For your security we’re going to block your access to FOSS and apps that let you avoid our ads. This is totally not a business decision. Pinky swear.
for the greater good
This good is gonna be so great after we lose everything to the worst of us.
and avoid our datamining capabilities, and the intrusive AI we keep pushing on unwanted customers. we knew thier android core app(spyware) was the first step. they probably want that to permanantly installed into everyones phone.
Google says it’s no different than checking IDs at the airport.
You’re not a fucking airport, Google!
Also we bought and own the fucking plane! Don’t tell us where we can fly to!
Better. We bought the airport. Google was paid to pave the runway and maintain it for a couple years after. And now they try to dictate that only planes they approve may start and land.
While stealing and selling all the data from the passengers.
i dont need to show id to fly domestic…
Ah, but Google is never flying domestic. They sell your data internationally.
No one talking about how this could completely annihilate open source .apk development? First off the lead dev has to get identity verified to get a key, which will reduce the number of devs willing to push through friction to start a project. Then when the key is issued and it is posted to the repository, what keeps anyone from grabbing it and using it for another repo? We’ll they have an official app registration of some kind, ok, what about version control? Does every new version have to be registered before it can be loaded and tested? Same for forks?
This is about to be a terrible mess, Google is assassinating FOSS with this.
You distribute the code without your key and a built package that is signed. This isn’t exactly rocket science.
Anyone who forks the code will have to use their own key to install a package they built.
It’s just unnecessary red tape.
It’s just unnecessary red tape.
Which will reduce the number of people using foss apks, which will in turn, reduce the motivation, and then the number, of foss apk developers.
How will fdroid work
Fdroid itself and every package they host will have to be signed.
Maybe there are still workarounds, like enabling dev mode on your phone, but still tedious.
It will kill everyone that is playing around with the phones. I have done a couple mobile projects where I just sideloaded the package I created to quickly test it and to demo it to people. Now that I can’t do that why would I develop for your platform by choice.
If they end up blocking f-droid I’m bombing them
How can that be legal?
Because Apple does it
Fuck.
Wasn’t it made illegal on Europe?
they saw how apple is profitable from being completely walled in garden.
The current trends and direction of tech is making me want to become Amish…
I’m getting so fucking sick of everything turning into shit, what’s even the point of fucking point anymore? This is borderline kernel level enshitification
The Amish that I grew up near were big into shunning, child marriage, sexual abuse, not talking to the cops, and lots of drugs.
I’m just saying it might be easier to switch to open source or something.
not talking to the cops, and lots of drugs.
TIL I’m 2/5ths Amish
Go outside and touch grass.
Google has been been cracking down on installing .apk’s on your phone for years and they’re getting more and more aggressive about it. It’s not a question of if they’ll disallow it completely, but when.
It’s already extremely tedious. Back in the Android 2.3 days (oh, good old Gingerbread) you could just get an APK and install it, but those times are long gone.
Years ago they threatened the developer of Total Commander to remove his app from the PlayStore unless he patched out an APK install feature, so he was forced to do that.
Now another example: Try to install eBay on a phone that is not passing device integrity. It is not listed on the PlayStore because your device doesn’t pass safety checks. You can grab an APK and install it, but the OS will check if the app has been installed through the PlayStore and if it hasn’t, it will complain and close itself.
GrapheneOS has patched that bullshit out, btw.
And this behaviour happens with all apps where the developer has enabled the “App Integrity” option, which is heavily pushed as a super-great security feature. So developers might just enable that feature, not being fully aware of the implications.
As you can see, it’s one method at a time, slowly but surely, until Google fully controls the ecosystem. The intention behind that is pretty clear: They don’t want people to have AdAway and Revanced, they want money and user data. And they also want you to login to the PlayStore, get hooked on their stupid daily points challenges and spend your hard-earned money on virtual crap.
This is textbook enshittification, it will only get worse from here on.
AdAway can be easily emulated using a DNS server…
Yeah I carry that DNS server around with me in the other pocket /s
Oddly enough your phone is more than powerful enough to do that.
Idk why you’re meming, it’s easy as hell to run it on device, or you can just use dns.adguard.com instead
To be fair, unless you’re using a private, controllable DNS with a frontend interface (like NextDNS, Pihole, etc) – DNS ad blocking is “all or nothing”. Those apps let you control which apps and services and domains come through.
I’m aware, I choose to use the adguard one but I’ve used the on-device ones in the past
So Android is pointless now?
No, really. If I’m gonna be dragged kicking and screaming into the walled garden, why would I go with Google’s joke of an ecosystem instead of much nicer and better integrated Apple garden?I might as well start carrying one of those weird branded ultra-tiny laptops from AliExpress and some used, older iPhone for the 2 apps I need.
