We wrote about what it means for F-Droid at:
https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registrat...
And it has been discussed in a couple of HN threads:
https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registrat...
And it has been discussed in a couple of HN threads:
Since these are open source apps, couldn't f-droid maintain their own fork of each app with a different application identifier?
It would give Google the ability to shutdown F-Droid at will by baning their account and thus far more power to control what F-Droid publishes and how it operates. However, it seems like anyone could fork an open source app and use their own account and setup their own unique identifier for their fork.
No question this increases Google's power but it doesn't seem like it technically makes it impossible to operate a store like F-Droid.
Google's requirement for developers to be verified threatens app store F-Droid - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45507173 - Oct 2025 (152 comments)
F-Droid and Google’s developer registration decree - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45409794 - Sept 2025 (564 comments)