Google requiring developer identification for all apps

https://developer.android.com/developer-verification

Starting in September 2026, Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed on certified Android devices.

We'll need to:

Verify your identity

You will need to provide and verify your personal details, like your legal name, address, email address, and phone number. If you're registering as an organization, you'll also need to provide a D-U-N-S number and verify your organization's website.

The website will need some special verification with Google Search console, whatever that is.

Then, we'll need

to prove you own your apps by providing your app package name and app signing keys.

For F-Droid with thousands of apps this can't be done manually. Ideally, Google has an API for this. Then, still we need to build a system where we can get Google's challenges, include them in an APK and then have that APK signed and get it back to give it to Google.

More docs: https://developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides

Since package name duplication is undesirable, we have established rules to determine which developer can register the package name. If you and another developer use the same name, the developer with the higher share of installs registers it. Other developers will then need to change their package name or apply for an exception.

This means that people won't be able to install apps that we sign that use unchanged package name, or we steal the name from the upstream dev which is not desirable.

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I applied for early access on their new ID platform and they ask you questions like where do you distribute your apps. One option is: Other app stores (e.g. Aptoide, F-droid, etc.)

Another interesting question relevant for us: Have you experienced a package name conflict for any of your apps?