Graphene for my Pixel 7 Pro, I guess. I have like 20 F-Droid apps. Google can fuck themselves. The masses won't even notice a difference, sadly.
Update
Okay, I've been doing research instead of just listening to the buzz on Lemmy. Nothing is meaningfully going to change. You are free to use Obtanium or F-Droid to install any app you want, and FOSS developers don't have to do a thing.
There's just a roadblock that's going to be introduced. You have to go through a little wizard that asks you if someone is pressuring you to enable side-loading, and then even when you say "yes, I want to move forward and enable side-loading", you have to wait 24 hours, one time, and never again. And that's only to install new apps. It's not going to affect any ones you already have installed.
The video linked in this FAQ was very clear and demos the process.
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Graphene for my Pixel 7 Pro, I guess. I have like 20 F-Droid apps. Google can fuck themselves. The masses won't even notice a difference, sadly.
Update
Okay, I've been doing research instead of just listening to the buzz on Lemmy. Nothing is meaningfully going to change. You are free to use Obtanium or F-Droid to install any app you want, and FOSS developers don't have to do a thing.
There's just a roadblock that's going to be introduced. You have to go through a little wizard that asks you if someone is pressuring you to enable side-loading, and then even when you say "yes, I want to move forward and enable side-loading", you have to wait 24 hours, one time, and never again. And that's only to install new apps. It's not going to affect any ones you already have installed.
The video linked in this FAQ was very clear and demos the process.
I can't believe the Lemmyverse let me believe that F-Droid and Obtanium were effectively going away for normal Android users, and that I must install something like GrapheneOS. 😑
I still might! Google can suck my asshole, but reinstalling a phone OS is a big deal. Not that it's hard or particularly error prone, but I have to reinstall everything, and set everything back up, because I'm not gonna buy a new phone to put Graphene on it, and then do the standard Android migration process. I would have to wipe my phone and redo everything. That's a chore that I probably won't do if nothing is meaningfully changing for me. I can deal with "the advanced flow".
This guide answers common questions regarding Android developer verification, covering topics like compliance, account types, fees, and app registration processes.
Ok, that makes sense. I'm just surprised I didn't hear about the workaround. No one had mentioned it that I've seen. I really thought I had to switch to Graphene, and I was sad.
F-Droid and Obtanium are going away for normal android users.
It is deliberately difficult, and this whole thing is absolutely about Google making more money by tightening control of the ecosystem, not about security.
Nine steps, 24-hour wait, buried in Developer Options, delivered through a proprietary service that Google can revoke whenever they want. That's not sideloading. That's a deterrence mechanism built to ensure almost nobody completes it. And since it runs through Play Services rather than the OS, Google can tighten or kill it silently
F-Droid and Obtanium are going away for normal android users.
Sure, and normal users haven't even heard of them, so nothing's lost.
It doesn't sound like that website's up to date.
this whole thing is absolutely about Google making more money.
F-Droid has like 4,000 apps on it. Let's say all 4k are made by different developers. The $100 registration fee would net them $400,000. That's a drop in their bucket. That's like 1 second worth of their ad revenue. They would not cause this much of a community uproar for $400k. This is absolutely about preventing scam apps.
What's really happening, I'm guessing, is Android gets a bad rap in other countries because of all the scams and people switch to iPhone. That does a lot more damage to their bottom line.
It's also way too easy for some dumb 70 y/o congressperson or business executive to install spyware on their phone, and they are putting a speed bump in front of that.
I hate Google, but come on. They're not trying to squ
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F-Droid and Obtanium are going away for normal android users.
Sure, and normal users haven't even heard of them, so nothing's lost.
It doesn't sound like that website's up to date.
this whole thing is absolutely about Google making more money.
F-Droid has like 4,000 apps on it. Let's say all 4k are made by different developers. The $100 registration fee would net them $400,000. That's a drop in their bucket. That's like 1 second worth of their ad revenue. They would not cause this much of a community uproar for $400k. This is absolutely about preventing scam apps.
What's really happening, I'm guessing, is Android gets a bad rap in other countries because of all the scams and people switch to iPhone. That does a lot more damage to their bottom line.
It's also way too easy for some dumb 70 y/o congressperson or business executive to install spyware on their phone, and they are putting a speed bump in front of that.
I hate Google, but come on. They're not trying to squeeze pennies out of open source developers. The fee is another speed bump to stop scammers from simply making another free developer account to spread they're malware after they get banned.
