Submitted 16 hours ago by mesamunefire@piefed.social to technology@lemmy.world
https://hackaday.com/2025/08/28/the-browser-wasnt-enough-google-wants-to-control-all-your-software/
The infuriating part of the Google enshittification process is that there is nothing the user can do about it.
Literally the only thing that motivates Google is profit. Controlling side-loaded apps will almost certainly boost their profits by a infinitesimal fraction of a percent, therefore it will be done. Even if consumer uproar causes Google to back down in the short term, they’ll simply implement this a few months later. Late-stage Capitalism sucks.
You can stop using all Google products. Now I understand their market share on the web means they’re going to continue to shape the web.
But make no mistake. There is something however, small that you can do. De-Google.
You can stop using all Google products.
My public school – that my children are basically required by law to attend, remember – is badgering me to sign a consent form so they can have Chromebooks.
This fight is a lot fucking larger than mere individual boycotts!
De-Google
The complaint is side loading is being restricted and the only long term alternative Apple. Google already began the process of shutting down Graphene by cutting drivers out of AOSP.
I will help hand hold anyone who wants to build servers or services (to the best of my ability) to replace Google services with their own.
De-googling will break banking apps, since most baking apps rely on Play Integrity checks and bootloader status.
You can stop using all Google products.
That may be true for you, but other people face different realities. When Google implements the sideloading block it will eventually be pushed to everyone who doesn’t use a custom ROM.
That’s barely a viable option without using apples own walled garden.
Honestly Googles products are terrible these days. I have been pretty lax about my privacy but after so much enshittification I switched my services to something that works and doesn’t harvest my data for the privilege.
When they kill off Graphene/Custom ROMs I’ll switch to a linux phone or brickphone.
Now that AOSP is closing, what are we supposed to do?
Uhh… how do we stop using Android? I mean, these recent attacks by Google seem like they’re going to break GrapheneOS and friends, no?
I was thinking of switching to Proton. I pay $2 a month for 100gb and unlimited photos on Google. It’s a good deal. The fact that I would have to find out out to make a server, buy storage, piece meal a bunch of open source software that will inevitably not work without tinkering all makes it so easy just to pay the $2 a month.
I think they are more conscious than to be driven by small margins (another example of such underestimation is Lenin’s “they’ll sell us the rope we’ll use to hang them”).
It’s like boiling frogs - a very slow process of attracting users, slowly killing competition and diversity, slowly making the ecosystem more and more controlled, then slowly making “neutral” systems not neutral anymore (like those features of Chrome making security exceptions for Google services found a few years ago), and slowly desensitizing people to leaps of faith they do trusting Google (and other companies), while the trust accumulates into total control.
Fuck google
Easily the most disgusting company in the planet and it’s funny that their old motto/slogan was ”Don’t be evil”.
I’ve recently gotten to think that the company which made the basement for all these disgusting companies is usually viewed as not just not disgusting, but almost holy. Meaning Sun. So, maybe, judging the tree by its fruits, the most disgusting company was Sun.
I mean, I know that everyone who used their products and of course people who worked there are still in awe and remember it like a Soviet summer camp shown in the Everlasting Summer game.
But perhaps that’s misguided. They’ve built the hierarchical systems, the infrastructure, for all the dystopia of today, and their code still powers much of it.
Also you know how the second competitor in an almost monopolized market is sometimes considered an accomplice of monopoly? Because they are strong enough to support some of its ways, while the rest are not. So they reinforce it. I’m also looking at Firefox writing this. Literally.
Perhaps we’d have a better environment office-wise if LibreOffice and OpenOffice were not a thing. They support MS formats, thus indirectly contributing to MS dominance. The network effects work in a few different ways, while were it different, those desperately needing MS documents would use MSO, at the same time those just needing some office suite would possibly not.
