We recently announced new developer verification requirements, which serve as an additional layer of defense in our ongoing effort to keep Android users safe. We know that security works best when it accounts for the diverse ways people use our tools. This is why we announced this change early: to gather input and ensure our solutions are balanced. We appreciate the community's engagement and have heard the early feedback – specifically from students and hobbyists who need an accessible path to learn, and from power users who are more comfortable with security risks. We are making changes to address the needs of both groups.

Supporting students and hobbyists

We heard from developers who were concerned about the barrier to entry when building apps intended only for a small group, like family or friends. We are using your input to shape a dedicated account type for students and hobbyists. This will allow you to distribute your creations to a limited number of devices without going through the full verification requirements.

Empowering experienced users

While security is crucial, we’ve also heard from developers and power users who have a higher risk tolerance and want the ability to download unverified apps. Based on this feedback and our ongoing conversations with the community, we are building a new advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn't verified.

A federal judge today announced what remedies Google faces after the company was found to have a monopoly in online search.

The district judge overseeing the case ruled today that Google does not have to sell the browser, or Android: “Plaintiffs overreached in seeking forced [divestiture] of these key assets, which Google did not use to effect any illegal restraints.” The case was filed in 2020 and the illegal monopoly ruling was made in August of 2024.

However, Google is barred from exclusive Search contracts that prohibit other providers from also being installed on devices.

The big change today is that Google must share “certain search index and user-interaction data, though not ads data” with “Qualified Competitors.” The aim is to “enable those firms to deliver high-quality search results and ads to compete with Google while they develop their own search technologies and capacity.”

• Google will soon verify the identities of developers who distribute Android apps outside the Play Store.
• Developers must submit their information to a new Android Developer Console, increasing their accountability for their apps.
• Rolling out in phases from September 2026, these new verification requirements are aimed at protecting users from malware by making it harder for malicious developers to remain anonymous.

• Pixel 10 devices will support WhatsApp voice and video calls over satellite starting August 28.
• Google shared a demo showing the satellite icon visible during an incoming WhatsApp call.
• Google is the first manufacturer to introduce this functionality.

• A Google executive has reportedly confirmed that the company will combine Chrome OS and Android into a single platform.
• This news comes after we reported in November that Chrome OS will be merged into Android.
• This also follows Android 16’s release, which brings several desktop-themed features to the platform.

The main goal of the Android workgroup is to add and maintain Android as an officially supported platform for the Swift language.

The Android workgroup will:

• Improve and maintain Android support for the official Swift distribution, eliminating the need for out-of-tree or downstream patches
• Recommend enhancements to core Swift packages such as Foundation and Dispatch to work better with Android idioms
• Work with the Platform Steering Group to officially define platform support levels generally, and then work towards achieving official support of a particular level for Android
• Determine the range of supported Android API levels and architectures for Swift integration
• Develop continuous integration for the Swift project that includes Android testing in pull request checks.
• Identify and recommend best practices for bridging between Swift and Android’s Java SDK and packaging Swift libraries with Android apps
• Develop support for debugging Swift applications on Android
• Advise and assist with adding support for Android to various community Swift packages

The desktop mode experience requires a Pixel 8 or newer, the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta, and an external display.

The desktop mode experience requires a Pixel 8 or newer, the latest Android 16 QPR1 beta, and an external display.

Google demoed the new Project Astra capabilities on a Pixel 9 Pro. In this example, a person is having a live conversation while repairing their bicycle. It starts with the user requesting and Astra finding a PDF manual online. Upon opening, Astra exists as a floating bubble while you see its touch input and a screen glow as it scrolls the file to the desired page.
We next see it opening the YouTube app to search results, scrolling for a video, and then playing. The app then searches the user’s Gmail for information from a conversation. Shown a scene with multiple buckets filled with parts, Astra highlights the correct one on the screen (which something Google teased for Lens years ago at I/O.)

While discussing adaptive Android apps during its Developer Keynote, Google confirmed that it has been working with Samsung to upgrade Android’s desktop windowing capabilities. The company explains:

…we’ve been collaborating with Samsung, building on the foundation of Samsung DeX, to bring enhanced desktop windowing capabilities in Android 16 for more powerful productivity workflows.