Esta entrada fue editada (martes, 8 de septiembre de 2026, 21:58)
Google absolutely aren't trying to make money from developer registrations, that's just removing administrative burden.
They're trying to make money from closing the platform. Google have been gradually working over the last few years to close Android, and this is just another step. It definitely won't be the last. They have made it much more difficult to get up to date source of AOSP security fixes. Commit history is squashed. Play Integrity API changes are a ruse to secure the platform, that just happens to lock apps out of GrapheneOS, the most secure Android variant.
Google realise that there is a real threat from an open Android platforms giving users a choice and that will eat their profit margins.
Believe whatever you want, but this is a quote from Google:
Sideloading is fundamental to Android, and it's not going anywhere. Our new developer identity requirements are designed to protect users and developers from bad actors, not to limit choice.
Sorry for my snark, if you saw it before I deleted it. I thought you had replied to a more recent comment from me where I included the instructions and the video link.
I understand you now, and no, I don't necessarily trust Google when they say side loading is never going to go away, but it's not going away right now.
And yet certain people on Lemmy are still saying it's going away very soon, and downvote me when I say it's not.
Esta entrada fue editada (jueves, 10 de septiembre de 2026, 21:22)
Yeah, I'm also planning to switch to PostmarketOS. I was running Ubuntu Touch when my carrier changed things to where my phone didn't work as a phone without VoLTE. Ubuntu Touch doesn't support VoLTE on my Pixel 3a so I reluctantly switched to stock.
It wasn't until after I switched to stock firmware that I found out that PostmarketOS has experimental support for VoLTE on my device. I'm hoping "experimental" is good enough for my purposes, but we'll see when I get around to doing it.
Esta entrada fue editada (martes, 8 de septiembre de 2026, 0:58)
Yup, also not only unlockable but relockable (some are only the former as I understand), relocking is important for the new image's security and may enable more apps to work.
Esta entrada fue editada (martes, 8 de septiembre de 2026, 2:12)
The only thing it might affect is my favorite f-droid music app. I'm leaning away from the Alphabet ecosystem for other uses though - Joplin instead of Keep for note-taking, Organic Maps instead of Gmaps for nav, local LibreOffice files instead of Workspace apps when online collab isn't critical.
Nobody has quite stepped up to compete with G Sheets. Even Excel online is a distant runner-up. Proton is working on challenging Alphabet's Drive/Docs/Sheets hegemony but right now it's painfully basic.
I've been using Lineage with no Google Play services for years, so unless the app developers decide to stop updating their apps, I'll be alright. But in the future, I fully intend to switch to post-market OS when I purchase my next phone.
Only if it's paired with countries moving away from requiring the big services to use government or banking services. Oughta be a law that banks and government institutions must provide access via other OSs and browsers.
TL;DR: it will get harder to distribute android apps to the majority of the users. You can still do whatever you want with your device, for now, if you go through all the new extra steps.
I installed e/os/ on my Fairphone 6 and it is missing a lot of Android stuff that I use:
NFC payments
Android Auto integration
The IKEA home app won't run
Okay, it's not that much. 😄
Still, I don't feel like I can ditch my Android phone.
My current plan is to see how the Mecha Comet fares, and maybe use it for most things, but keep an Android phone for things that require submission to the Tech Gods of the West.
But I hate how many notifications Android Auto creates and how many Google apps you have to install to get it to work. I have it set up under separate user on Graphene OS not to pollute my main profile.
What I really want is my bank to support NFC payments on my phone. They see the details of my purchase anyway!
My bank used to do this, but migrated to Google Wallet, which sucks. I think that is the cheapest option for banks, so I would be surprised if any choose to roll their own.
Depending on the financial institution, that sort of app function would be outsourced to a third party anyhow. Payment networks are semi-separate from banks/financial institutions, and they're generally involved in digital wallets. And those payment networks are separate -- like how we recently saw the big banks sell Moneris, a payment network, off to US private equity. Or how Interac isn't a 'bank'. Even something like an ATM is a partnership between banks and payment networks -- you can see the payment networks ATMs are a part of on the decals on the ATM, which generally need to match the decals on your card. Those are the payment networks the banks semi-outsourced / partnered with for facilitating ATM activities. The bank buys/owns the ATM (typically), and then has an agreement in place with those networks in regards to payments / transactions, and a defined data exchange between those networks and the banks systems for settlements.
