I hear about this, seems to be about:
Cirrus app: Github
Was this a big thing I somehow missed? I hope more devs will follow suit.
Wording of the message implies it’s possible to have uncertified version of Android… Such a thing possible?
Yes, like GrapheneOS
yes
Yes, think cheap android tablets that are so shit google store can barely run on it. Those devices are usually chinese knockoffs and do not ship with google services, google store or any gapps.
I don’t believe the certified android means hardware, I believe it’s only about if you have an official android build running, since if your hardware can run a custom ROM, you can get around this issue.
I think it has to do with the google certification you have to go through to sell hardware shipping with android. All devices need to be certified by google or they are not allowed to run gapps or connect to the playstore. This is what huawei lost after trump banned them, so they had to make their own shit as a replacement
any version of android that’s not vendor or downloaded from the official android website
- like https://lineageos.org/
- https://e.foundation/e-os/
- or the aforementioned GrapheneOS
calyxos.org (paused)
Adding iodé to the list, cocorico !
Why everybody always forget about iodé ?
first time I hear about it, seems to be based on lineageOS?
What’s with the premium tiers? Seems a bit sketchy to be honest.
It is a big thing at least in developer circles. It made the front page of Hacker News multiple times.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45087396
Thank you for these links they are fantastic! I was aware of the procedural lock in via play integrity services and also the lockdown on side loading so that didn’t get past me, but I wasn’t aware google also wants to alienate developers now by requiring ID. It seems to me google want to now fully commercialize the platform, transforming it into the ad infested network that web2+3.0 already became. I think their plan, by alienating non commercial devs, is that all apps will run on their ad models and non without them will be left.
Yes, you must have missed it. And so it begins.
Google is moving to make Android less open source. I’m not sure more devs following suit is going be good for them or their users. The G doesn’t give an F.
What we need is an OS fork that gets maintained. If not that, some other workaround that fools the Google servers. Because you can bet money that nobody made from flesh and blood is going to look at this inside Google.
Maybe devs can band together and form Middle Finger Corp. and designate one willing person as their contact to serve as registered dev for a gazillion apps. Follow the letter of the law, not the misguided spirit of it, in a manner of speaking.
If you are sitting on a mobile OS and you were afraid to fail like Windows, maybe now is the time to give it a go?
GrapheneOS
graphene only works on a very limited set of devices though
Pixels. That’s it.
Will graphene be able to avoid this?
Well for this case in particular yes, the dev will continue to develop the app on f-droid, the platform as a hole takes a hit through this though, so who knows how long they will continue out of goodwill.
are you kidding? only available for google phones. are we supposed to give money to google for this situation?
I think they are looking to partner with a phone manufacturer to move graphene platform to other brand of phones.
Specially since it’s unlikely that google pixels will keep providing the spec info and openness that GOS need to work.
Well yeah, since device trees are no longer available going forward from Google, they’d be dead in the water otherwise.
LineageOS has good support for other devices
e/OS too, if Graphene fails or isn’t available. Or Murena.
Murena has had questionable policies…
And what policies would that be?
Kids these days won’t search answers on the internet…
You’re the one stating something as a fact, so you should have already provided the sources for your claims, especially if its something not in the major consensus nareative…
I searched for Murena’s policies and found a privacy policy page, and it seems fine?? You give them information for transactions, they don’t sell your information, and you can delete your account which will delete the information they have on you.
What more do you want?
I’m an adult, and promise you I’ve been using computers longer than you’ve been alive, and I still don’t care to waste what little time I have on this planet to look into shit that sounds completely made-up.
Put up, or shut up.
Kids these days is a classic thing to say. Nowadays it doesn’t impjy that the listener is a kid
Edit: I can offer you https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114880919351954282 and https://sopuli.xyz/post/21908818
Murena is the company developing/e/os
Hopefully this leads to a lot more development of and for Ubuntu Touch. Biggest issues it faces are lack of compatibility and lack of apps. I think the core is solid though. I used it for a week when switching from iOS (so no Android background) and enjoyed it, but a few too many minor issues built up and I ended up going to Calyx.
