this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2026

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416

Just got 'Android Developer Verifier' Silently Installed on my Phone (Aug 25, 2026) (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by onionsinmypores@sh.itjust.works to c/android@lemmy.world

103 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The app ID is com.google.android.verifier, which I assume will be used for the upcoming developer verification program for installing 3rd party apps.

Starting September 30, developers (signing authors) need to be verified from Google to distribute apps in the following app stores:

Google Play Store
Honor App Market
OPPO App Market
Samsung Galaxy Store
Transsion Palm Store
vivo V-Appstore and
Xiaomi GetApps

only in the countries of Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.

F-Droid is not included for this time.

It is planned to be rolled out globally across all markets/app stores by January of 2027.

Relevant sources:
https://developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides
https://keepandroidopen.org/

I used App Manager (io.github.muntashirakon.AppManager) for the screenshot; you can use your regular 'Installed Apps'/'Apps' menu to see if it's been rolled out automatically for you as well.

edit: First link was originally a typo, my bad. Fixed it.

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[–] onionsinmypores@sh.itjust.works 83 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

Update: Interestingly, since it is still classed as a User app, I can uninstall it myself without any special perms. The installation source is shown as Google Play Store, and you can manually find the app on the store.

Here's a screenshot of that - though it has no ratings, reviews, options to review etc. that you would expect from ordinary or even other Google produced apps.

[–] zout@fedia.io 27 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I can find it there, but only uninstall updates. Guess it's ADB time.

[–] BeatTakeshi@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Same for me, I can only uninstall the updates, and I can't tell the play store to not update it automatically, so it will obviously do this. I'm eyeing at fairphone, or graphene, or /e/os, or Jolla, or iodé, or calyx, or lineage, or pinephone a bit more everyday

[–] AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks, I just checked and it was installed so I've uninstalled it

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[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 69 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

F-Droid is not included for this time.

How-To:

Open Developer Options and select Apps from unverified developers.
Turn on Allow apps from unverified developers.
Authenticate using your screen lock.
Confirm that nobody is pressuring you to change the setting.
Restart your phone and wait 24 hours.
Return to the setting and choose whether to allow apps from unverified developers for seven days or indefinitely.

Source:
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-android-advanced-flow-sideloading-rollout-begins-3700073/
https://www.pocket-lint.com/android-new-sideloading-option/

[–] zout@fedia.io 67 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

That's some pretty big hurdles to be honest, just a reminder of how sketchy Google is these days.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

Less issue for me than Apple lol.

You can always (for now) go to LineageOS or GrapheneOS ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[–] Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz 37 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Every shift away from open Android that users accept emboldens Google to lock it down further.

[–] Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Switching from Android to Apple is really smart lol.
Why would you even switch from a pretty much open system to a fully closed one (even with the things the EU forces Apple to do)?
(This questions excludes Linux OSs on smartphones)

[–] Zedstrian@sopuli.xyz 14 points 2 weeks ago

Apple is of course still far worse, but users shouldn't be accepting Google's changes to Android without complaint.

[–] zout@fedia.io 7 points 2 weeks ago (16 children)

Not if you want your banking app to work, or some other apps that require you to have the "certified" os on your phone. If I have to stop using these apps, I might as well go back to a dumbphone.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Web browsers exist still, though some particularly shitty sites don't even have a mobile web view these days.

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[–] UnityDevice@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Yep, and my bank just announced that they're getting rid of the web portal at the end of the year. It's app only from then on. And their app already didn't work on my rooted phone. This will just be a more constraining restriction.

I can change banks, but it's a sign of things to come.

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[–] nieceandtows@programming.dev 37 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

On my pixel 10, I see this app is installed with only the option to disable, not uninstall.

[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Same

[–] untorquer@quokk.au 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Goto "app details" at the bottom of the settings page for the app. Then select "uninstall updates" should no longer appear in app list.

[–] PointlessLifePersonified@slrpnk.net 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

"App details" is greyed out for me. Pixel 7 Pro.

Edit: never mind - it was because I had the Play Store disabled. Not that it'll mean much, but I flagged the app as inappropriate while I was there.

Edit 2: Wow, they're paying for fake reviews that are blatantly a bad joke.

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[–] RedGreenBlue@lemmy.zip 34 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Next phone will be a serious attempt at a linux phone.

[–] Turret3857@infosec.pub 17 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

At this time it is currently better to go with a custom Android ROM. Linux phones are currently have almost 0 security. I say almost 0 because postmarketos does support LUKS encryption, but only on some devices, and pmos uses an "upstream kernel" update model for devices, so a lot of the drivers for supported phones are not fully complete.

