Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year

This will be the last straw for me. I will be looking for Android OS alternatives.

Isn't this like 90% of the reason people prefer android over apple?

Yup.

2026 - year of the Linux Phone :D

Please let this be a nightmare...

Great i guess it is time to root my phone, and run a custom rom. I haven't had to do that in years because android finally got good.

If you use the term "sideloading" you already lost the battle before you finished your sentence

Because of using Shelter, this will make my phone practically unusable.

This is fucking ridiculous

I need an OS for phone which is completely controlled by community.

GrapheneOS for Pixel
- How does it compare with LineageOS? What are the pros and cons in your opinion?

As would I, but where exactly are we going comrade?

I think Android on my Samsung 25 Ultra is already blocking Kolab Now for being private. EPSTEIN FILES.

I guess it's time to buy a linux phone

Support for this will grow, I hope. Linux on PC has been really easy for the past 10 or so years, but phones often have locked bootloaders. There's not that much support for different models either, feels like a work in progress. I hope someone just starts up a volunteer organisation that can provide pre-installed free software. Not just one centralised company, but multiple outlets.

I honestly wish for the responsible people to die. A natural, painless death, but let it be quick. All of silicon valley is so evil it would be deemed unrealistic for a movie villain. They are selling out our freedoms and planet for what? They are already stinking rich.

They are sexually aroused when they torture both individuals and society at large.
- I wish I could accuse you of exaggerating. But I am not sure it is an exaggeration.
@raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world @themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Plus, on the bright side, it'd slow climate change rates by a pretty considerable rate, if not reversing to pre-Industrial Revolution global temperatures (seriously). But maybe I'm being too optimistic here.
- It would definitely help.
Most moderate lemmy user when talking about digital freedom:
- Moderates is what got us into this dystopia. We should have never tolerated greed and selfishness to begin with.

Last I checked, unverified software didn't run the risk of making my phone fly itself into, and bring down, a skyscraper.

You haven't seen the way I write code.

Google says it's no different than checking IDs at the airport.

Fucker, if I own the airport, own the planes in the airport, am the only person using my own planes in my own airport, then nobody is asking for my ID.

Our phone, our software choice.

Fucker, if I own the airport, own the planes in the airport, am the only person using my own planes in my own airport, then nobody is asking for my ID.
Okay, but what if Google owns the airport, the planes, and thinks it's entitled to own the people flying on them, to boot?
Our phone, our software choice.
You'll Own Nothing And Be Happy
Read the contracts you sign when you buy your phone and you'll understand how wrong you are. The problem here is we have very little choices. Monopolies kill consumer choice.
- 99% of those contracts are not enforceable. And I bought my phone used. No paper, no contract.
- Read the contracts you sign when you buy your phone
  Contracts? Unless I'm buying a subsidized phone where a mobile phone plan is required, I'm not sure what other contract I'd be signing. I never got one from Samsung, OnePlus, Google, any used marketplace, or Amazon.
  They get paid, and I get hardware to do what I like with it. If I can't do what I want with it, then I'm renting, and I should be paying a rental fee, not a "full price".
But what if you owned nothing and were happy about it?
- The minimalist in me would love that. But while I am paying for this shit, it's mine to do what the hell I damn well please with it!
There it is, haha.
Gave me a good chuckle as i'm with you here.
I have a similar sentiment when it comes to ads, my device, i pay for the internet and the device is inside my home. I'll decide if you get to show me ads.
- For ads at least the argument can be made that the content you consume is not yours and as such you should not be allowed to choose how it is monetized.
  Google unilaterally deciding this is like Firefox or chrome adding ads to websites. Which is like no... They're the medium through which content is consumed.

The Android ecosystem has been feeling more like an invasive chaotic advertisement machine the past few years. The play store is a cesspool, the weather app switch was poorly executed, Google Podcasts went to the graveyard, and Google pay getting shut down meant I had to switch back to vomits Venmo.

