2026 - year of the Linux Phone :D
Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year
Submitted 3 weeks ago by themachinestops@lemmy.dbzer0.com to technology@lemmy.world
Comments
John@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
int32@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks 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.
yodaka@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I need an OS for phone which is completely controlled by community.
Tortellinius@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
GrapheneOS for Pixel
passwordforgetter@lemmy.nz 3 weeks ago
How does it compare with LineageOS? What are the pros and cons in your opinion?
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Didn’t they just lose a major lawsuit over their treatment of sideloaded apps and stores?
_cryptagion@anarchist.nexus 3 weeks ago
that was apple, I believe.
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Apple has EU problems. Google got legally fucked in the US with the Epic lawsuit.
buzz86us@lemmy.world 3 weeks 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 2 weeks ago
It’s not about technical utility. It’s about freedom.
MITM0@lemmy.world 3 weeks 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.
Tja@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Have you shopped for those items recently? You have 200 buck computers and 2000 buck phones.
cley_faye@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
My current phone, a Pixel 7a, cost me around 350€ (let’s say it’s roughly the same in $). There is definitely cheaper options. And most of these options will give you a decent phone.
A $200 computer will bring you to basic office stuff and playing facebook games.
j4k3@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Democracy is dead. Welcome to the neo dark ages. Take up arms.
paraphrand@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Well, I mean, we have yet to see an actual serious cyberattack right? Aren’t security needs going to increase, not decrease?
j4k3@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The ability to filter information using proprietary devices and software in the kernel of all of these garbage devices is the core issue. Trusting the owners of that code is to surrender your right to unbiased and unfiltered information. I am not at all concerned about hacking or security by small insignificant players. I am massively concerned about the extremely powerful using the leverage they have normalized and embedded to become tyrannical neo feudal lords in a fascist society. Google IS the biggest danger by orders upon orders of magnitude. Trusting them is to give up democracy entirely.
All mobile devices are proprietary. Android is a scheme to make a Linux kernel that has everything ready to deploy except the actual hardware drivers for the processor and modem. Manufacturers take this kernel and add their proprietary binaries at the last possible moment. That source code is not available anywhere. The hardware documentation is not available anywhere publicly. Every device model is just different enough that reverse engineering one does nothing transferable to any other. The level of reverse engineering is extreme and requires destroying many devices using things like fuming nitric acid and fluorine solutions just to have a small chance at reading some parts of embedded memory. These are some of the most dangerous and hazardous chemicals humans make, and you still need xray equipment, special microscopes with stepping automation to stitch images, and a ton of time.
This is moving to a tyrannical surveillance state of fascist authoritarianism. Open source software is a major front on the line of real democracy. This is a nuclear bomb released on that democracy. You fear the wrong pirates and criminals. The biggest threats always come from within. Trust as a mechanism is fundamentally antithetical to democracy. Everyone demanding trust is a traitor to democracy. Trust is the key of the fascist kingdom. Once that key is held, democracy has failed regardless of whomever is aware of the situation. Democracy requires fully informed citizens with skepticism and the liberal right to decide for themselves even when they are wrong. This is impossible without full access to information. The source of that information cannot be filtered at any level. We already have the narrowest bottleneck of available information sources in the last 1000 years of history. There are only 2 relevant web crawlers. All search queries filter through one or both of these two and the results from these are not deterministic. Two people searching for the same thing at the same time will get very different and very biased results. This is individualized regardless of any protections people imagine they have in place. Outside of the internet there is no real unbiased media. A dozen people own it all. Even the garbage claiming to comb all sources is drawing the line and dictating what is center right or left is. Anyone at the grassroots level is impossible to find because there are no organic unbiased search results. The results are all filtered junk full of agenda and bias.
This is the real big picture abstract issue in play. When the maga traitors said this was a coup, they absolutely ment that. Mobile devices are all rental garbage someone else controls. Your computer likewise has a secret operating system running in the background that you do not control. In Intel it is called the Intel Management Engines or ME. This started with Intel VPro in 2008. AMD adopted it is 2013. Arm has one too.
All that is left is to steal your right to have a digital front door by eliminating DNS filtering and all of these devices will be controlled and connected directly by someone else that is watching and listening at all times. You are already in tethers as a digital slave that can be bought and sold for exploitation and manipulation without your consent or knowledge using your digital presence. You have not effectively realized the implications of that surrendering of rights to citizenship with full autonomy. The next step is to redefine the word citizen to be functionally equivalent to slave. “You will own nothing, and you will be happy about it” because if you are not, you will be dead. This is the death of democracy. My words will echo in your head years from now. The dystopia to come is beyond anything you can presently imagine and there is no way to stop it now short of taking up arms and playing Luigi if you are able.