Migrations to google wallet are generally cheaper than getting that sort of feature with one of the older style payment networks, you're righ
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Depending on the financial institution, that sort of app function would be outsourced to a third party anyhow. Payment networks are semi-separate from banks/financial institutions, and they're generally involved in digital wallets. And those payment networks are separate -- like how we recently saw the big banks sell Moneris, a payment network, off to US private equity. Or how Interac isn't a 'bank'. Even something like an ATM is a partnership between banks and payment networks -- you can see the payment networks ATMs are a part of on the decals on the ATM, which generally need to match the decals on your card. Those are the payment networks the banks semi-outsourced / partnered with for facilitating ATM activities. The bank buys/owns the ATM (typically), and then has an agreement in place with those networks in regards to payments / transactions, and a defined data exchange between those networks and the banks systems for settlements.
Migrations to google wallet are generally cheaper than getting that sort of feature with one of the older style payment networks, you're right about that. Cheaper by a fairly large margin.
One point I was making though, is that there are likely more companies 'seeing' the details of your purchase than you may realize. And many of those companies have significant ties to the USA, and are reliant on USA products/services. Even "local community credit unions" tend to use one of two networks, one of which has all its support coming out of the USA. Our government / regulators have made no movement to detangle any of that, and are, in fact, pushing more and more of your financial industry into offshoring services to the USA. Our government/Carney are all "Elbows up!" in the media, but "Pants Down!" in practice.
Those still touch payment networks. Debit cards are basically cards from Payment networks that are partnered with Banks/Credit Unions. PSP/DC Payments is an example of a payment network, Everlink, Interac, Exchange, Cirrus, etc. Seeing as Carney/Canada are ok selling off those payment networks to US Private Equity, you're going to always be somewhat dependent at this point on US services. Like I'd bet you that most of Interac, even though it's "Canadian", is running in US Cloud platforms like Azure and AWS, meaning it's 'realistically' fair game for US AI harvesting etc. Canadian businesses that try to pretend they're 'good' on this front will almost always cite privacy legislation compliance, to things like "Data residency" -- pretending as though just because a copy of the data is stored in Canada, that it isn't exposed/leveraged/dependent on US/foreign services.
None of that matters since in the Netherlands many shops are card only. I need to pay somehow... I'd rather not have all payments be controlled by two companies (Apple and Google). Getting off of US hardware is a laudable goal, but not as important as breaking monopoly power.
Ah, then your card payments may also be generally 'good' for all I know, I'm not too familiar with how outsourced many European countries are in this regard.
The majority of people will stick on whatever the companies give us. But at least Linux is having a nice run on desktop and laptop infrastructure thanks to steam being neat and Windows being garbage
The package (com.google.android.verifier) will be introduced on devices running Android 8 or higher, granting Google the ability to block the installation of unverified apps.
I think this will be the first and last time I got a flagship model. I'm going back to upper-middle range Samsungs, that still have the headphone jack. My 10+ years old ThinkPad is much better to use than my S23 Ultra, the only thing that is locked down is the WLAN card slot (really need to do that hack, I already bought the necessary tools for it).
I'm assuming, then, though, that you do have a computer, in order to receive emails and such. Too much in society is attached to having other stuff: mailing address, email, phone number, two factor authentication, running privacy violating software on Windows, etc...
If you've been doing it since the 80s, have there been eras that have really challenged your desire or whatever to not have a mobile phone?
Do you think life would be much easier if you did have a mobile phone?
Why do you not have a mobile phone?
Do you think other or younger people should follow your lead?
I'm so curious about your story. I've thought about it many times, and as much as I think the technology is super cool and amazing, I also really wish it wasn't all but legally required to participate in so many aspects of society. It makes me wonder where you're from and where you live and if you're American or not.
I'm assuming, then, though, that you do have a computer, in order to receive emails and such.
You assume correctly. My computer (which is not a laptop btw) is indispensable. I have a strong desire to keep my digital life all in one spot and a PC is my best option, since I also like to make software and play video games.
If you've been doing it since the 80s, have there been eras that have really challenged your desire or whatever to not have a mobile phone?
I have never once looked at a smartphone and thought "man, I wish I could do that." I'll admit, once in a while I do daydream about how easy they make it to send and receive money, but that's about it. I don't make or spend enough of it for it to be a huge concern.
Do you think life would be much easier if you did have a mobile phone?
