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.
linux phones please hurry!
Google will require developer verification for Android apps outside the Play Store
Submitted 20 hours ago by mas@jlai.lu to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
mybuttnolie@sopuli.xyz 10 hours ago
wabafee@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Android is Linux…
smiletolerantly@awful.systems 4 hours ago
This is about as useful as the assholes going “It’s not Pedophilia, it’s Hebephilia!”.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works 5 hours ago
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.
nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 hours ago
oh what’s the problem then I wonder
iglou@programming.dev 4 hours ago
Haha. Ha.
EmilyIsTrans@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 hours ago
This is awful. One of my favorite differences between Android and iOS, as both a user AND developer is sideloading.
cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
The closer google gets to apple, the more similar they become. Except apples shit generally all works well together. Knock off air tags, chromecast, audio groups, and so many other things are riddled with bugs and never fixed.
If you make android the same as iOS, I might as well switch.
Mihies@programming.dev 12 hours ago
Sideloading still works, just the apps have to be signed. Still awfull.
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 9 hours ago
I highly doubt they’ll sign Torrent clients.
(Yes I torrent on my phone, cuz why not lol :P)
cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
How many great apps will we lose because of this, though?
Integrate777@discuss.online 11 hours ago
Can Nintendo request Google revoke authorization for emulator developers? Or publishers requesting revoking any of the hugely popular manga aggregator apps. Or maybe they’ll just outright refuse them from the start, like they will with revanced.
themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 hours ago
We just need to find a way to fake it, I guess anyone that wants to sideload has to root.
tabular@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Verify my balls, Google.
NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml 15 hours ago
if you’ve ever sent a nude, they probably can.
max_dryzen@mander.xyz 13 hours ago
I’d be careful yknow, I hear they hired Barry Zuckercorn
afk_strats@lemmy.world 2 hours ago
He’s very good!
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 12 hours ago
Hasn’t Apple been losing in court across the world for doing exactly this?
Xatolos@reddthat.com 9 hours ago
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”.
ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 hours ago
Guess I’m going back to a dumbphone next time because I’m NOT letting Google see what I’m downloading, I’d rather carry a laptop all day.
jcs@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
There are alternatives to Google and Apple products. I recommend the MNT Pocket Reform if you’d like a full keyboard, or a Librem 5 if you prefer a more typical smartphone experience.
BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
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.
plyth@feddit.org 8 hours ago
ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 hours ago
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
FryHyde@lemmy.zip 8 hours ago
Isn’t that what Ubuntu Touch is?
BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
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.
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 8 hours ago
In short, they make independent stores impossible?
festus@lemmy.ca 5 hours ago
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.
NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml 15 hours ago
There dies the last remaining reason to use Android.
filcuk@lemmy.zip 14 hours ago
You say that like there’s a better alternative
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 10 hours ago
There’s iOS. It works great, but has no real sideloading. Android works meh, but had proper sideloading. Now Android will no longer have it, so you might as well bite the bullet on the OS with better hardware integration.
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 hours ago
Apple is basically the default (at least in the US) so if Android cant offer significantly more theres not much reason to use it
patrick@lemmy.bestiver.se 14 hours ago
And use what instead?
NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml 14 hours ago
Linux. The mobile ecosystem will have to mature fast though.
xthexder@l.sw0.com 18 hours ago
How are they going to enforce this? Is side loading getting some extra signing step only Google can provide?
I shouldn’t need to go through Google at all to release an Android app if it’s not on their store. This is bullshit
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 17 hours ago
Any device with Google Play services will enforce this. Any device that does not have Google Apps and services will not enforce this.
In this case, China actually has a leg up over the West because they haven’t had Google Play services for a long time.
DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 8 hours ago
China is pushing in the same direction. The government want to develop Harmony OS that is gonna have compatibility issues with .apk installs and they could design it in such a way to make VPNs unusable. China is a State Capitalist regime, they will learn all the tricks that the west is using and do their capitalism with an even more stronger grip.
