F-Droid Accuses Google of Restricting Sideloading with New Verification Rules

F-Droid has renewed its public fight with Google, accusing the tech giant of misleading Android users over upcoming developer verification rules that could severely restrict sideloading, the practice of installing apps from outside the Play Store.

In a sharply worded statement titled “What We Talk About When We Talk About Sideloading,” the alternative app repository disputed Google’s repeated assurance that “sideloading isn’t going anywhere,” calling that claim “clear, concise, and false.”

F-Droid argues that while Google insists the ability to install third-party apps will remain, the company’s new verification policy will strip that freedom of any real value.

The new requirements will oblige every app maker to submit government-issued identification and connect their work to a verified account.

According to F-Droid, this amounts to Google taking control of independent app distribution. If an app fails to meet Google’s approval, the organization says, it will no longer be installable on Android devices even when sideloaded.

“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 judgment over what software you are permitted to trust.”

More: Top 10 Must-Have F-Droid Apps for Privacy, Security, and Productivity

F-Droid emphasized that this change would apply to every certified Android device worldwide, not just those running the Play Store.

The post also criticized the very term “sideloading,” saying Google treats it as something suspicious or unsafe rather than what it actually is, simply another way to install apps.

“Google is defining sideloading as if it were a problem they graciously allow,” the group said.

This latest confrontation follows earlier warnings from F-Droid in September, when it claimed the verification system could wipe out independent app stores altogether.

Google responded at the time by defending its plan, insisting the changes were about improving user safety and maintaining that sideloading was still a “core” part of Android’s openness.

Google’s assurances are deceptive. While sideloading may technically continue, the organization believes the new framework will give Google unprecedented authority over which apps users can trust or access.

The group has urged regulators around the world to take notice, warning that the company’s growing control could erode both consumer choice and national digital autonomy.

“You, the state, are ceding the rights of your citizens and your own digital sovereignty to a company with a track record of complying with the extrajudicial demands of authoritarian regimes to remove perfectly legal apps that they happen to dislike,” the post stated.

Google’s phased rollout of the developer verification system is scheduled to begin next year.