None of them have sandboxing, or measured boot, and excluding postmarketos, none of them get driver level security updates either.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 24 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

My kids' phones (Pinwheel-managed Moto G Play models) attempted to install this in the background as well. I only found out about it because I got an app request from the devices; the kids had zero knowledge of it.

I blocked the installation.

[–] bampop@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (8 children)

Hold up, what magic is this? You can gatekeep installations of any app on their phones? I've looked into doing this with Google Play but as far as I can tell they only enable it for mature content. Which doesn't help to stop my old father in law from installing trash "security" apps on his phone.

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[–] atro_city@fedia.io 19 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

No idea where you are nor which phone you have, but maybe it's time to install an Android alternative OS (not sure what to call it) like GrapheneOS, LineageOS, or eOS. From what I understand they don't allow this kind of shit.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 32 points 2 weeks ago (7 children)

Easier said than done, especially as there are more models that don't have any sort of support for those OSs than models that do. Not to mention the hassle to even enable the option to flash it and risk of bricking. Worse, banking apps may refuse to work.

Google and the OEMs never wanted you to own your phone and they are mostly winning on that front.

[–] FunnySalt@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Easier said than done, especially as there are more models that don't have any sort of support for those OSs than models that do.

This is a big hurdle. I had to buy a different phone to install a custom ROM. I bought it used, but even so still fairly expensive. And an extra cost can be a limiting factor too.

Not to mention the hassle to even enable the option to flash it and risk of bricking

GrapheneOS has a webUSB installer that is very easy to use. I would argue it eliminates the hassle. Bricking is still a risk.

Worse, banking apps may refuse to work.

I don't use banking apps on my phone. I don't like having anything installed that has access to money. I just access my financial institutions via their website. But I acknowledge they may fill some need others have that I do not. And that not everyone has access to a computer to access websites , and I can see banks trying to force app use when accessing from a mobile browser.

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[–] krigo666@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

My daily driver is now a Jolla Phone (2026), still have my Fairphone 6 with /e/OS.

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[–] lemmysmash@piefed.social 17 points 2 weeks ago

Block it, them spam your manufacturer with support requests. Make it their problem.

[–] Anti_Iridium@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago (4 children)

When it rolled out, it removed my root as well. I guess I may be jumping ship to lineageos soon. I like root features too much.

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[–] REDACTED@infosec.pub 14 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (2 children)

Weird, I could uninstall it (and the key verifier one too), and so I did. Yeah, this is definitely not going to come back to bite me in the ass

EDIT: OnePlus Open, I haven't unlocked bootloader or rooted it.

[–] lost_faith@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Been using my pixel 6, according to the app list it has been "used since Aug 13" I cannot archive(greyed out), disable says (get this) "It came preinstalled on my device" funny since I've been using this device for years and by its own account was just installed aug 13

[–] Turret3857@infosec.pub 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You can probably get rid of it by installing GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, iodéOS, or LineageOS, unless youre in the US and bought the phone from Verizon

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (5 children)

Just FYI - the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro are losing Graphene OS support this year.

[–] REDACTED@infosec.pub 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Also fun fact - Motorola announced partnership with GrapheneOS

https://motorolanews.com/motorola-three-new-b2b-solutions-at-mwc-2026/

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[–] cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 9 points 2 weeks ago

had it on my tablet uninstalled that shit so fast

[–] StillAlive@piefed.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

Got on my Motorola too

[–] lechekaflan@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

Pichai, you fucking banchode.

[–] protogen420@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I have Xiaomi POCO M3 5G on Brazil and nothig has changed at all, maybe becayse I already have all google pre installed system apps disabled

[–] bad1080@piefed.social 5 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

unless you use a de-googled rom google play services can't be disabled

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[–] vogi@piefed.social 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What happens if you try to install an unverified apk now? Like is there a message or something? Does it go away after just uninstalling the developer verifier?

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

This app also got silently installed on my device, but I just updated YouTube Morphe and there was no issue. So for now the app doesn't appear to do anything. I disabled it and will be uninstalling with ADB soon.

[–] vogi@piefed.social 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Ah okey, thanks for the info :)
Better hope they do not merge it into Google Play Services then and that I didn't just jinx that to happen...

[–] Uri@infosec.pub 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

What if you unistall it

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

You can't without ADB but you can disable it.

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[–] Crit@lemmy.wtf 4 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks OP, uninstalled

[–] ReluctantZen@feddit.nl 4 points 2 weeks ago

Thanks for sharing. It was installed for me as well on the 14th apparently, even though my phone's not getting updates anymore. I was hoping I wouldn't get it because of that, but I guess it's purely a play services thing.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Hm? Aurora crashes if you select that app. Not on any other.

[–] Redjard@reddthat.com 6 points 2 weeks ago

Google did something custom/fishy for this app. They also faked reviews. Aurora can open it in the latest fdroid release, you can update.

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