The consolidation of wealth is what really made Caesar. That was the death of the republic. It was not Caesar. We are all a product of our time and environment. It was the consolidation of great wealth. All that wealth did not give a shit about Rome, it went to Constantinople for better opportunities at first chance because consolidation of wealth is treasonous. It is as it was, just look at outsourcing and off shoring, or the disgusting mismanagement of banking and housing that have made the American worker completely uncompetitive with Asian counterparts at the same standard of living. No, I have no fear of the boogie man or foreign state actors. I am terrified of the criminal that normalizes domestic trust, actively manipulates and exploits me, and steals my purchased property. That is a real monster.
hansolo@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Hello, I would like 1 Class Action please.
WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
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.
InnerScientist@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
If you sue now you can get a second lawsuits for free!
Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
Gemini24601@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
As would I, but where exactly are we going comrade?
ivn@jlai.lu 3 weeks ago
Isn’t it against the EU’s DSA?
themurphy@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Yes, probably why this wont affect EU users.
MaggiWuerze@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
Ode an die Freude starts playing in the background
Rooty@lemmy.world 3 weeks 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.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Why not just get a PinePhone?
dogs0n@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Because he is cool and builds his own phone from scratch
rumba@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
only problem is it’s just an esp32, but you can add GPS
daq@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
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.
Havatra@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
daq@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
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.
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
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.
spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
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
Squizzy@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Ffs if I have to move to apple before the third option is stable.
spicehoarder@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
I will forever lament my windows phone. Ironically, it was the only option that didn’t need to be rooted to do custom shit. You could just screw with the registry
RheumatoidArthritis@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
It didn’t live long enough to become a villan
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 3 weeks 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.
WelcomeBear@lemmy.world 3 weeks 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 3 weeks 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.
eleitl@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
GrapheneOS has a decent airplane mode.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 2 weeks 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?
xcjs@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Let Google know what you think: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/…/viewform
InnerScientist@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Does anyone read these or does it just go through ai?
xcjs@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Who knows anymore? But I’d rather say something than accept it silently.
usernameunnecessary@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
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.
QuestionMark@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
Please let this be a nightmare…
DFX4509B_2@lemmy.org 3 weeks ago
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.
paraphrand@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Why would Linux have to respect the certificates?
WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
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.
kepix@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
so no modded apps, no emulation, no unauthorised chat apps. hopefully some root mod will make this irrelevant.
foxfell@lemmy.ml 3 weeks 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 3 weeks ago
Nice timing for chat control!
brendansimms@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
sudo apt-get remove google
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Because of using Shelter, this will make my phone practically unusable.
This is fucking ridiculous
NotACIAPlant@lemmy.world 3 weeks 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.
sefra1@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
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.
lmuel@sopuli.xyz 3 weeks ago
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
Whostosay@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
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
MetalMachine@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
Wtf is this
winni@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Lets build a Raspi phone
commander@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
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
Iambus@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
This is dystopian.
JesusTheCarpenter@feddit.uk 3 weeks ago
This will be the last straw for me. I will be looking for Android OS alternatives.
ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
I think Android on my Samsung 25 Ultra is already blocking Kolab Now for being private. EPSTEIN FILES.
sturmblast@lemmy.world 3 weeks 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.
vivalapivo@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Finally. This will give a laaaarge boost to harmony os based phones (Huawei) saying Americans goodbye
dual_pyramid_reality@lemmings.world 3 weeks 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.
sommerset@thelemmy.club 3 weeks ago
Google slowly suffocated all the 3rd party rom vendors.
douglasg14b@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Essentially every browser that’s not Firefox or Safari is reskinned Google chrome for a reason. Because it’s insanely expensive to build and maintain browsers. Mobile operating systems aren’t much different in this regard.
sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
That’s not exactly true. There are several FOSS mobile OSes, such as PostmarketOS, Mobian, Ubuntu Touch, and the various Android ROMs. Once it’s compatible, keeping that OS updated is relatively simple.
The issues with mobile OSes are:
Basically, supporting a new phone has a lot of upfront work with very little ongoing work.
Web browsers, on the other hand, need to stay updated with constantly shifting web standards, they’re a huge malware target so they need to keep up on CVEs, and pages are getting more complex causing performance and rendering issues, and everyone blames the browser. Supporting a new platform is generally trivial, but the ongoing work is immense.
They’re very different beasts.
veniasilente@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
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.
dual_pyramid_reality@lemmings.world 2 weeks ago
Modern tech markets are broken. We need a new type of economy.
cley_faye@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
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.