I still have Android gaming handhelds, but why wouldn't I just get an iPhone the next time I go to replace my phone? I can't believe I'm even saying that after being so die hard Android so for years.

why wouldn’t I just get an iPhone
Jumping from the frying pan straight into the fire.
- Exactly this. Just left iOS and got a pixel8a and flashed grapheneos on it. Apple is doing the same shit. GOS might be a pain in the ass sometimes but I feel much better knowing that Tim Apple isn't reading my texts and monitoring my bank apps so they can target me with ads.
- I'm sure we all have a different perception, but my current view is that Google sells you a phone that they need to push ads and harvest vast amounts of data from you in order to make money on the phone, and Apple somehow needs to do this less.
  Which company do you feel takes privacy more seriously? From what I understand, Google primarily makes their money from advertising.
Yeah that's what I'm thinking too. Android's only advantage over the Apple ecosystem is being able to install apps. If that goes away there's no reason for me to stay.
They also managed to remove a feature from the fucking clock app. It's not much, but seriously, it's like a headless chicken running toward a cliff from the business end.
Google pay being shut down is news to me. I still pay contactless with Google pay and also for paying on websites...
- https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/google-wallet
  They migrated people over to the wallet. What was shut down was the app called "Google Pay"
Google pay is being shut down?
Seems like Curve pay could be an alternative
- Sorry I should have clarified. Google pay moved the payment features to Google wallet, but the biggest loss was the person-to-person payments are now gone. I never understood why they had multiple apps that did the same thing. I seem to also remember a time where there was a Google pay and gpay app that lived side by side, so there were a total of three apps when there should have been one.
- Google Pay is different in America, right? To me it's just contactless.

Wtf is this

Well. They will try anyway.

Fuck Google

I hope they fail.

The phone I have now is half way paid off... I will say it. It is a Samsung S23. I didn't want it. It is just my other phone literally died from a single drop of water! I won't get into the details. But I want grapheneOS or the most private OS I can.

Right now I have been carrying my phone less than before. I used to take it even to grocery store trips, but I am just getting sick of the endless monitoring, even if I am a terminally online person. I literally cannot leave my apartment without being on camera since my landlord has all the corridors and exits/entrances on 24/7 surveillance.

I know that a phone can be tracked even when on a private OS. And the EU's rules on wanting a copy of every single message sent out from all messaging apps (including signal) will still affect non-EU people, too. It fucking sucks.

I don’t personally understand the desire to do this beyond “it’s the principle damnit” or doing illegal stuff but if you really want your phone to not be tracked then just use a verified faraday bag. Or make one yourself if you’re poor and then validate it yourself.
- I learned the hard way many, many, many times just what even a simple 'hello my name is (name), and I am a (job title at company)' to the wrong person that you'd think could not have had any negative consequences whatsoever ended up causing absolute hell for me. I've been robbed, lied about and had my reputation utter destroyed, been a victim of identity theft by people I knew personally, had my family stalked and harassed, and even had multiple hit and run attempts done on me by people actively stalking me. Not to mention how anything and everything I said, no matter how innocent it seemed absolutely can be twisted against you. And I mean ANYTHING.
  And I did nothing wrong, nothing illegal, nothing shady. I just had people calling me antisocial and so I made conversation with them, talking about my day, my studies, what I ate for lunch... and fuck me you would not believe what people can do with simple information like that.
  There is a reason some people clam up at even the simplest question posed to them by anyone. I did try to ask simple information about people above, even things as damn simple as what their (real) names were because apparently it turned out they didn't tell me their real names and they got VERY violent the moment I probed into anything. The people who claim that 'nothing to hide nothing to fear' are also the most secretive people who absolutely will not allow anyone an inkling about themselves. This is why.
  BTW you want to know how simple info like what ate for lunch can be used against you? I once said that I wanted to work at little overtime because I wanted to earn back the money I paid for an unplanned lunch...
  Now you might say 'how the fuck could that statement be used against you?'. Well the guy said I was acting unprofessionally and said I needed to run to the cafeteria to pay for a lunch I took without paying for it. Basically accusing me of dining and dashing.
  Best part? Management believed him... they believed him despite the fact that I had WRITTEN that in a work chat and they presented the screencaps to me. I didn't say anything during the investigation because... I have no idea what to say. I had already told people I was trying to save money by not buying lunch and also working overtime. But even that was interpreted as an insult by me against them because they thought I was calling them lazy and useless with money. They just kept making accusations like that, and while initially management said 'wow that guy is an asshole' they never dismissed what the others said. So after dozens of bullshit accusations my credibility just kept dropping and theirs rising.
  And all of this could have been avoided if I simply refused to talk to anyone.

