As we careen toward a future in which Google has final say over what apps you can run, the company has sought to assuage the community’s fears with a blog post and a casual “backstage” video. Google has said again and again since announcing the change that sideloading isn’t going anywhere, but it’s definitely not going to be as easy. The new info confirms app installs will be more reliant on the cloud, and devs can expect new fees, but there will be an escape hatch for hobbyists.
Confirming app verification status will be the job of a new system component called the Android Developer Verifier, which will be rolled out to devices in the next major release of Android 16. Google explains that phones will have to ensure each app has a package name and signing keys that have been registered with Google at the time of installation. This process may break the popular FOSS storefront F-Droid.
It would be impossible for your phone to carry a database of all verified apps, so this process may require Internet access. Google plans to have a local cache of the most common sideloaded apps on devices, but for anything else, an Internet connection is required. Google suggests alternative app stores will be able to use a pre-auth token to bypass network calls, but it’s still deciding how that will work.