Perhaps that can also be applied to Unix and Unix-likes, Sun made a lot of momentum for Unix and Unix-like desktops when they contributed to TCL/Tk so that it became a tool for making Unix and Unix-like desktop applications easily. And when they created Java and Java applets in web browsers prepared the public for scripts in browsers and cross-platform applications served over net.
Yes, it all felt like heaven behind the corner, but perhaps they are to blame. What if.
After all, much of that was free or for the cost of a CD then, and free cheese usually is part of a trap. Perhaps if instead commercial competing platforms, like Amiga or even Apple, were to gain more following, we’d have a different world. All those development resources couldn’t have been gifted (Sun in the 90s, I mean, and honestly many universities) out of nowhere, something made that worth the expense.
Or, if we want free and open, Lisp environments are somewhat easier to hack on (also again about TCL, it kinda approaches that in convenience for a non-programmer to make something simple, quick and dirty, but good enough), and accessibility to wider, eh, masses is meaningful here. So maybe GNU shouldn’t have gone with a Unix-like system idea. I mean, OK, they do have a Lisp environment fit for everything, it’s called Emacs.
BTW, about disgusting companies coming to mind first, I’m not disgusted by Oracle, in comparison to most other big ones they do honest business. I dunno why they are hated, uncle Larry says dystopian shit with enthusiasm and no remorse, but at the same time his company sells exactly what it advertises. It’s all kinda open and straightforward, it’s the “one rich asshole called Larry Ellison” company, which may not be what someone likes, but is certainly better than companies actively building worldwide digital fascism (it, of course, offers expertise and help to those who do in case they need it). Also he’s really a self-made man. Unlike all those other types from good families, good environments and with good education.
OK. I just have that conspiracy theory brewing in my mind about Sun actually being evil. Sorry.
Already using GrapheneOs on my phone, so fuck Google.
Wait until Google locks the bootloader.
I know that the GrapheneOS team have mumbled about the possibility of working on their own device. Although, this would probably be a long way off if it ever did come to fruition.
Sucks that it only works on devices made by Google though…
But, what happens when Google decides to no longer the option to unlock the bootloader for future phones? It’s the future that is the concern when it comes to the degoogle options available.
What kind of phone?
I want to know, too. I got a Samsung s23 when my last phone suddenly died and I only then realized thar it wasn’t compatible.
Is it good?
I went from 15 years of iPhones directly to Graphene, without really messing with Android in between, so my experience has been a STEEP learning curve, followed by a fairly hum-drum experience. But honestly, that’s fine. I want my phone to take more of a back seat and not be something I keep needing to worry about.
My banking app doesn’t work in Graphene, but the website does, so I don’t really mind.
It could that there’s a whole bunch of shit I’m missing, but mostly it’s… fine.
It’s very “meh…” with the added benefit of several (non-google) apps not working. I choose to live with this inconvenience, but it still bothers me that my smartphone is significantly less useful with grapheneOS in my daily life.
Yes, ive had zero issues with it 👍
You have to pay google to use it (only works on pixel phones afaik).
The issue isn’t that. It’s that devs may juat abandon projects if they’re too naughty for Google cos the custom ROM crowd is so tiny.
Right so think torrent clients, idk, Pornhub app, that sort of thing. Yeah, it doesn’t affect your phone. But it absolutely will affect what software is available at all should Google clamp down on this.
The EU’s been breathing down Apple’s neck for them trying to do similar shit, so i find the timing kinda weird.
Plus they’d need to force-update their spyware first, i wonder how many versions of android they’re willing to go back.
I think the update is already installed, just waiting for the kill switch.
Yet Apple has been able to profit from their walled garden for decades now. Doesn’t that set a precedent that it’s okay? I honestly don’t blame Google for going this route—it’s inaction from our policymakers that has created the space for abuse.
When reading cyberpunk lore, quickhacks didn’t make any sense to me. Some programs that break cyberware because of backdoors, but why would people install cyberware with backdoors?
Now I look at the sad state of mobile market and, yeah ok, that makes sense.
That makes sense and all but where does the poison come from??