I'd also say, it's likely rooting your phone would work around this, though I don't recommend that from a security perspective.

Two things especially worth noting from the article.

If you have a non-Google build of Android on your phone, none of this applies.

This means that at least GrapheneOS will be unaffected for now. Other ROMs without gapps will be unaffected only as long as you don't install gapps. Since Graphene has a sandbox for them, I'm assuming it'll be fine. That is, unless Google decides to lock the bootloader entirely.

In September 2026, Google plans to launch this feature in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. The next step is still hazy, but Google is targeting 2027 to expand the verification requirements globally.

So most users worldwide still have at least 1.5 years until it's implemented. Plenty of time to get a Pixel and install Graphene on it. Or to figure out some other plan.

Don't get me wrong - this is insane, unreasonable and horrible news for everyone. We should push back as hard as physically possible against it. However, at the very least we still have some time to figure things out before the policy rolls out.

I wouldn't be surprised if Google stop allowing BL unlocking soon... Following Samsung and Xiaomi (although Xiaomi technically can be unlocked, in reality you'll not be able to do so nowadays unless you pay someone to do it via remote USB shit for you)
I'm getting Huawei
- Literally just as bad lol
- Consider a Volla Phone with UBPorts.
  UBPorts can also be installed on Fairphone.

so no modded apps, no emulation, no unauthorised chat apps. hopefully some root mod will make this irrelevant.

I wouldn’t be so sure they will allow you to do it. First they implemented chrome restrictions for adblockers with manifest v3, then restricted AOSP sources. Looks like they are pretending to be Apple now.
Nice timing for chat control!
sudo apt-get remove google

Lets build a Raspi phone

You might be joking but you could build the Raspberry PiPhone: a DIY Android Smartphone.
"A simple smartphone that you can build yourself! Can do everything a normal smartphone can!"

Only thing I care about, how will this impact my streaming devices that rarely get is updates

EU: How often do I have to teach you, old man?

EU is moving full steam ahead toward the end of "private" computers and mandatory state surveillance on your devices. They'll be delighted with that. The funky "hey, we're consumer friendly" times are over.
EU: Thank you Google for complying with the DSA.
https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digital-services-act_en
This is a a huge part of it, the whole "prevent illegal" parts.
"easier reporting of illegal content"
"less exposure to illegal content"
"level-playing field against providers of illegal content"
The EU isn't going to punish them for this, they will hold this up as the golden standard.
- The EU waltz.
  One step forward.
  One step to the left.
  Two steps to the right.
  Three steps back.
  Repeat.
- Just as they did with Apple when they forced them to allow sideloading? So yeah, the EU will push massively against this if its implemented there.
- The Cyber Resilience Act may also have something to do with this.

I will pay hard cash money for some devs to bring postmarketos to quality hardware vendors.

I'm all for buying a pinephone, but man are we missing out on the full potential from some genuinely good OEM hardware stuff like razr flip.

Aside from google doing google things, android has been a bloated java pos toy OS for nearly a decade now. It completely wastes the full potential of superior hardware by running everything on a shitty JVM known as the ART that was designed for when devices had <512mb of RAM. A Nintendo 3DS can do better multi process tasking than modern android which regularly kills app threads for no reason other than to screw with you because you dared to switch to a different app for 5 seconds.

Android was supposed to be the big apple killer because of its closeness to a desktop OS with heavy emphasis on widespread features and functionality. Even technically speaking, rooting got you there if you wanted to run whatever straight on the linux environment or swap kernels.

Its nothing but a ripoff iOS clone now. Android 7/8 was probably the peak of development and usability, and even back then people were complaining it didn't have groundbreaking improvements like 6 or lollipop.