Fuck it. Throw out the baby, the bathwater, the bathtub, the whole damn thing. Fuuuuck it.only malware i have read about on android have came from google’s oh so safe store.
Time for a hard fork.
Yeah, need them hardware manufacturers too.
We would have plenty of Linux phones if drivers were open sauce or even just available closed sauce.
It also becomes no different than iPhone, so… what’s keeping me to android if they do this? Or hey, maybe I’ll commit to de-googling. I have CoMaps, I’m planning to setup nextcloud soon… Hell, I don’t even buy anything on Google play anymore since it’s so shit, i have no purchases tying me to the OS. Maybe I’ll buy a cheap old iPhone so I can finally use imessage with everyone that’s been bitching about me and use other tech for everything else.
(I’m not going to iPhone, but the point stands)
I’m wondering why I even need a smartphone at this point. I’m tempted to go back to a flip phone.
I guess the next question is, which of those is actually better? If those collect data too, then how do we get out of this damned mess.
I left iphone because of a walled garden issue, was thinking about working with my parents off of iphone so I can actually assist with them because I’ve been off of it for decades.
Instead may be the other direction because at least iOS has a modicum of privacy by at least telling the US government to make their own back doors instead of just licking the boot like google does. I’m not a fan of apple by any stretch of the imagination, but at this point of the falling apart world fuck it, I gotta figure out what the least evil is, even if it’s only marginal.
I’m not a fan of Apple either (I have mostly Apple stuff except for a Linux gaming machine). But they are the lesser of the two evils. At least in my opinion. Google is openly selling your data and making them richer in the process. At least Apple says they don’t sell your data. I don’t know if they do. But I’d doubt it tbh
The only reason I still have Android is work apps in required to have that won’t work properly without the Play Store. I guess I could carry two phones but I am definitely not that guy.
That is precisely one of my main lines of reasoning; I’ve thought about this for a long, long time, and I’m switching to Apple iPhone. I’m keeping a Oukitel Titan for Android stuff ((Grayjay)). But I’m getting the 17 Extra Pro Max Plus Plus or whatever for a main.
They can’t even handle the apps on their store…
The android dream is over. It was fun while it lasted. My next phone will be linux
Google can get fucked. I feel like there will be a nontrivial market for de-googled or older and unlocked Android phones after this. If they manage to kill off custom roms with their previous AOSP rug pull I’ll go back to using a (subpar) Linux phone or maybe even one of those cheap flip phones.
Don’t worry we can just install Graphene OS on Pixel phones, there is no problem with my plan !
feels funny that you have to buy a phone from google to get around google’s actions…
I’m sure it’s just a fortuitous coincidence and nothing to be worried about
I started joking that my next phone will be a Nokia 3310. I feel more and more each day like that should just be my actual next phone
Funny enough, Nokia started making cheap flip phones and some others in that form factor again. My daughter asked to replace her smartphone with one of the flip phones. It was only $70, so I got her one. It’s build quality is what you would expect, but it works and has GPS at least.
They even actually re-released a version of the 3310 a few years back. I still have my old Garmin knocking about, wonder if it’s got updated maps if I got a model without GPS.
In case you’re curious, the Nokia flip phone I got my daughter is the Nokia 2780 Flip.
It even runs WhatsApp and Signal now, or at least, that was the plan a while back. And it’s only like 60 euros or something. Perfect for multiple day festivals and camping trips at least.
Which model is that exactly? I’d love a “dumb” phone with Signal.
I’m confused. I read an article about the new 3310 getting the ability to install apps, a long time ago. I found an article on how to do so, but it doesn’t look like the 3310 screen in the screenshots but a general android OS. I thought it had a simplified OS, either their own or a stripped down android (unsure) as it has a tiny screen.
It’s the Nokia 3310 4G model according to this article. But it might be a generic article in which they have the phone model automatically generated by the one you search for?
It no longer runs WhatsApp, actually. The new version of the OS (KaiOS which is a fork of the dead Firefox OS) broke compatibility and Meta apparently decided to not bother with supporting it.
There’s more and more people who feel just like you do. I’m so exhausted of all these companies being predatory and anti consumer. I’m the type to stand my ground and abstain or find alternatives, but it feels like there’s 5 people who don’t care and 4 people who will just let it go for every person willing to boycott bullshit.
Yes there are dozens of people who care. The vast majority of people never sideload.
I’m making a statement about companies in general. People are just so willing to bend over and take it. In my mind people used to have more gumption, but I’m probably overestimating how much was individuals vs how the media portrayed things.
Feels like if Upton Sinclair released “the jungle” today we’d all collectively say “oh well, guess we’re eating rats and formaldehyde.”
