Google Begins Rolling Out Android Developer Verification

Google has begun rolling out Android developer verification to all developers via the Android Developer and Play Developer Consoles ahead of its public launch later this year.

“As an extra layer of security, we are rolling out Android developer verification to help prevent malicious actors from hiding behind anonymity to repeatedly spread harm,” Google director of product manager Matthew Forsythe explains. “Over the past several months, we’ve worked closely with the community to improve the design so we account for the many ways people use Android to balance openness with safety.”

Starting today, developers can verify themselves and their apps with Google so that users can sideload them—install them outside the Google Play Store—safely. If you use Android Studio, you’ll start to see your registration status right in the IDE in the next few months. And if you’ve completed the Play Console’s developer verification requirements, your identity is already verified and Google will automatically register eligible Play apps for you.

Google is allowing hobbyists and students to create limited distribution accounts that will let them share apps with up to 20 devices. And for power users, Google will retain the current system for sideloading apps that are not registered, albeit with an advanced flow process that involves a one-time 24-hour delay to prevent scammers from convincing you to install a malicious app on your phone immediately.

Google says that the way most users will install apps won’t change after developer verification is live. Instead, only those who try to install unregistered apps via the Android Debug Bridge (ADB) command line utility or side-loading, the latter of which will require the advanced flow going forward, will be impacted.

Android developer verification will go live in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand this September and then expand globally in 2027.

You can learn more about these changes on the Android Developer website.