I don't think that it's the lack of quality hardware what is stopping adoption of Linux on phones. There are many resons why I don't consider someting like PostmarketOS viable as a daily driver for most.
First of all some apps are just not available on Linux. Banking apps are a prime example. Most banks are now requiring some form of app where I live and they don't even consider Linux. But that's also another problem in it self.
Secondly: driver support. Drivers aren't something one thinks about when talking about phones. But they are needed and mobile phones being what they are, most manufacturers aren't really open to do anything in that regard.
As an Android developer I'm also annoyed by the restrictive power management of Android. But it's there for a reason. On PostmarketOS my phone would be dead after sitting around all day doing noting. On Android I can maybe squeeze two to three days of use out of the same phone. And that's not even with the OEM rom.
That being said, I hope for a future were all of the current issues can be solved and we finally have a viable alternative to Apple and Google.
To be clear, I'm in no way trying to defend what Google is doing.
- I honestly don't care about apps. I switched to GrapheneOS and opted to not use Google Play Services, so my app selection is very limited, especially for things like banking apps. It turns out I can just use the website for the vast majority of them, and I can fill in the gaps with FDroid apps.
  The main things stopping me from using a Linux phone (eg PostmarketOS) are:
  MMS compatibility - I use this a lot with family, and getting everyone on Signal or something isn't going to happen
  battery efficiency - the best I've heard is 8 hours with light use, and there are still issues receiving notifications in standby mode
  hardware quality issues and drivers - every phone supported by PostmarketOS either has a bunch of unsupported hardware (ie no camera support), or the hardware is poor (ie the PinePhone has crappy audio)
  I don't need a flagship with top tier driver support, I just need basic phone things to work. I'm even okay with poor camera quality, provided I can take pictures of things and clearly read the text later. I don't need much in terms of app support, and I'm willing to help port things I need. But my phone needs to work as a phone, and it needs to do so all day without needing to charge until night.

Where are all the open source phone OSes? Where are the OS agnostic capable hardware phones? Technically some do exist, but I don't think they have any significant market share. Hope I'm wrong though.

Where are all the open source phone OSes? Where are the OS agnostic capable hardware phones?
In the "waiting for funding" room.
If people don't care enough to finance projects like Fairphone, etc... while they are still in the growing pains, then those projects will never be able to last during a digital consumer war, let alone provide a product that has enough mass appeal that it makes sense to build and commercialize on auto.
Google slowly suffocated all the 3rd party rom vendors.
They are in the same room with all the third-party support for them, ESPECIALLY from state-built applications that are increasingly being required to do administration stuff and mandatory banking apps that are required for online payment and even opening their websites these days.
That room does not exist.

FYI: Apple got sued for blocking other app stores. This would prevent f-droid from being installable

f-droid would be verified right?
- It'd be up to Google to do so, and they probably will just as an example of them totally not being a monopoly "look we even allowed a competing store".

Google getting rid of all the things that made people want an android phone over an iPhone.

Yup my first thought was “Where is your God now?”
Google ditched “Don’t be evil” a long time ago.
Yep, if this happens there is no benefit to android.
- I mean, there is still UI/UX, app store policies, and general cost/options.
  This definitely makes Android a lot less appealing. But it is also questionable to act like the biggest reason to use android was sideloading apps since the vast majority of users don't even know that is an option (and probably shouldn't since they have no understanding of how to vet them). Especially since Apple isn't any better (?).
- It's still a step up from iOS, which has had similar restrictions since they started.
Linux phones are moving fast but it feels like Android is moving faster on the other direction 😥
(Yes I know Android is built over Linux, I mean more traditional and open distros like postmarketos)
- Are they moving fast? It’s been like 18 years since the iPhone came out and there really isn’t a viable Linux phone.
Whatever things made people get into Android some 20 years ago are no longer relevant to the majority of people.
The biggest benefit will remain the apps. People love apps. In that regard, their only competition is Apple. It's why no one can make a new phone OS.
The other reason is cost. If you want a cheap device, Apple has no such thing. There are hundreds of Android devices you can buy for a couple hundred dollars.
For those who buy Samsung flagships for more than an iPhone, well those people I can't explain.
- For those who buy Samsung flagships for more than an iPhone, well those people I can't explain.
  Well, it could be explained before: Flagship hardware without the restrictions of iOS.
  Now..... After this bullshit..... yeah.......
- I can see apps becoming less important over time. PWAs were basically what Apple originally planed for the smartphone anyway and now they are capable of damn near anything you would want an app to do. No store to rely on. No updates to install. No storage space being eaten into. The browser engine functions as a layer of abstraction between the scary untrusted app and your own OS. It’s kinda perfect.

If you have the ability to, don't use a smartphone. You'll be better off and you don't have to care about stuff like this anymore.

