Android's open ecosystem has been progressively restricted as Google prioritizes security over openness. Google will verify the identities of all Android app developers, regardless of distribution channel, and unverified apps will fail to run on most Android devices in coming years. The Play Store introduced developer verification in 2023 and added reviews and detection systems that reduced malware and fraud. Sideloaded apps remain far more likely to contain malware, prompting Google to create a streamlined Android Developer Console for distributing apps outside Play, a move that may feel intrusive to some users and developers.
Little by little, Google has traded some of that openness for security, and its next security initiative could make the biggest concessions yet in the name of blocking bad apps. Google has announced plans to begin verifying the identities of all Android app developers, and not just those publishing on the Play Store. Google intends to verify developer identities no matter where they offer their content, and apps without verification won't work on most Android devices in the coming years.
Google used to do very little curation of the Play Store (or Android Market, if you go back far enough), but it has long sought to improve the platform's reputation as being less secure than the Apple App Store. Years ago, you could publish actual exploits in the official store to gain root access on phones, but now there are multiple reviews and detection mechanisms to reduce the prevalence of malware and banned content.
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