Starting September 2026, a silent update pushed by Google, will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID.
Google calls the new rule Android Developer Verification.
This starts with Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand expanding worldwide in 2027 every app on certified Android phones must come from a developer who has registered their real identity with Google.
This covers apps from the Play Store, third-party stores, and sideloaded APKs.
Here’s what developers have to do: They sign up in Google’s new verification system, share their legal name, address, phone number, and ID, and pay a one-time $25 fee.
Apps from unverified developers will be blocked or come with big warnings and extra steps.
Google doing this to fight malware, the company says sideloaded apps are about 50 times more likely to contain bad software than Play Store apps.
Android is becoming a little more controlled with all of this changes
⚠️ NEW BITCOIN FORK PROPOSES REDISTRIBUTING SATOSHI’S COINS
Long-time Bitcoin developer, Paul Sztorc, is proposing a fork that would reassign part of Satoshi Nakamoto’s ~1.1M .
The plan is to copy Bitcoin into a new chain called eCash with native eCash tokens.
“Hold 4.19 BTC at the time of the fork, get 4.19 eCash. You can sell it, keep it, or ignore it entirely,” he said on X.
However, certain wallets (like Satoshi’s) would be flagged as “inactive,” and their balances would be redistributed under the new rules.
Supporters argue this could “revive lost coins” and make supply more usable.
Critics call it outright theft, warning it sets a dangerous precedent for rewriting ownership.
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