Application Gatekeeping: An Ever-Expanding Pathway to Internet Censorship

Apple and Google use their app stores to shape what apps you can and cannot have on devices, but now more governments—including the U.S. government—are using legal and extralegal tools to lean on these gatekeepers in order to assert that same control. Google’s central registration system will be devastating for the Android developer community. EFF has signed on to F-Droid’s open letter. If you care about taking back control of tech, you should too.

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Keep Android Open

Your phone is about to stop being yours. In September 2026, Google will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with them.