Android Developer Verification: Threat masquerading as Protection
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
F-Droid says Google's 'Android Developer Verification' is malware-like lockdown, not security.
F-Droid claims a 'virus' called Android Developer Verifier (ADV) is installed via Play Protect on Android 8+ devices, affecting ~4 billion handsets. The process has root privileges and cannot be removed, blocking apps from unregistered developers.
Google's requirement that developers register, pay a fee, and submit IDs is rationalized to stop malware recidivism. But the ToS (clause 6.5) defines malware only as what Google says, with no standard, risking ad-blockers or competitors being banned.
Advocates say ADV auto-opted-in 99% of Play devs. A petition and open letter (signed by EFF, FSF, ACLU) oppose it. The lockdown begins Sept. 30 in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.
What commenters are saying
Commenters split into two camps: those arguing the F-Droid article is hyperbolic or childish (calling Google a 'malware vendor'), and those who see the slippery-slope fear as justified by Google's past actions (e.g., Manifest v3 killing ad blockers). One noted you can force-stop the process on Pixel; another asked if this is essentially the same as Apple's walled garden. A few cited the keepandroidopen.org coalition as better-presented. The thread referenced several prior HN discussions on this topic.