I’m going to look into adding this to my app https://git.allpurposem.at/mat/Sudoku Indeed I do not agree with this, so it will become unavailable when the terms go into effect. I will look into making it available for Linux Mobile.
First of all thank you for providing a foss app!
I think it’s a big difference if the platform tolerates you or actively wants to stop you from doing it. You got my fullest sympathy.
Thank you so much for the kind words! It’s indeed a bad time to be an app delevoper. At least the framework I use is portable-ish, so the work won’t be fully lost.
And so it continues… Google trying to shoehorn themselves into a position of authority of the internet. Imagine they get as much sway as the banks now have? Private entities controlling the masses for massive profits. Fuck off Google.
Just to clarify:
Will my apps installed from F-droid be unaffected by this?
There won’t be Fdroid on Google OS phones period
From what I gather, yes. But will you be allowed to install F-Droid? No.
I’ve heard that it will still be possible to install unverified apps via ADB, so theoretically it wouldn’t be hard to make an app installer that uses Shizuku (tool that allows you to ADB into your own device) and have a website that automatically installs that using WebUSB or something
You’ll be able to install them, but play services will very probably stop them from starting.
They already have the framework for this in place, “unrecognised” apps get blocked by Play services already asking you if Google can scan the app before you start it, the app will not start at all unless you click yes or no.
Even apps installed outside the Play Store will need to have a “verified developer”, and this change will affect any devices that use Google Play Services, so it will be a problem even to old devices.
If you don’t have Google Play Services installed, then you’re not affected. Of course, how many custom ROMs will live to that day is unknown.
Depends on your OS. Most likely no.
I got the same alert on Gmaps WV (google map wrapper found f drood) Google is giving us more reasons to switch to a custom ROM
Yet another possible antitrust lawsuit series. Some day maybe a judge will do something to help the consumers.
Google just came out of the biggest antitrust suit since 1998 completely unscathed so you can expect this sort of anticompetitive measures to continue.
Aaand the reason’s called ✨c o r r u p t i o n ✨
Whenever a politician comes from a big company or goes to one after retiring from politics, that’s when you know they’ve been bribed.
I mean when the entire tech industry has front row seats at your inauguration, that’s a pretty good indicator as well.
don’t count on the system’s judicial system to save us. it won’t.
Where are you linux hardware manufacturers ?
@Akip I got this message the other day. It sucks how the app won’t work on certified devices next year.
Agreed. Google just didn’t consent to you getting an app without ads. My hope is maybe we can circumvent it for a while with PWA or browser website bookmarks. Maybe long enough for alternatives to arrive or consumer protection to kick in. I refuse to give up hope even though I might need to abandon android. For now I guess I will just not buy another phone since androids time seems limited. Really hard to find something to recommend to family and friends that just works. My goto grapheneOS also seems more and more cut down with more and more apps refusing to work outside play store downloads or refusing to work on 3rd party OS.
They’re not “pulling” the app from anywhere, it’s just simply not going to work on “certified devices”. This is the end of Android as we know. It’s been a good run.
I believe you can sideload with ADB.
You can but that’s REALLY not a solution. How many times/day to plan on plugging in your phone and running a couple dozen commands to update your apps?
Nope, from how Google puts it, play services will block any and all apps without a valid signature from working at all on play certified devices.
You’ll be able to install them via adb probably, but when you run them play services will stop you.
Play services already prevents certain apps from starting until you say a yes/no on a popup, so the framework for this is already in place.