Believe it or not, it has gotten slightly easier to live without a smartphone in recent years. Medical providers started providing online portals where you can do everything. In years past, they
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I'm assuming, then, though, that you do have a computer, in order to receive emails and such.
You assume correctly. My computer (which is not a laptop btw) is indispensable. I have a strong desire to keep my digital life all in one spot and a PC is my best option, since I also like to make software and play video games.
If you've been doing it since the 80s, have there been eras that have really challenged your desire or whatever to not have a mobile phone?
I have never once looked at a smartphone and thought "man, I wish I could do that." I'll admit, once in a while I do daydream about how easy they make it to send and receive money, but that's about it. I don't make or spend enough of it for it to be a huge concern.
Do you think life would be much easier if you did have a mobile phone?
Believe it or not, it has gotten slightly easier to live without a smartphone in recent years. Medical providers started providing online portals where you can do everything. In years past, they were pretty dogmatic about doing everything over the phone.
It helps a lot that I live in a very rural area full of boomers (in America, yes). People here still go to the bank in person, restaurants have paper menus, people still use paper atlases to get around, etc. So I haven't run into any barriers to conducting life business without a phone.
Why do you not have a mobile phone?
They simply never interested me when they started becoming popular while I was in college. I grew up in a time when you left the house in the morning, and no one knew where you were or what you were doing until you told them when you got home in the evening. I like that, so I keep doing it.
Do you think other or younger people should follow your lead?
I think they should do it if they want to, and fight to keep it possible. And always remember: if someone tries to tell you you can't do something without a phone, they're just bluffing. Everything is negotiable.
Wow, thank you for taking the time to give such thoughtful answers.
I have one more slightly more complex question, though, since I run into it occasionally and absolutely abhor it: do you ever have to use a scan-only pay-to-park or anything like that? You said you live in a rural area that has paper/physical things, still - does that imply that you never encounter these digital-only things? Or that maybe you do and just choose not to engage with them? If you don't, what would you do if you did?
For example, you go into town and the available parking at a restaurant is pay to park, and there is no physical meter, only a scannable code on the signs everywhere, telling you you scan it and pay with an account at a website or through their app.
A real parking garage I often really visit has a system that scans your license plate on entry. Then on exit, there is no booth anymore, but another camera that scans your plate at the exit. If you don't have an account or haven't paid, the bar blocking your way doesn't lift. The system is designed to be interactionle
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Wow, thank you for taking the time to give such thoughtful answers.
I have one more slightly more complex question, though, since I run into it occasionally and absolutely abhor it: do you ever have to use a scan-only pay-to-park or anything like that? You said you live in a rural area that has paper/physical things, still - does that imply that you never encounter these digital-only things? Or that maybe you do and just choose not to engage with them? If you don't, what would you do if you did?
For example, you go into town and the available parking at a restaurant is pay to park, and there is no physical meter, only a scannable code on the signs everywhere, telling you you scan it and pay with an account at a website or through their app.
A real parking garage I often really visit has a system that scans your license plate on entry. Then on exit, there is no booth anymore, but another camera that scans your plate at the exit. If you don't have an account or haven't paid, the bar blocking your way doesn't lift. The system is designed to be interactionless, but only as long as you've made an account with a valid payment option on it.
Esta entrada fue editada (jueves, 10 de septiembre de 2026, 14:39)
do you ever have to use a scan-only pay-to-park or anything like that? You said you live in a rural area that has paper/physical things, still - does that imply that you never encounter these digital-only things? Or that maybe you do and just choose not to engage with them? If you don't, what would you do if you did?
I have not encountered anything like that myself. And frankly, I stay as far away as I can from big cities because of reading stuff like this. That is pure cancer. If I ran into something like that with no alternative, I would definitely give somebody a piece of my mind over it. Maybe not everything is negotiable in the moment after all.
A wall parking garage I often really visit has a system that scans your license plate on entry. Then on exit, there is no booth anymore, but another camera that scans your plate at the exit. If you don't have an account or haven't paid, the bar blocking your way doesn't lift. The system is designed to be interactionless, but only as long as you've made an account with a valid payment opti
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do you ever have to use a scan-only pay-to-park or anything like that? You said you live in a rural area that has paper/physical things, still - does that imply that you never encounter these digital-only things? Or that maybe you do and just choose not to engage with them? If you don't, what would you do if you did?
