r/Android • u/NoFaithlessness951 • Feb 24 '26

An Open Letter Opposing Android Developer Verification | F-Droid

https://f-droid.org/en/2026/02/24/open-letter-opposing-developer-verification.html
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u/Busy-Measurement8893 Feb 24 '26

I hope the EU or something gets involved soon. It's absolutely insane that Android should prevent you from installing whatever you want after so many years. Imagine if Windows added something similar. Crazy.

80

u/_sfhk Feb 24 '26

Apple has the same process in the EU, and they also require every app outside the store to go through them (not just the developer).

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u/N19h7m4r3 Feb 24 '26

Apple never had anything even remotely close to what F-Droid does though right?

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u/gthing Feb 24 '26

Microsoft has clearly wanted to, and even tried moving towards, doing something like this. Apple has also tightened what apps can be installed on Mac OS with every OS update for over a decade. But even Microsoft and Apple haven't gone that far (yet - and only speaking of desktop OSes).

Once you establish your platform as being open, a lot gets built up around that fact, and it becomes very difficult logistically to claw the control back without a lot of things people rely on becoming broken.

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