README.md

Keep Android Open

Keep Android Open is a community advocacy website fighting against Google's 2025 developer verification mandate, which will require all developers to be registered with Google.

Purpose

Launched in direct response to the Google announcement, the site defends Android's core promise: an open platform where anyone can build, share, and install apps without centralized gatekeeping. It aims to inform on the impacts on consumers, developers, states and coordinate resistance.

Getting Informed

If you're new to this issue or want to understand what's at stake, the following resources cover the story from multiple angles.

Editorial & Opinion

• "An Open Letter Opposing Android Developer Verification" — F-Droid
• "Application Gatekeeping: An Ever-Expanding Pathway to Internet Censorship" — EFF
• "Pluralistic: Darth Android" — Cory Doctorow
• "What We Talk About When We Talk About Sideloading" — F-Droid
• "F-Droid and Google's Developer Registration Decree" — F-Droid

Press Coverage

• "With developer verification, Google's Apple envy threatens to dismantle Android's open legacy" — Ars Technica
• "Google kneecaps indie Android devs, forces them to register" — The Register
• "37 groups urge the company to drop ID checks for apps distributed outside Play" — The Register
• "Google's Requirement For All Android Developers To Register And Be Verified Threatens To Close Down Open Source App Store F-Droid" — TechDirt
• "Google will require developer verification for Android apps outside the Play Store" — TechCrunch

Video

• "I Signed a Letter to Google. Here's Why." — Techlore — YouTube | Invidious
• "Google: 'Your $1000 phone needs our permission to install apps now'" — Louis Rossmann — YouTube | Invidious
• "F-Droid Will Die in 2026 Unless We Act Now" — Techlore — YouTube | Invidious
• "Google is Removing Sideloading" — LMG Clips — YouTube | Invidious
• "Google's changes to sideloading could end F-Droid" — Linux Weekly News — YouTube | Invidious
• "Is F-Droid in Trouble? Google Developer Verification" — YouTube | Invidious
• "Google is Applefying Android: The End of Openness" — ChiefGyk3D — YouTube | Invidious

Contributing

1. Identify issues.
2. Fork this repository.
3. Make the changes.
4. Create a pull request.

Running the site locally

This is an Astro site, so you should be able to check out your fork locally and run it as per the docs with:

npm run dev

The site should run locally and be browsable at http://localhost:4321/.

Translations Needed!

To provide a translation into a new language like Italian (language code: "it"):

1. Edit src/i18n/config.ts in a fork and update the languages list with the new language code.
2. Create a new folder in src/content/pages/ and add the translation of the English index.md file. Translate the markdown headers and page content. The most important text is at the beginning; the lists of links do not all need to be translated.
3. Commit changes to your fork and file a Pull Request with your translation.

Important

Please do not submit machine-generated translations (using LLMs or AI tools). We need authentic human translations from native speakers of the language.

License

CC0 1.0 – free reuse.