I have not encountered anything like that myself. And frankly, I stay as far away as I can from big cities because of reading stuff like this. That is pure cancer. If I ran into something like that with no alternative, I would definitely give somebody a piece of my mind over it. Maybe not everything is negotiable in the moment after all.
A wall parking garage I often really visit has a system that scans your license plate on entry. Then on exit, there is no booth anymore, but another camera that scans your plate at the exit. If you don't have an account or haven't paid, the bar blocking your way doesn't lift. The system is designed to be interactionless, but only as long as you've made an account with a valid payment option on it.
This makes no sense to me. how are you even supposed to know this the first time you use it? So they just trap people inside with no recourse? That's 'calling the cops for false imprisonment' territory.
I'm definitely hoping I die before bullshit like this catches up to me.
Hahaha there are a bunch of big colorful signs at the entrance, but yeah, you are correct, it is cancerous bullshit. That parking garage constantly has issues with lines of people getting stuck and having to wait.
It's also a new system, as of maybe 2023, which was bad enough, being automated and only accepting card, before.
Another bad detail to ruin your day is that it's at a hospital and is basically the only parking available.
I too have been Graphene'd up for years. I'm slowly working on ditching the last few bits of Google, just about the only thing left is an old gmail that's tied to a bunch of accounts, which I might keep around as a forwarding thing for a little while yet.
I really want to try GrapheneOS when I'm able to get a new phone to put it on. I was thinking I'd have to find alternatives to banking since apparently a lot of bank apps have issues with Graphene for some reason. But according to this site, my bank supports Graphene OS!
Maintained Compatibility List for International Banking Apps
This list includes banking apps that have been tested, submitted, reviewed, and verified as compatible.
All my banking apps work fine, It's airline apps that get a bit weird and I've had to use compatibility mode settings to get the airline apps to launch properly.
If there’s at least compatibility modes, that’s even more encouraging. I don’t travel enough for the airline stuff to be an issue, so i could live with that.
Ouch. I once crowdfunded a phone that was compatible with Ubuntu Touch and it came out two years late, downgraded, and mine didn't even work. It sounds like yours might at least have resale value.
I own a Fairphone, so switching to graphene would be trivial. However, I think I will stick with the convoluted workaround they will implement. At least until I get tired of it.
I'm still on my Fold6. I got a Pixel Pro Fold to use Graphene and it was great for a while, but the device itself kinda fell apart, so I'm back on the Fold6.
A folding Linux phone would be really cool, and also $3000.
I recently learned Samsung makes a durable phone with a removable battery, and it has no lineage os support. So IDK, I'll troll around eBay for a good deal on a used phone I guess. Sooner than later this phone is dying.
I'm gonna split my phone from my smart device entirely. Buying a Maker 2 phone when it drops tomorrow. Maybe this won't work out as well as I'd hoped... but it will actually cost me about the same for 2 lines cuz I'm already overpaying on my regular plan.
Esta entrada fue editada (miércoles, 9 de septiembre de 2026, 23:24)
I'll continue using my phone until it stops working. Then I'll go with a feature phone, maybe something rubbing Kaios because WhatsApp is a must where i live. Can't say i use my phone for anything productive to warrant having one, but since i already do...
We already have the developer option to allow apps not verified by Google. You can do the 24hr wait now to preemptively enable unverified apps, and then nothing will change whenever they choose to actually start enforcing signatures. I've already done it and although a bit annoying it's far from enough a roadblock for me to get rid of my phone. We need better Linux phones, or banking apps that can actually work on graphene without the constant cat and mouse game of passing play integrity in the Google space. Even if we had a great Linux phone many mobile websites just try to redirect you to their app rather than build a real mobile website, so it would be tedious to use for many functions. Graphene is great, but the number of Android apps that refuse to run without play integrity passing is far too high for me to risk buying a compatible phone and going all in on it. Perhaps the new Motorola partnership will be able to help this in some way, but I won't believe it until I see it.
I am running LineageOS with MicroG for now but I still feel im not degoogled enough lol. Relying on that horrendous company in anyway (even if it is to maintain and contribute to the AOSP) still makes me feel a bit sick. So I have a second phone (FP6) Running pmos thanks to @TheMightyCat@ani.social which im waiting for it to become stable enough to daily drive and then ill be satisfied.
Sunshine
in reply to Sunshine • • •like this
tiina85 likes this.