I mean the cyberware is a direct neural interface so presumably it must be able to manipulate and alter the levels and balance of your neurotransmitters. Im sure increasing aome to insane levels would have pretty toxic effects, like serotonin syndrome for example.
Its about time an open standard happened for mobile OSes.
That’s what Android was and they keep trying to undo that any way they can
We need a new one that isn’t made by a for-profit company that only was good to get total market saturation before flipping the enshittification switch to maximize those profits.
Makes me curious if they think their monopoly or whatever they were called cases making them split their browser are going to go though. If you are going to have to sell parts of the company, now would be the time to hammer home any last minute bad things that would make the companies more profitable. Shows higher income for the sale, and gets it out of the way so the new purchaser doesn’t look like the ones who did it, but rather the ones who will make announcements on how they will review things to make them better for the user base.
We need open bootloader and drivers for phones to make any real progress on this. Thin is what’s holding back all initiatives.
and many phone manfacterers, issuers(non google, samsung, or IOs) IS CONSIDERING locking down thier phones.
I wonder if the generic tablets with made up Asian sounding names that you see on the big marketplaces could work? They could have slightly larger or smaller screens if they’re cheaper than current phone screens, and could have Linux with something like Signal on them for calling.
They’d probably be lower quality to begin with, but could potentially get better if people start to buy them. They seem to have generic hardware, so might be able to offer the drivers and unlockable bootloaders too :)
the best outcome for the short term would be to forcibly take away android from google and give it to an independent foundation. as I heard antitrust proceedings in the usa were heading that way a few months ago
Such things are solvable with a bribe in the USA.
FuriOS?
Interesting. I’ve not heard of FuriOS, but if it actually can be used with US carriers, makes calls and supports SMS/MMS, and can do VoLTE that’s a actually a pretty big deal.
Not bad, it looks like I have to buy their phone though. Which is not cheap, or performant guessing by the specs despite what the advertising says.
Whenever you see a linux phone advertise both security and android app support, you should be wary, since it’s likely waydroid or a waydroid fork, and their design goal of running android in a container instead of a VM has lead to some interesting security decisions.
And they can suckle upon my peener.
I’ll go to Graphine or something else before I let the company for whom “don’t be evil” was too bold a statement dictate my fuckin’ choices.
I already ditched Windows. Can’t be that hard to cut Google out too.
Graphene has locked itself to google hardware, and google can cripple them at any point by stopping bootloader unlocks. We need to go deeper, or aim higher as it were
They have stated that they’re more than willing to work with any manufacturer who is prepared to make a device that meets their security standards. But as it stands, Pixels are the only unlockable devices that meet that standard.
Someone like Fairphone could do pretty well from a tie-in with Graphene. But it’s up to them.
Not that they locked themselves but other vendors locked and isolated themselves by not provideing enough hardware and software security measures so graphebne will be able to strenghten them
I don’t know about anyone else, but I got into computers at a young age because it gave me a sense of control over something. I didn’t understand everything, but I could do a lot of trial and error, read things and experiment, and shared a sense of community with some random internet strangers based on that knowledge.
In a world where we are so powerless in so many other ways, why did we insist on bringing that power dynamic into the new bright tech sphere? Why did we have to do that? (N.B. this is rhetorical questioning).
In the new Alien Earth TV show, 5 corporations basically run everything… unfortunately I suspect thats where we are headed as a species.
My university actually teaches about the “Meger Endgame theory” (yes, my professor had fun with that one), which states that industries will consolidate until 2-3 global market leaders dominate. So uhh, it’s not just you. Idk if that’s good or bad news for you haha
There are at least two generations of us who are disappointed at the contrast between tech’s possibilities as envisioned decades ago and the corporate surveillance crap we have to put up with today.
The thing that really gets to me is how we’ve gone from “Here, let us sell you a computer that you can push to its limits however you see fit” to “We will sell you a device and ensure you use that device within a given sphere of acceptability”.
