- cross-posted to:
- privacy@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- privacy@lemmy.ml
Starting next year, Google will begin to verify the identities of developers distributing their apps on Android devices, not just those who distribute via the Play Store.
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They’re already starting to clamp down on sideloading. I use Aurora Store out of principle, but it’s getting more and more common that apps will refuse to launch if not downloaded from the Play Store. I get the risk of sideloading maliciously modified banking apps or whatever, but surely you could just compare a checksum or something?
In short, they make independent stores impossible?
Mostly; they just force themselves into the process for publishing each app and have an effective veto on apps. So yeah, no stores fully independent of Google.
… Didn’t the EU JUST fine Apple half a billion euros over the same thing?
Fuck google, verify my ass motherfuckers
Damn, it feels like someone is treating a 1984 novel like an instruction…
Fuck that’s actually really bad
It really is past time we saw serious work on a mobile flavor of Linux. Not AOSP, not anything whatsoever downstream of Google, but a regular Linux distro with a mobile friendly DTE.
Sadly, it only runs on genuinely ancient smart phones. I can’t even re-purpose my old pre-loved phones that I’ve kept after upgrading, because most of them are still too new for postmarketos
Woah, what’s a red username mean on Voyager? Are you an administrator?
Yep, blahaj.zone admin :)
Isn’t that what Ubuntu Touch is?
Oh, I thought the project was dead. Apparently after Canonical dropped it, it was picked up by the community. Thanks, I’ll look into it. It might even be worth supporting.
This will not apply to GrapheneOS, right?
I highly doubt it
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.
this might be the thing that makes me install it
I did so at the Weekend and I wont Go Back.
just last month there was news about some changes in Android that will make it harder for alternative distributions… go figure
Hasn’t Apple been losing in court across the world for doing exactly this?
No, it’s nothing like what Apple’s been doing.
Apple has been losing in court about everyone needs to give them money anytime anything makes any money on iOS, or even thinking absolutely allowing others to install anything beyond their App Store.
This is Google demanding every app that can be installed on Android must be signed by them, and the only cost is registering with them your name and address, possibly verified by government ID. (And quite possible doxxing you at the same time as they already do on the Play Store…)
These are very different, and unlike Apple, will more likely be applauded by numerous world governments in the current “anything a child can even remotely even know about” must have its users be checked to make sure they are “allowed to”.
Man! These guys are literally recreating what made using Symbian a pain to deal with and what sparked its downfall. Even if it was somewhat warranted due to the legitimate malware but atleast you could still run Java and Flash apps with permissions just fine. Now the last reason to run android is basically disappearing and I’m kinda glad I degoogled my latest pixel as of late. But like I kinda also hate that we are moving into an era where you cannot even control what apps on your mobile device right now outright. It was already bad enough with the automatic opening of Google Play for sideloaded apps and now its only to get worse from there. Genuinely speaking android when it first came out was a breath of fresh air compared to symbian and iOS. It’s kinda a shame that now it’s losing what made it great to begin with.
linux phones please hurry!
Android is Linux…
This is about as useful as the assholes going “It’s not Pedophilia, it’s Hebephilia!”.
It’s so heavily derive so as to be effectively wrong. It’d be like calling a human a jawless fish sure it’s technically true but entirely misses the point.
oh what’s the problem then I wonder
Haha. Ha.
gnu/linux user space phones please hurry!
If I understood correctly they use DMA as an additional justification. Thank you, EU parlament.
Fuck you
Why am I using an Android device then? Also how would this even work with open source apps that people build from source?
You build an app from source, I assume you’ll get a prompt on your phone that says it can’t run because it’s not signed.
Another article did mention that it’s only for devices with Play Protect enabled so if they keep that as easy as it is to disable right now, it’ll be a non issue actually.
Until play protect becomes mandatory
I could see them making it a developer option, then force you to agree to giving up your warranty if you wanna turn on sideloading, and maybe even trigger a play intergrity thing that makes banking apps unusable.
I sure hope not, it’d mess up corporate deployments and all too.
Another article did mention that it’s only for devices with Play Protect enabled so if they keep that as easy as it is to disable right now, it’ll be a non issue actually.
If it starts for real, the freedom of Android is lost.
We need to sue them 1000 times and more before they can even start this.
Maybe we should just go to Huawei، they have their own OS.