Quibblekrust
in reply to Sunshine • • •Graphene for my Pixel 7 Pro, I guess. I have like 20 F-Droid apps. Google can fuck themselves. The masses won't even notice a difference, sadly.
Update
Okay, I've been doing research instead of just listening to the buzz on Lemmy. Nothing is meaningfully going to change. You are free to use Obtanium or F-Droid to install any app you want, and FOSS developers don't have to do a thing.
There's just a roadblock that's going to be introduced. You have to go through a little wizard that asks you if someone is pressuring you to enable side-loading, and then even when you say "yes, I want to move forward and enable side-loading", you have to wait 24 hours, one time, and never again. And that's only to install new apps. It's not going to affect any ones you already have installed.
developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides/faq#advanced-flow
The video linked in this FAQ was very clear and demos the process.
... Mostrar másGraphene for my Pixel 7 Pro, I guess. I have like 20 F-Droid apps. Google can fuck themselves. The masses won't even notice a difference, sadly.
Update
Okay, I've been doing research instead of just listening to the buzz on Lemmy. Nothing is meaningfully going to change. You are free to use Obtanium or F-Droid to install any app you want, and FOSS developers don't have to do a thing.
There's just a roadblock that's going to be introduced. You have to go through a little wizard that asks you if someone is pressuring you to enable side-loading, and then even when you say "yes, I want to move forward and enable side-loading", you have to wait 24 hours, one time, and never again. And that's only to install new apps. It's not going to affect any ones you already have installed.
developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides/faq#advanced-flow
The video linked in this FAQ was very clear and demos the process.
I can't believe the Lemmyverse let me believe that F-Droid and Obtanium were effectively going away for normal Android users, and that I must install something like GrapheneOS. 😑
I still might! Google can suck my asshole, but reinstalling a phone OS is a big deal. Not that it's hard or particularly error prone, but I have to reinstall everything, and set everything back up, because I'm not gonna buy a new phone to put Graphene on it, and then do the standard Android migration process. I would have to wipe my phone and redo everything. That's a chore that I probably won't do if nothing is meaningfully changing for me. I can deal with "the advanced flow".
Frequently asked questions | Android developer verification | Android Developers
Android DevelopersPrinz Kasper
in reply to Quibblekrust • • •I mean, that was Google's original plan, until the backlash led them to introduce this option for "advanced users"
Quibblekrust
in reply to Prinz Kasper • • •EvenOdds
in reply to Quibblekrust • • •F-Droid and Obtanium are going away for normal android users.
It is deliberately difficult, and this whole thing is absolutely about Google making more money by tightening control of the ecosystem, not about security.
A nice summary from keepandroidopen.org/
Keep Android Open
keepandroidopen.orgQuibblekrust
in reply to EvenOdds • • •Sure, and normal users haven't even heard of them, so nothing's lost.
It doesn't sound like that website's up to date.
F-Droid has like 4,000 apps on it. Let's say all 4k are made by different developers. The $100 registration fee would net them $400,000. That's a drop in their bucket. That's like 1 second worth of their ad revenue. They would not cause this much of a community uproar for $400k. This is absolutely about preventing scam apps.
What's really happening, I'm guessing, is Android gets a bad rap in other countries because of all the scams and people switch to iPhone. That does a lot more damage to their bottom line.
It's also way too easy for some dumb 70 y/o congressperson or business executive to install spyware on their phone, and they are putting a speed bump in front of that.
I hate Google, but come on. They're not trying to squ
... Mostrar másSure, and normal users haven't even heard of them, so nothing's lost.
It doesn't sound like that website's up to date.
F-Droid has like 4,000 apps on it. Let's say all 4k are made by different developers. The $100 registration fee would net them $400,000. That's a drop in their bucket. That's like 1 second worth of their ad revenue. They would not cause this much of a community uproar for $400k. This is absolutely about preventing scam apps.
What's really happening, I'm guessing, is Android gets a bad rap in other countries because of all the scams and people switch to iPhone. That does a lot more damage to their bottom line.
It's also way too easy for some dumb 70 y/o congressperson or business executive to install spyware on their phone, and they are putting a speed bump in front of that.
I hate Google, but come on. They're not trying to squeeze pennies out of open source developers. The fee is another speed bump to stop scammers from simply making another free developer account to spread they're malware after they get banned.
masterofn001
in reply to Quibblekrust • • •Fdroid is a far more secure and reputable store than Play.