For real, when this thing rolls out, I'm going to stop updating and try to still use my foss apps for as long as they still work, once my phone eventually becomes useless I'm not going to spend 400 on an expensive phone just so I can run custom roms. I will have to just get used to not having a computer in my pocket all the time again.
I wish I had... Got me a VoLTE capable feature phone and tried but it's insanely difficult to get people to understand that you're only available on call or SMS now (+no MMS here) lol

Remember that brief period in the US where, for a fleeting moment, Lina Khan went after a few companies for monopolistic practices?

Yeah man, those were the days.
Brother let me tell you about my friend Janet Reno, who fucked with Microsoft in 2001...

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads

https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/apps_android_malware/

Right, only install "verified" from Google Play, but that is where malware is, other 3rd party app stores like F-Droid, that really verify apps are at risk of getting killed by Google
- This is very obviously step one in a plan to kill apps like alternative YouTube clients that block ads, just like the Manifest V3 rollout was intended to kill ad blockers in Chrome. Once they have everyone using this verification system, then they can just arbitrarily deverify anything that contravenes whatever new acceptable usage policy they just made up.
Google can't keep malware off the platform now, but sure, make it mandatory you can't go anywhere else unless they say so first.

Wasn't Apple sued for not allowing sideloading?

You will be able sideload but the developer has to be authorized by Google. I.e. you can still install apps from f-droid but people publishing apps on f-droid will have to register with Google.
- This might be an issue because f-droid re-signs apps with their own keys...
  I mean depends on enforcement I guess.
- I dont have an issue with a feature to allow my phone to automatically veirfy signatures. But there should be a way to import/configure more signature verification providers including my own authority and even then it should still allow imstall if user really want and trust it.

Did some research and here are your options:

use custom mod (the new restriction only applies to certified devices). You can use microG (/e/, iode, Lineage) or sandboxing (GrapheneOS) to run apps requiring Google services. Google will still try to kill it but my bet is it will still work for at least a couple of years
Ubuntu Touch - you can buy new devices with it, it can run android apps using waydroid but you will not be able to run any apps requiring google services. It can run native Linux apps. Native UT apps are build using QML. It has a completely new system API so it's closer to Android then native Linux. It's based on Halium which uses the kernel from Android
PostmarketOS - native Linux running native Linux apps. Can use waydroid. Few supported devices but everything works on PinePhone Pro and few others phones.
Droidian or similiar - Debian running on Halium. Kind of half way between PostmarketOS and Ubunut Touch. Native Linux but running on Android based kernel

Personally, I will stick with GrapheneOS for now (my Pixel still has at least 6 years of support). When I'm unable to run all the apps I need on it I will switch to two phones setup: stock Android for work/car apps, some Linux phone for everything else. When my Pixel dies I will switch to iPhone.

Google has already started killing GrapheneOS by removing device trees from AOSP releases. Android 16 works fine, but for how long?
I would imagine the first thing any custom ROM would do is bypass Google's app restrictions.
I wouldn't be surprised if in 3 years I would need to pass hardware attestation to install a calculator app from the Play store.
- GrapheneOS still intends to support all the supported devices until EOL. The sideloading change doesn’t affect them. It won’t apply to GrapheneOS. It only applies to certified OSes and GrapheneOS is not certified because it doesn’t license Google Mobile Services. As per the rip out of the device trees for Pixels, that just makes Pixels like other phones. GrapheneOS has been able to expand it’s automation to build that device support themselves. For new devices, making the support will take longer than it did in the past though, but they will still support those Pixels, as long as they meet the hardware requirements and still allow third-party OS support with all security features intact. Besides that GrapheneOS is actively talking with a major Android OEM right now in order to help them reach the security requirements for a subset of their future devices. They are very optimistic about tha
- I would imagine the first thing any custom ROM would do is bypass Google’s app restrictions.
  Those restrictions don't apply to custom ROMs. Yes, it's clear Google is trying to kill custom ROMs but I think we still have couple of years. Linux phones are improving fast and I think in 5 years we will end up in the same spot we were with PCs 20 years ago: you will be able do most of daily driving on a Linux phones but some apps just won't be possible to run (Authenticator apps, banking apps, Whats App, Android Auto...). Dual booting will not be possible so most probably I will end up with two phones: daily driver and work/car phone.
What's a good custom ROM for a Samsung Fold 7? Just bought one and it's my dream phone so so I don't want to give it up so soon already, just so I can watch YouTube without ads. Planned on keeping it for at least the next 4-5 years...
- You really should have thought about that before buying the device. You cannot install a custom ROM on my Samsung device anymore.
  You always have to look at what devices custom ROMs support BEFORE buying them.
- If you want to use custom ROMs you have to check support before buying a phone. Fold 7 is not supported by any custom ROMs from what I can see. Also, I'm pretty sure you can just use Fennec with Adblock on stock Android and not have ads.
- If you want custom roms, you have a fairly restricted set of options for phones.
What are u talking about. Were u living under a rock? - Google killed off most custom roms

How about letting the users decide what to sideload? What the hell?

