F-Droid is once again taking aim at Google’s new developer verification system that threatens to impede sideloading on Android devices. This time, the alternative app repository has accused Google of misleading users about the future of sideloading.
In a new post titled “What We Talk About When We Talk About Sideloading,” F-Droid calls Google’s assurances that “sideloading isn’t going anywhere” “clear, concise, and false.” The platform notes that while Google insists Android users will still be able to install apps from outside the Play Store despite its developer verification rules, that freedom will be meaningless in practice.
“As a reminder, this applies not just to devices that exclusively use the Google Play Store: this is for every Android Certified device everywhere in the world,” F-Droid warned.
According to the platform, Google’s new process, which requires every developer to verify their identity with government documentation and link apps to a registered account, effectively puts independent app stores and developers under the company’s control. Essentially, if Google doesn’t approve apps, they won’t be available for sideloading, thereby changing the very nature of the whole process:
You, the consumer, purchased your Android device believing in Google’s promise that it was an open computing platform and that you could run whatever software you choose on it. Instead, starting next year, they will be non-consensually pushing an update to your operating system that irrevocably blocks this right and leaves you at the mercy of their judgement over what software you are permitted to trust.
F-Droid also takes issue with the word “sideloading,” which implies something risky or unsafe. The project notes that it’s simply another way of installing software, not a loophole. “Google is defining sideloading as if it were a problem they graciously allow,” the post notes.