Currently, developers who create “sideloaded” Android apps are exempt from Google’s verification requirements.

Google wants to make sideloading safer on Android by verifiying the identities of developers who distribute apps outside the ...

According to its own survey, Google says that more than 50 times more malware came through internet-sideloaded sources ...

Google's new security initiative will require all Android app developers to pass verification before their apps can be ...

"Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed by users on certified Android ...

Google will extend developer verification to all Android apps, not just those installed from the Play Store, beginning with ...

Google is slowly rolling out new restrictions on sideloading for Android. Eventually, developers will have to verify their ...

Google notes that the requirements will begin full rollout in September 2026. Google has introduced new requirements for app ...

This app is enabled via Android's developer options feature and makes it possible for users to run Linux commands (even SSH). From Google's perspective, that wasn't enough.