I hope the EU is ready to also sue Google.

The EU already forced sideloading to be officially supported on iPhones thanks to the Digital Markets Act, and that law applies to Google as well.
The US will likely apply pressure, just like they are trying to force their death machines to be legalized on European roads. Apple already tried to pressure the union and failed, but the political climate has changed a bit since then, and while EU bureaucrats can be fierce, European leadership tends to be weak as fuck.
But yeah, chances are that this change won't apply to the EU. :)
- European leadership tends to be weak as fuck.
  which is utterly disheartening.
- Does the law demand unsigned software?
- It's too bad they were too terrible at writing legislation to be successful.
The EU is currently deepthroating Trump so hard that it's completely out of breath and all our clothes are ruined.
With how volatile Trump is this could change literally anyday, but with the current political equilibrium all google would have to do is gift trump a shiny golden thing so he makes a threatening remark about gas exports and the EU would go "uwu yes master right away master, do you want to fuck my gaping asshole while you're at it?".
It will probably be for the rest of the world.
EU devices not effected.

I kinda miss my BlackBerry.

Me too. Great hardware and basic productivity apps.
But the whole systen was even more locked down than Android.
Kinda? More like deeply.
Hands down the best experience I have had on a phone was my z10. Over 10 years later, and I still use BlackBerry's keyboard.
- I never had a blackberry, but my HTC Desire Z was peak typing. You slide the keyboard out and have a full keyboard. I typed very fast on that thing, every phone I got after that sucked at typing.
  This phone https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/HTC_Desire_Z_overview.jpg
https://www.androidauthority.com/blackberry-classic-revive-android-3587932/

I'm probably going to spam this around a bit, since most people don't seem to know about it, but a reminder that FuriLabs has a (GNU+)Linux phone with decent spec.s and the ability to run Android app.s (from what I've heard) pretty decently: https://furilabs.com/

Biggest drawback is it's based on Halium. Usual growing pains of a new product/company apply but apparently the company is pretty responsive and their dev.s have worked with customers to get things like calling working with the carrier and bands of their country where it hasn't worked before so improvements move pretty quickly.

Collection of different experiences I've variously seen online over the last year or so:

I don't own one, myself, so I can't give any personal experience but I've seen it around for a few years now but most people don't seem to even know about it. Maybe there's a reason for that? But none I've ever seen anyone say.

Looks good but it's too bulky.
- Yeah; that's totally fair. Mostly, I just want to get it more known; whenever Mobile Linux come up, people namedrop Purism, the Pinephone, maybe UBPorts and the general conclusion is that the spec.s, alone, of what's available are pretty much a non-starter.
  There's definitely aspects of this phone that some people wouldn't go for but I'd rather sales be limited by not-the-right-choice than just no one knew it existed; especially when any progress can get sent upstream and improve future projects, as well.
HOLY SHIT IS THAT A HEADPHONE JACK?!
Seriously this ticks boxes Ive given up on. I never thought Id see a phone with all three: waterproof, removable battery, headphone jack. It even has wireless charging which isnt really one of my boxes but is a little extra if you use it.

Great. This could be just the boost that free android needs. Graphene and eos can brace for a few new customers i guess

I've been using graphene for a few months, but this latest news was what reminded me to start a monthly donation to the project. Hopefully Googles shenanigans push more people towards funding alternatives as well
- I've gotta get a new phone soon (ol Pixel 3 is getting long in the tooth) and this is what I'm looking at too. I highly prefer the "default" Android UI, and the ability to install programs of my own choosing — but fuck Google, imagine getting locked out of your phone just because Google randomly unpersoned you.
Graphene developers seem enthusiastic to all the bullshit that Google comes up with, and on security/privacy tradeoff they seem to usually choose security. Case in point, the mandatory battery update.
CalyxOS seems to choose privacy first, but that project folded recently.
- It didn't fold. They are just reorganizing. Don't spread misinformation.

