๐ A change we didn't ask for: Vyxel Apps is registering with Google
Android has always let you install whatever you choose, from wherever you choose. That's the whole reason Vyxel exists. From 30 September 2026, that changes. Google's new developer verification rule starts in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, and reaches every certified Android phone from 2027. After that, Android will only install apps whose developer has handed Google their identity and registered each app's package name and signing key.
It wasn't our choice to make, but the alternative is Vyxel slowly becoming uninstallable for most of you. So we're doing what it takes to keep the project alive. Our developer identity is verified, and the next update (v1.1.3) completes Vyxel's registration, using the same signing key every release has always used. Once it's out:
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Vyxel keeps installing and updating on every certified Android phone, in every country, including after the global rollout
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Every Vyxel update is tied to one developer and one signing key, so a tampered or fake "Vyxel" can't pass as ours
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No new permissions, no ads, no tracking. How Vyxel works on your phone doesn't change
Registering comes with conditions. To get through it safely, and to protect your accounts, v1.1.3 removes two sources completely:
๐ซ Google Play source
Browsing, search, Google account sign-in and downloads from Play are gone. Downloading from Play outside the Play Store app relied on an unofficial connection to Google's private servers, which Google does not allow. It also meant signing your own Google account into something that isn't the Play Store, and Google can suspend accounts for that. We won't risk your Google account, or Vyxel's registration, over it.
๐ซ Patched apps source
Modified builds of other companies' apps (ad-free YouTube, Reddit and similar) are gone. They can't be checked against the original developer's signature, and a registered store can't keep handing them out.
๐งน What the update does for you
โข Saved Google Play sign-in details are deleted from your phone automatically
โข Cached Play and Patched listings are removed from the offline catalogue
โข Apps you installed from Google Play show an "Open in Play Store" button, so you update them there
โข Patched apps you already have keep working. Vyxel just won't update them any more
๐ก If you ever signed in to the Play source with your own Google account, you can check
myaccount.google.com/device-activity and sign out anything you don't recognise.
๐ฆ What stays: 16 sources
F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, developer F-Droid repos, GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, Aptoide, TapTap, Aurora OSS, APKPure, Flathub, WinGet, and the four root-module repositories. The offline catalogue, Download APK, update checks and everything else from Bedrock stay as they are.
๐ฎ TapTap games now install from Aptoide when a verified build is there.
โ ๏ธ If you live in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore or Thailand: until Vyxel's registration completes with v1.1.3, Android may refuse fresh installs of Vyxel there, so hold on to the app you already have. Once registration is done, Vyxel installs normally again. The same rule now applies to every app, including many small open-source ones. If an app fails with a verification message, its developer hasn't registered with Google yet. That's not something Vyxel can get around.
This isn't the Android we signed up to build for, and we know losing Play downloads stings. But a store you can't install doesn't help anyone. What we can promise is that Vyxel stays free to use, ad-free and on your side, within whatever rules we're handed. Thank you for sticking with us ๐
๐ฅ v1.1.3 lands on GitHub soon:
https://github.com/NikhilKain/vyxel-apps/releases๐ Only download Vyxel from GitHub, and check the SHA-256 in the release notes.
