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title Keep Android Open
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description Advocating for Android as a free, open platform for everyone to build apps on.

Keep Android Open

In August 2025, Google announced that starting next year, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google. This registration will involve:

➤ Paying a fee to Google

➤ Agreeing to Google's Terms and Conditions

➤ Providing government identification

➤ Uploading evidence of the developer's private signing key

➤ Listing all current and future application identifiers

What this means for your rights

➤ 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.

➤ You, the creator, can no longer develop an app and share it directly with your friends, family, and community without first seeking Google’s approval. The promise of Android — and a marketing advantage it has used to distinguish itself against the iPhone — has always been that it is “open”. But Google clearly feels that they have enough of a lock on the Android ecosystem, along with sufficient regulatory capture, that they can now jettison this principle with prejudice and impunity.

➤ 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 software that is critical to the running of your businesses and governments will be at the mercy of the opaque whims of a distant and unaccountable corporation.

How you can help

Contact national regulators

When contacting regulators directly, you should be polite and specific about the harm you believe these policies will cause, both to consumers and to competition. Complaints are especially impactful when they are authored by a citizen of that country or region, and when the language of the email is written in one of the official languages of the region's governing body.

European Union

United States

United Kingdom

Brazil

Singapore

Thailand

Indonesia

Australia

Japan

South Korea

India

Canada

Taiwan

Turkey

Argentina

Mexico

Sign the Open Letter

Other

References

Overview

Editorials and Blogs

Press Reactions

Video Responses

Discussions

Official Documentation

Miscellaneous

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            Contact
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            <li style="margin-bottom: 5px;">Email: <a href="mailto:info@keepandroidopen.org" style="text-decoration: none;">info@keepandroidopen.org</a></li>
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