I own this phone/computer/tablet/console/whatever, so why the fuck do I have to adhere to their rules? Rules they’ve changed since I bought the device, of course.
We, as in the average every day people, didn’t do shit. The corporations that make the shit we use are the ones who got us here. The only thing the people using the devices and software are guilty of is not making a fuss about losing control over the stuff becsuse the average person does not care that deeply about the tools and likely doesn’t even know about a good 75% of what was lost.
Sadly the majority of normal people don’t want control. They just want it to do some trivial task without any fuss at any cost.
google is pissed people were deleting that spying app on android phones, plus thier constant attack on adblocking on youtube wasnt working to well. since samsung and iphones pretty much walled in thier os, why not google.
Don’t use it. Be smart.
What’s my better option at this point?
Yeah well luckily for them, people don’t seem to know how to write anything but webapps anymore anyway.
In an environment most convenient for making webapps people make webapps.
It’s not even such a wrong idea honestly, if the “web” in “webapp” were a bit leaner and you’d make local applications with something document-oriented for GUI looking at a local service. It’s just a decent bit of structure to make application design easier. Nothing wrong with that IMHO.
But, ahem, when by “webapp” we mean that we have a browser fulfilling the role of an operating system, and there’s one company making it, then something is wrong.
that spy app they were using a few months ago was just the first test.
they just want to confirm a malicious actor didn’t develop it
So Newpipe, SmartTube, Nintendo emulators…
Clones of opensource apps bundled with ads that violates license is OK, but restricting everyone to build and test apps from source so it can test new features and report any issues is too risky for the user
Literally anyone who simply wants their privacy.
chrome is at thier limits, since people can just use a different browser/
Yeah of the Linux phone, I guess.
God, I wish.
just dont update your phone problem solved
This is likely via silent updates of Google’s Play Services.
Can someone just do the needful?
I mean… it’s hilarious that people still use Chrome when it has been a known back actor for years and years.
Likewise, if you set an iPhone to use Advanced Data Protection, it’s probably quite a bit more secure from intrusion than a similar Android phone. (And definitely more secure from subpoena.)
Likewise, if you set an iPhone to use Advanced Data Protection.
You can pretend your iPhone isn’t owned by a corporation that just swore fealty to the current regime, but until its running a custom ROM it isn’t fucking yours.
Only phone that comes your own from factory I’d maybe the pinephone. Otherwise, get a pixel, rip out the factory OS install, and throw Graphen OS on it.
Both Android AND iOS have taken code from Graphene and used it to secure their codebases. Its probably one of, if not the most secure OS available to the average person today.
i abandoned it ever since they say they slow down incognito mode, and prevent the liberal use of adblockers, or extensions.
This sucks for the average person but, well, everything tends to. If you don’t look for avenues around literally everything “default”, you’re being scammed. They don’t, so they will be.
I do, so I’ll be carrying a Oneplus 6T and slapping a mobile Linux OS on it for my needs.
that’s not usable!
For you.
If you don’t look for avenues around literally everything “default”, you’re being scammed. They don’t, so they will be.
And this is why the real solution we need is enforcement of anti-trust law, not mere individual boycotts.
What about flip phones?
Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask, but I literally have no idea in which community this question goes.
I just got Samsung Galaxy A16, and then I learn just how controlling Google/Android is becoming. Research says I SHOULD be able to deGoogle and flash a linux OS
My question is, what linux OS should I go for? and does it have any issues I need to look out for?
Librem profits +++$$$ It may be the end for u if u use a mobile for games… If not - Just buy some open-source phone like Librem or PinePhone, they also have Linux available:)
People voted for this with their wallets.
As an iPhone guy, I know we already have it like that, and our keyboard has always sucked (and none of the third party keyboards help, they all suck compared to Gboard on Android), but while we dread the day that Apple becomes a data broker like Google… that day is not here yet.
SugarCatDestroyer@lemmy.world 3 hours ago
Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to live in this damn Orwellian society that is coming?
BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 2 hours ago
Always has been