Google has revealed the full timeline for its controversial Android developer verification system.
The company has confirmed that it will start restricting app sideloading in some countries starting September 30.
The program, first revealed last year, requires developers who work outside of the Google Play Store to verify their identity, similar to those who publish apps to the Google App Store, in an effort to prevent scams and malware attacks against Android users.
According to the latest blog post from Google’s Matthew Forsythe, the program will be introduced in four countries with high rates of app scams: Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.
Google said: “Nearly all installs on Google Play and a vast majority of installs outside of Google Play” are now verified.
The company further detailed which third-party app stores will join the verification process; these include Samsung’s Galaxy Store, Xiaomi’s GetApps, OPPO’s App Market, vivo’s V-Appstore, Honor’s App Market, and Transsion’s Palm Store.
Starting this month, Google will automatically install a new system service named Android Developer Verifier on Android 8 and above devices. This service will be inactive until it is activated in each region.
For July, the company plans to launch the Android Developer ID status API and begin early access for limited distribution accounts.
In August, there will be a global version of the recently introduced “advanced flow”, which allows users to avoid verification via a hidden menu, risk confirmations and a forced 24-hour wait time. Unverified apps can also be installed by the user via Android Debug Bridge (ADB).