Starting November 1st, 2025, Google Play will require that “all new apps and updates to existing” ones that target Android 15+ support 16 KB page sizes.

Without recompiling to support 16 KB pages, your app might not function correctly on these devices when they become more widely available in future Android releases.

Google says a “substantial number of apps are already compatible, so your app may already work seamlessly with this requirement.” The company expects minimal adjustments for other apps:

• Apps with no native code should be compatible without any changes at all.
• Apps using libraries or SDKs that contain native code may need to update these to a compatible version.
• Apps with native code may need to recompile with a more recent toolchain and check for any code with incompatible low level memory management.

• Identity Check was spotted on a OnePlus 13 running the Android 16 beta.
• The feature is expected to arrive on more Android phones with the Android 16 update coming later this year.
• It requires a change to Android's biometric prompt code, which can't be completed without a full update.

When enabled, Identity Check requires biometric authentication to view or modify certain sensitive parts on your Android smartphone. A fingerprint or face unlock is required for the following actions when your device is outside of a trusted location:

• Accessing saved passkeys and app passwords
• Changing PIN, pattern, or password, and turning off Find My

For these actions, biometric authentication is mandatory outside of trusted locations with Identity Check enabled — a password, PIN, or pattern won't work as an alternative. This is intended to prevent people from hijacking your Google account or other online accounts in the event your phone is lost or stolen, even if the bad actor knows your password.

Nick Turley, OpenAI's chief, was asked to testify as part of Google's trial against the DOJ.

• ChatGPT's chief said in open court that OpenAI would be interested in buying Google Chrome if the opportunity presents itself.
• Nick Turley added that he is deeply worried that OpenAI is facing a lot of difficulties integrating itself into Android smartphones.
• If OpenAI buys Chrome, it could “have the ability to introduce users to what an AI-first experience looks like.”

As Google sits in the hot seat for paying companies to utilize its products in place of any competition, court testimony reveals that Google did the same thing with Gemini. Samsung was reportedly paid a lot of money to push Gemini as a preinstalled app in One UI.

According to the report, the contract was set for at least two years. In it, Google set out to regularly pay Samsung for each device that has Gemini pre-installed. The ads within the app are also a part of the deal, with Google paying Samsung a percentage of revenue from interactions.

Alphabet Inc has initiated talks with its local contract manufacturers—Dixon Technologies and Foxconn—to shift a part of the global production of Google Pixel smartphones to India from Vietnam, especially devices headed for the US.

The company has also shared plans with the contract manufacturers on localising some components in India, such as enclosures, chargers, fingerprint sensors and batteries, the executives said. Currently, most components for made-in-India Pixel phones are imported.

Enter Android XR, the first new version of Android made for the Gemini era. Google says it's built with Gemini at the core, enabling a brand new type of user interface that's driven entirely by the way you interact with Google's multimodal AI.

As you might have guessed, the XR in Android XR isn't some weird Roman numeral moniker. Rather, it stands for eXtended Reality and is a new spinoff of Android built to unify XR products — mainly smart glasses and VR headsets — under a new set of standards and tools. It's exactly how Android Auto is built for car infotainment systems, and Wear OS is built for smartwatches.

Google has announced the end of cooperation with developers from Russia on the Google Play platform as of December 26. Russian developers will lose the opportunity to receive revenue from the sale of applications and subscriptions.

This means that Russian developers will no longer receive income from the sale of paid applications or subscription renewals through the service.

According to the decision, the processing of financial transactions for developers with accounts in Russian banks will also be terminated from this date. The last payments will be made on January 15, 2024, but the date of complete termination of cooperation has not yet been determined.

The government is not asking for Google to sell Android right away, but it wants that option if other measures it imposes don’t work to restore competition. In general:

For the avoidance of doubt, Google must not provide itself with preferential access to Android or Google-owned apps or data as compared to the access it provides to all other GSEs and AI Products…

Google cannot:

• “make any Google GSE [general search engine], Search Text Ads, or AI Product (including on-device AI) mandatory on Android Devices”
• “reduce, prevent, or otherwise interfere with the distribution of rival GSE, Search Text Ads, or AI Products on Android Devices”