This is dystopian.
Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year
Submitted 7 months ago by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
Iambus@lemmy.world 7 months ago
JesusTheCarpenter@feddit.uk 7 months ago
This will be the last straw for me. I will be looking for Android OS alternatives.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Isn’t this like 90% of the reason people prefer android over apple?
SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
it was. Time for a new phone OS.
Hudell@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
I doubt most people care that much. I do, but I don’t know anyone else who does.
But even if I were to lose this, I would not even consider switching to apple (but I would consider switching to something more open).
ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml 7 months ago
It is, yeah. It’s like 100% of the reason for me. I’m gonna buy an iPhone later this year most likely.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Understandable, if youre gonna eat straight up dog shit it might as well be gourmet dogshit
timidtaxidermist@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
Yup.
John@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
2026 - year of the Linux Phone :D
int32@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
I’m gonna try to install chimera linux on my fairphone. then I could use phosh as a window manager and use waydroid so I could have android apps! time to see how crazy that is.
QuestionMark@lemmy.ml 7 months ago
Please let this be a nightmare…
buzz86us@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
eleitl@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
It’s not about technical utility. It’s about freedom.
grandma@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
If you use the term “sideloading” you already lost the battle before you finished your sentence
eleitl@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
The war was lost by default. The one party did not show up to the battle because they never knew a war was on.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Because of using Shelter, this will make my phone practically unusable.
This is fucking ridiculous
yodaka@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I need an OS for phone which is completely controlled by community.
Tortellinius@lemmy.world 7 months ago
GrapheneOS for Pixel
passwordforgetter@lemmy.nz 7 months ago
How does it compare with LineageOS? What are the pros and cons in your opinion?
ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
I think Android on my Samsung 25 Ultra is already blocking Kolab Now for being private. EPSTEIN FILES.
Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 7 months ago
Gemini24601@lemmy.world 7 months ago
As would I, but where exactly are we going comrade?
myfunnyaccountname@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
Only thing I care about, how will this impact my streaming devices that rarely get is updates
sturmblast@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I’d also say, it’s likely rooting your phone would work around this, though I don’t recommend that from a security perspective.
sturmblast@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I guess it’s time to buy a linux phone
eleitl@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
I wish a Linux tablet will be ready by the time the custom ROMs will be killed off.
sturmblast@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Best I’ve been able to do is a Lenovo Yoga. Ubuntu runs great and touch works well enough. But yeah… not really the same.
passwordforgetter@lemmy.nz 7 months ago
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.
MetalMachine@feddit.nl 7 months ago
Wtf is this
raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
NeilBru@lemmy.world 7 months ago
They are sexually aroused when they torture both individuals and society at large.
raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I wish I could accuse you of exaggerating. But I am not sure it is an exaggeration.
sbrodolino21@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Most moderate lemmy user when talking about digital freedom:
raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Moderates is what got us into this dystopia. We should have never tolerated greed and selfishness to begin with.
AniZaeger@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Last I checked, unverified software didn’t run the risk of making my phone fly itself into, and bring down, a skyscraper.
bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml 7 months ago
You haven’t seen the way I write code.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 7 months ago
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.
eleitl@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
GrapheneOS has a decent airplane mode.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 7 months ago
Is it possible to use presaved GPS maps on it?
Also i wish I could install grapheneOS on my phone. But there are no options for Samsung S23s… or are there?
WelcomeBear@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 7 months ago
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.
Deflated0ne@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Well. They will try anyway.
winni@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Lets build a Raspi phone
kerntucky@infosec.pub 7 months ago
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!”
kepix@lemmy.world 7 months ago
so no modded apps, no emulation, no unauthorised chat apps. hopefully some root mod will make this irrelevant.
brendansimms@lemmy.world 7 months ago
sudo apt-get remove google
foxfell@lemmy.ml 7 months ago
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.
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 7 months ago
Nice timing for chat control!
MSids@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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 because 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.
MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Google pay being shut down is news to me. I still pay contactless with Google pay and also for paying on websites…
rumba@lemmy.zip 7 months ago
www.androidcentral.com/…/google-wallet
They migrated people over to the wallet. What was shut down was the app called “Google Pay”
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 7 months ago
why wouldn’t I just get an iPhone
Jumping from the frying pan straight into the fire.
MSids@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
brendansimms@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
LodeMike@lemmy.today 7 months ago
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.
cley_faye@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
Electricd@lemmybefree.net 7 months ago
Google pay is being shut down?
Seems like Curve pay could be an alternative
MSids@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
jpeps@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Google Pay is different in America, right? To me it’s just contactless.
Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
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.
sturmblast@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
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”.
veniasilente@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
99% of those contracts are not enforceable. And I bought my phone used. No paper, no contract.
BCsven@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
I didn’t sign a contract. Also just flashed the Pixel to GrapheneOS, and bye bye google
UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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 its entitled to own the people flying on them, to boot?
CrowAirbrush@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 months ago
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.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 7 months ago
But what if you owned nothing and were happy about it?
Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
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!
Rooty@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I am toying with the idea of creating a PDA of sort from a raspberry pie, touchscreen and a powerbank. Case can be 3d printed, it would be bulky af and equipped with Tails or some other secure OS.
DupaCycki@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
MITM0@lemmy.world 7 months ago
Ok this needs harsh pushback, because phones are affordable, computers are not. There needs to be a massive project dealing with making phones platform agnostic.
NotACIAPlant@lemmy.world 7 months ago
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.
dual_pyramid_reality@lemmings.world 7 months ago
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.
Mvp_rx100@lemmy.ml 7 months ago
I think rooting phone can solve the issue we need to find the fix