Oof, time to bite the bullet and switch email providers. Shit like this is why I've spent the last couple years de-googling my life.

Do it! It's not that bad. Everyone's got different needs, but I switched to fastmail and have been enjoying it.
- If you're making the switch anyway, get yourself a domain name from a separate company to run it through. That way in the future you can keep using your domain even if you switch mail/web-hosting providers.

I don't like how tech is evolving...

I don’t like how tech is evolving…
Yeah, I'm not sure I like how the axe in my hand is evolving. It seems to be going for the internet fiber.
Devolving*
- It’s evolving, just towards authoritarianism.
It was always intended to be this way.
The beginning was pre-enshittification. We're going from the good ole' days to the future, and the future sure as shit aint for you unless you're in the club... and you aint, none of us are.
- We need to make our own club, with blackjack and hookers!

The moment I don't get to run my own stuff and F-Droid, I'll be switching off smartphones.

I'll use the ugliest command line only smartphone over fully walled garden android
- Real talk, are there ones like that?
  Ive seen things like https://www.tindie.com/products/zitaotech/hackberrypi5-with-9900-keyboard/ and I REALLY want one....but they are always sold out.
I'll probably go with one of the other roms on an older phone or possibly one of the Linux phones. It won't be exactly what I want, but it'll be better than their walled garden bullshit. That's precisely why I left Apple way back when.

so basically i have to send in my id to google just to sideload a test apk i made in flutter to my own phone to test it out?

Ad it's just another data point for corporations and governments to be able to tie all your tech activities to your real identity. Great for surveillance!
- and if it will work like the play store, you will need to upload an apk and download the signed version, so it's not even immediately obvious if they changed anything.
  not really an apk but an intermediate build product
Just like apple. 😔

Do any alternatives allow using banking apps or android pay or android auto?

I realize there are no substitutes for banking apps, but are there any alternatives for android auto or pay if those cannot be installed? Preferably Linux alternatives.

The substitutes for banking apps are banking websites. If your bank does not allow you to use your bank from a website, you should switch banks. I did.
/e/OS works with most, according to this list.
The founder of /e/OS has a blog where he talks about alternative payment solutions, and he mentions Curve being one.
I just recently ordered the Fairphone with /e/OS, and will be looking into this myself soon enough...
- Curve is not available in US and has terrible reviews on Play store.
  I'd switch in a heartbeat, but I can't live without a smart watch and having to pay with physical cc again would be a massive downgrade.
  I have a suspicion that all the android clones will become a much worse/unusable experience once Google implements these changes.
Seriously, I see these custom Android Auto USB Sticks that people use to watch Netflix and I just want to know how they hooked into the APIs to do that

Modern business strategy be like "If you're not building an illegal monopoly, consider doing so for more money"

Sure glad I de-googled with GrapheneOS that ironically runs on Pixel phones.

I've been hemming and hawing. Switched to Linux pretty much full time for my PC, this will push me 100% into FOSS phone. Over half my apps I use would get blocked
- Now that the Pixel 10 is out, the Pixel 9 prices are falling. If you're going to load GrapheneOS, you need to make sure you get a phone that has an unlocked bootloader, which is different than being carrier unlocked. Any phone that was initially sold through a carrier like Verizon or ATT will have a locked bootloader, as the carriers don't like people messing with the phone software to unlock features that they may charge for (e.g. hotspot).
this is doubtless going to hurt whatever third party app store it is that you use anyway. if the only places sideloaded apps are available on, the only options are that custom roms like graphene become more popular, or apps that refuse to be put on Google will dry up.
which do you feel is more likely?

Is that even legal? Monopolistic behaviour.

The US Government hasn't given a shit about harmful monopolistic practices in a long time. They only pretend to care from time to time to force large companies to start donating to politicians.
- "A long time" would be "Since Trump got back in", since Biden's administration was actually doing a lot to tackle monopolies. They just did a shit job of advertising what they were doing.
Like anyone cares outside of EU.
of course it is. apple has been doing it from the very beginning. now android gets the same walled garden.

Democracy is dead. Welcome to the neo dark ages. Take up arms.

Well, I mean, we have yet to see an actual serious cyberattack right? Aren’t security needs going to increase, not decrease?