This is completely wrong. I asked this exact question to google in their poll and I got an answer from them saying it would always work with adb. It’s for devs so you can run those apps of course. This means F-Droid can implement a Shizuku backend to install apps and the UX will be even better since it will bypass popups. However, initial setup will be far more complicated
Only works for those of us who own a pixel or bought one for the reason but this won’t effect Graphene users
Except it will, because developers aren’t going to bother maintaining an app where the install base is just pixel users with Graphene
It’s going to affect 100% of Android users because no one is going to develop apps just for the 10 people using uncertified devices.
We’re at least a dozen!
Yes you’re right. I’ve worded that wrong in the title!
You can edit it 🙂
Done! for the curious, original title, “Cirrus App dev pulling app from certified android devices in '26/'27” new, “Cirrus app dev informing the app will stop working on certified android devices in '26/'27”
When one thing dies, another thing is born.
UBPorts is ready to go and isn’t tied to Google hardware like Graphene.
Doesn’t have manufacturer support
Volla, Fairphone, and Pine offer devices with it preinstalled and it works on a wide variety of others.
I think you’re aware of the size of those manufacturers compared to the ones shipping Android.
Was this a big thing I somehow missed?
It’s one of the many small things that hide the big thing. In 2027 android will be fully locked down, unnecessarily.
The big thing is whatever the lockdown is for.
This news makes me actually sad. I have had high hopes in the last years in the FOSS world, having myself and three other persons move to use Linux as daily driver on Desktop/Laptop.
My phone has FOSS apps only except for banking, health, transport tickets and 2/3 work rekated stuff. My messaging, files and pictures are handled by FOSS apps installed from third parties (F-Droid, Obtainium) on selfhosted servers… I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
This news sound to me like the tunnel ahaead is collapsing.
I’ve only ever used Android, dating back to the T-Mobile G1. I think I’m now ready to switch to iPhone. If I’m going to be pigeonholed into a completely walled garden, it might as well be with a company that knows what they are doing.
I really don’t want to switch, but probably will for my next upgrade.
I switched to iPhone in 2016. I had no idea Pixel was coming, and my choices all sucked. The more I looked at the iPhone 6s, the more I realized it was the right phone at that time.
I’m now on my fourth iPhone and I’m kind of done with them. “Apple Intelligence” and the keyboard gets so many things wrong. On a 16 Pro Max. And yet my Galaxy S10 which is 5 years older gets almost nothing wrong.
iPhones have great screens and the newest Snapdragon barely catches up to the new iPhone chip. But I think it does more. The Pixel chip is much further behind (comparable to an iPhone 11, I hear) but even that phone seems smarter.
I feel like iPhones are really nice basic/feature phones. They work well with my Macs, but Macs don’t stop working if your phone runs Android. They just don’t play well together.
Apple is a lot better on privacy. They never pretended to be or care about open source though. iOS is based on macOS which is certified UNIX; Android is Linux more or less but neither is open. I think it’s a moot point at best and a bullshit non-point most days. Open source I mean. As far as privacy, I think Apple is better on a good day but maybe misleading, but Google never really pretended to care. The deal was always, premium stuff for your personal data. We just didn’t care as much back then.
Honestly there are no great options. If I had to buy a phone right now, I’d probably get a Galaxy S25. I just hate what’s going on with Nova Launcher. But I love using my S10, it’s just a dated screen at this point.
Honestly considering the same. Sideloading is the only reason to stick with Android and that’s now going away. Apple devices have more power, better battery life, better displays, etc etc etc. Especially considering the “base” 17 is now actually a really good value while Pixel prices have skyrocketed in recent years to iPhone levels (presumably for AI shit I don’t even want).
Screw that!
Get a Fairphone with /e/OS before you switch to the rotten apple.I absolutely get what you’re saying, and a good part of me agrees with you. Here is the thing, I’m tired boss. I’ve made an effort my whole life to use open source, privacy friendly everything.
I’m now to the point where I don’t have time for messing with phones. Fixing broken stuff, compatibility, etc etc.
I need a powerful phone with a great camera that just works.
But be warned, the camera app is borked (at least on the FP6)
