Post · Bonfire social

I'm honoured to have been elected to the Board of Directors of @fdroidorg , the most well-known #opensource alternative to Google's Play Store.

Imagine Microsoft deciding from now on what you can install on your laptop. No internet, you can only download things through the MS app store. Apps that MS has approved. Who wouldn't find that suffocating? Yet that is what Google wants to do on our Android phones (and what Apple already has - a closed ecosystem).

https://f-droid.org/en/2026/04/28/board-appointments-2026.html

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Gina

@Gina@fosstodon.org replied · 5 days ago

In August 2025, Google announced: from September 2026, every Android app developer must register centrally with Google before their software can be installed on standard Android phones. This applies not only to apps from the Play Store, but to all apps. Including apps shared through F-Droid and apps made by hobbyists for personal use. Independent developers (and there are quite a few!) will be locked out of publishing their software on Android.

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Gina

@Gina@fosstodon.org replied · 5 days ago

Registration requires:

- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google's terms and conditions
- Providing a valid proof of identity
- Providing proof of a personal signing key
- Registering all current and future application IDs

F-Droid is an important link in the open Android ecosystem; an app store without Google's terms, without registration, and without costs. And extra secure, because the F-Droid team checks, rebuilds and signs all apps themselves from the source code.

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Gina

@Gina@fosstodon.org replied · 5 days ago

On most privacy-focused Android operating systems (LineageOS on the Fairphone, CalyxOS, /e/OS), F-Droid is the primary app store.

As a phone-addicted nerd I will do my best to help keep Android open. Read more at keepandroidopen.org and at F-Droid.org. 💪

Board announcement: https://f-droid.org/en/2026/04/28/board-appointments-2026.html

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