![\"Android](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756547897_577_960x0.jpg\")
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Google responds to furor<\/p>\n
NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Android is now \u201cmore like iPhone<\/a>.\u201d That should not be a surprise. It has been coming for some time, and Android 15 and Android 16 put security and privacy front and center. Just like iPhone. But it\u2019s equally unsurprising that the core user base is pushing back.<\/p>\n Android chief Sameer Samat<\/a> took to X Thursday to assure users that \u201csideloading is fundamental to Android, and it\u2019s not going anywhere.” But I suspect that misses the point. Installing apps from outside Play Store is one thing, having the freedom to install whichever apps you choose from wherever you find them is quite another.<\/p>\n ForbesGoogle Confirms Play Store Deletion\u2014Remove Apps On Your PhoneBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n Android was established to be \u201cnot iPhone.\u201d In its early days, it was that simple. The non-iphone choice for those who valued freedom, personal choice, a lack of restrictions. And until recently that has been the Android theme. To do your own thing. But freedom comes with risks, and we now live in very different times.<\/p>\n Google has confirmed that starting next year developers pushing apps into the official Android ecosystem \u2014 whether or not via Play Store \u2014 will need to be certified, which essentially means \u201cverified.\u201d And that\u2019s triggered the backlash.<\/p>\n A Reddit<\/a> threat in the aftermath of Google\u2019s news summed up the vibe. Absent freedom of choice, what\u2019s the point in Android \u2014 why not just go buy an iPhone. I\u2019m sure Google would be disheartened to see its new Pixel 10 dismissed so lightly in its own merits, but in this world, there\u2019s nothing as personal as the Android versus iPhone decision.<\/p>\n \u201cOur new developer identity requirements,\u201d Samat explains, \u201care designed to protect users and developers from bad actors, not to limit choice. We want to make sure that if you download an app from a developer, regardless of where you get it, it\u2019s actually from them. That\u2019s it.” If only it could be that simple \u2014 but it won\u2019t be.<\/p>\n In its blog<\/a> to accompany its bombshell<\/a>, Google says \u201cyou shouldn\u2019t have to choose between open and secure” and that \u201cAndroid has proven that you can have both.\u201d A vocal minority of hardcore users are suggesting otherwise.<\/p>\n Ultimately, this comes down to the definition of open. Google is policing Android to make it safer. And that was always the criticism of Apple and iPhone as the global smartphone duopoly established itself in those early days.<\/p>\n