China is not FOSS friendly. Remember how Reddit is keep nagging you to install their app and make an account. Well in China, a lot of their platform/services doesn’t even have a desktop client, or even a web browser log-in. You can try visiting some of the mainland Chinese websites yourself. They force you to enter a phone number to sign up and some even require you to scan qr code with their phone app to log in to the website (meaning you’re supposed to sign up in their phone app first, PC use is considered “secondary”). Almost everything requires an app on a smartphone.
Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 hours ago
I’m so glad I degoogled my phone already. Fuck Google!
eager_eagle@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
and just like that google expands their walled garden and becomes apple 2
remember when the internet was an open platform and computers were yours to run programs you wanted?
ronigami@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
It’s about to get even worse. With AI and deepfakes, including deepfake porn, it will become impossible to argue against the complete and total tracking of all access to compute for the general population. There will be literally no justifiable reason to do it, when children could get hurt.
pycorax@sh.itjust.works 16 hours ago
Why am I using an Android device then? Also how would this even work with open source apps that people build from source?
cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
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.
pycorax@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
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.
pycorax@sh.itjust.works 11 hours ago
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.
max_dryzen@mander.xyz 18 hours ago
Didn’t it realise it was googles device in my pocket
Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 15 hours ago
You are going to learn.
Shady_Shiroe@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
I guess it’s time to switch to developing apps for Linux mobile distro
The only reason I like android is cuz I can make my own apks and use them without issue.
Balldowern@lemmy.zip 7 hours ago
So I guess my next phone will be a Chinese phone. Even if it spies on me, I’ll have the freedom to install whatever I want from anywhere.
The Chinese have a golden window of opportunity. Let’s hope they don’t mess this up.
SugarCatDestroyer@lemmy.world 6 hours ago
Damn, it feels like someone is treating a 1984 novel like an instruction…
Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 15 hours ago
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.
themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 hours ago
Maybe we should just go to Huawei، they have their own OS.
Superorbit@lemmy.ca 14 hours ago
Fuck that’s actually really bad
RealM__@lemmy.world 4 hours ago
goddamnit I JUST bought a new Fairphone 5 and opted not to go for e/os variant, because I was worried of incompatibility issues.
Guess I’ll have to learn how to replace my phone OS in 2026…
InnerScientist@lemmy.world 8 hours ago
And here I thought I wouldn’t root or flash my next phone.
padge@lemmy.zip 14 hours ago
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?
JackbyDev@programming.dev 11 hours ago
Permissive licenses were a mistake.
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 10 hours ago
Isn’t AOSP mostly GPL?
hal_5700X@sh.itjust.works 5 hours ago
Will, what’s the point now? Fuck it get an Apple. Why not.
napkin2020@sh.itjust.works 14 hours ago
Fuck you
ratzki@discuss.tchncs.de 10 hours ago
This will not apply to GrapheneOS, right?
tranquil_cassowary@sh.itjust.works 4 hours ago
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.
nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 hours ago
this might be the thing that makes me install it
nibbler@discuss.tchncs.de 4 hours ago
just last month there was news about some changes in Android that will make it harder for alternative distributions… go figure
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 hours ago
I highly doubt it
python@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
Time to build more PWAs please?
cookie019@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 hours ago
If I understood correctly they use DMA as an additional justification. Thank you, EU parlament.
surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 16 hours ago
I’ll register an account and share my signing cert for y’all to use. I don’t care.
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Then they’ll ban you for life like they do other people who violate their rules, and they’re very good at banning people who try to open new accounts and banning people who have any links to you.
Glitchvid@lemmy.world 11 hours ago
Google loves unpersoning.
dorumon@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
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 of 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.
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 15 hours ago
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul
Or, said in the common corporate tongue, “embrace, extend, extinguish”.
xcjs@programming.dev 5 hours ago
Let Google know what you think about this: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/…/viewform