Rogue devs of sideloaded Android apps beg for freedom from Google’s verification regime

Soon, developers who just want to make Android apps for sideloading will have to register with Google. Thirty-seven technology companies, nonprofits, and civil society groups think that the Chocolate Factory should keep its nose out of third-party app stores and have asked its leadership to reconsider.

The signatories, including Article 19, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Free Software Foundation, F-Droid, Fastmail, and Vivaldi, on Tuesday published an open letter to Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, founders and board members Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and Vijaya Kaza, general manager for app and ecosystem trust, to voice their opposition to the plan.

"While we do recognize the importance of platform security and user safety, the Android platform already includes multiple security mechanisms that do not require central registration," the letter says. 

"Forcibly injecting an alien security model that runs counter to Android's historic open nature threatens innovation, competition, privacy ...