Didn't they just lose a major lawsuit over their treatment of sideloaded apps and stores?

that was apple, I believe.
- Apple has EU problems. Google got legally fucked in the US with the Epic lawsuit.

Hello, I would like 1 Class Action please.

nah, you waived your rights to class action lawsuits on page 178 section 2.4 subsection b) paragraph 5) when you clicked accept on the first time setup screen of your phone.
If you sue now you can get a second lawsuit for free!

Let Google know what you think: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfN3UQeNspQsZCO2ITkdzMxv81rJDEGGjO-UIDDY28Rz_GEVA/viewform

Does anyone read these or does it just go through ai?
- Who knows anymore? But I'd rather say something than accept it silently.

Same outcome as with their search engine, same thing with Chrome, Youtube and many other Google products. They built up their user base with a solid product (or bought it), and then started shitting all over their users by making horrible decisions and inserting all sorts of dark patterns in the name of "security" or whatever else pretense. I'm still hoping another entity steps up and fills the vacuum that Android leaves behind.

Isn't it against the EU's DSA?

Yes, probably why this wont affect EU users.
Ode an die Freude starts playing in the background

I hope MS doesn't start doing this to Windows or else that would kill WINE/Proton, and also severely harm Windows itself given how deeply sideloading exes or msi files is ingrained into that OS.

Why would Linux have to respect the certificates? Run whatever random software you want!
- maybe it could even turn out to be a sometimes useful measure there with the slight change of placing the decision in the hands of the user.
Didn't the old arm version of windows have this limitation though? It only ran signed exes with a chain of trust?
I feel like this is probably where things might be heading overall "for our safety". People saying it's only the pixel. It's only the pixel so far. And I think Samsung are locking up bootloaders too. I fully expect both to become the norm.
Oh you'll be able to get a phone that isn't locked this way. With 4 generations out of date hardware at twice the price of the current flagship because it's a niche product they just can not make at scale to be affordable.
Also I've said it elsewhere, local/personal compute is something I fully expect to become a rare and expensive hobby too.
- And custom-built PCs are already getting priced further and further out of the market for everyone who isn't rich; mini PCs are slowly taking over the budget segments, and even some of the mid-range as well.
  Next step if it's allowed to get that far would be locking out alternate OSes after upgradeable PCs are all but eliminated except for HEDT.

Oh hell yeah, I hope this means an exodus of people forking the latest open source software they can, or if not moving to Linux mobile altogether

Edit:

I had meant that I'd like it if people flocked from developing android to developing Linux mobile. I should have clarified that.

If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.

If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.
Give me something like the OG Moto Droid, or hell make it a tablet and I have to carry a bag, I don't care.
That would be my device for everything. I just remote into everything else anyway.
Thats not how most people work.
Just because there's a problem, doesn't mean people seek a solution.
Thats why the majority of people in this country. They can each admit there is a problem. But they do nothing about it. Most don't even try to diet or exercise.
And you want them to switch to an unfinished linux phone system. They aren't going to do that over this change. The vast majority don't use more than 5 apps. What do they care? For most, the cell phone is the replacement for a pc, snd all its used for is to text, and go on tiktok and instagram.
The changes you're suggesting will work well for a certain crowd. That crowd is maybe 5% of the general population. The rest won't even notice. And if they did, they'd just put up with it.
- Please read my comment below, editing above too
Linux mobile is interesting but not ready yet.
- Ah yeah, I had meant that I'd like it if people flocked from developing android to developing Linux mobile. I should have clarified that.
  If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.
- Linux mobile phones won't have to be ready if smartphones become un-ready.
- Not ready but if Google and all the manufacturers kill custom ROMs, everyone will have to switch to Linux or another OS. It's not like Linux on the desktop where Windows is still acceptable.

Mobile desperately needs hardware with first class open source drivers and firmware to get away from Google/Apple/Microsoft controlled software platforms. Phones have been super powerful for a long time beyond what most need. We can take hit in theoretical peak performance to build up a better ecosystem until the market is large enough that the big money has to address the market

It exists and will exist for a pretty hefty premium. Not because the makers want to. But frankly the interest in owning and controlling your hardware is more rare than we'd like. So like any niche hobby the hardware will be expensive.

Finally. This will give a laaaarge boost to harmony os based phones (Huawei) saying Americans goodbye