Google Details its Upcoming ‘Advanced Flow’ for Sideloading Unverified Android Apps

To improve security on Android, Google announced last year that it would soon introduce a new process for sideloading unverified apps. Nothing will change regarding sideloading apps directly from verified developers, but there will be a new advanced flow for sideloading unregistered apps with extra safeguards.

Google’s new developer verification program, which will come into effect in September in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, will require participants to verify their identity. This plan was met with backlash from developers, and Google acknowledged the feedback.

First of all, the company will allow students and hobbyists to use free, limited distribution accounts to share apps with a small group of users without verifying their identity. For unverified apps, however, power users will need to follow a new advanced flow that will work as a one-time process.

Here are the four steps Android users will need to go through to sideload apps from unverified developers on their devices:

• Enabling developer mode in system settings and confirming they aren’t being coached.
• Restarting the phone and reauthenticating to initiate the 24-hour security delay.
• Continuing to change the setting after the security delay expires by using biometric authentication or device PIN.
• Choosing between enabling the installation of unregistered apps temporarily or indefinitely.

“This flow is a one-time process for power users – but it was designed carefully to prevent those in the midst of a scam attempt from being coerced by high pressure tactics to install malicious software,” Google explained today. This new advanced installation flow will become available in August, a month before Google’s new developer verification program becomes mandatory in select markets in September.