Google hosts and distributes more malware than anyone.
EvenOdds
in reply to Quibblekrust • • •That site is absolutely up to date.
Google absolutely aren't trying to make money from developer registrations, that's just removing administrative burden.
They're trying to make money from closing the platform. Google have been gradually working over the last few years to close Android, and this is just another step. It definitely won't be the last. They have made it much more difficult to get up to date source of AOSP security fixes. Commit history is squashed. Play Integrity API changes are a ruse to secure the platform, that just happens to lock apps out of GrapheneOS, the most secure Android variant.
Google realise that there is a real threat from an open Android platforms giving users a choice and that will eat their profit margins.
Linux Phones reshared this.
Quibblekrust
in reply to EvenOdds • • •Believe whatever you want, but this is a quote from Google:
EvenOdds
in reply to Quibblekrust • • •And you really think Google are the pinnacle of honesty and you can take their word for everything?
They tried to block side loading, then relented after enormous pressure, and now are using corporate spin to make it sound like they care.
Quibblekrust
in reply to EvenOdds • • •Sorry for my snark, if you saw it before I deleted it. I thought you had replied to a more recent comment from me where I included the instructions and the video link.
I understand you now, and no, I don't necessarily trust Google when they say side loading is never going to go away, but it's not going away right now.
And yet certain people on Lemmy are still saying it's going away very soon, and downvote me when I say it's not.
poVoq
in reply to Sunshine • • •Sunshine (she/her)
in reply to poVoq • • •poVoq
in reply to Sunshine (she/her) • • •TootSweet
in reply to poVoq • • •Yeah, I'm also planning to switch to PostmarketOS. I was running Ubuntu Touch when my carrier changed things to where my phone didn't work as a phone without VoLTE. Ubuntu Touch doesn't support VoLTE on my Pixel 3a so I reluctantly switched to stock.
It wasn't until after I switched to stock firmware that I found out that PostmarketOS has experimental support for VoLTE on my device. I'm hoping "experimental" is good enough for my purposes, but we'll see when I get around to doing it.
Carlos Solís
in reply to Sunshine • •Linux Phones reshared this.
Sunshine (she/her)
in reply to Carlos Solís • • •like this
Carlos Solís y dandi8 like this.
MalReynolds
in reply to Sunshine (she/her) • • •Sunshine
in reply to MalReynolds • • •JakenVeina
in reply to Sunshine • • •modernangel
in reply to Sunshine • • •The only thing it might affect is my favorite f-droid music app. I'm leaning away from the Alphabet ecosystem for other uses though - Joplin instead of Keep for note-taking, Organic Maps instead of Gmaps for nav, local LibreOffice files instead of Workspace apps when online collab isn't critical.
Nobody has quite stepped up to compete with G Sheets. Even Excel online is a distant runner-up. Proton is working on challenging Alphabet's Drive/Docs/Sheets hegemony but right now it's painfully basic.
QuickSuccess
in reply to modernangel • • •Is that better than OsmAnd?
WalrusDragonOnABike [they/them]
in reply to Sunshine • • •shortwavesurfer
in reply to Sunshine • • •mesa
in reply to Sunshine • • •huey_m
in reply to mesa • • •Fluffy Kitty Cat
in reply to huey_m • • •DeadEndLink
in reply to Fluffy Kitty Cat • • •Pope-King Joe
in reply to Sunshine • • •tehmics
in reply to Sunshine • • •Obituarykidney
in reply to Sunshine • • •like this
mrmaplebar likes this.
matsdis
in reply to Obituarykidney • • •See: keepandroidopen.org/
TL;DR: it will get harder to distribute android apps to the majority of the users. You can still do whatever you want with your device, for now, if you go through all the new extra steps.
Keep Android Open
keepandroidopen.orgneo2478
in reply to Sunshine • • •NotEasyBeingGreen
in reply to neo2478 • • •I installed e/os/ on my Fairphone 6 and it is missing a lot of Android stuff that I use:
Okay, it's not that much. 😄
Still, I don't feel like I can ditch my Android phone.
My current plan is to see how the Mecha Comet fares, and maybe use it for most things, but keep an Android phone for things that require submission to the Tech Gods of the West.
ExLisper
in reply to NotEasyBeingGreen • • •doc.e.foundation/os/how-to/android-auto/
But I hate how many notifications Android Auto creates and how many Google apps you have to install to get it to work. I have it set up under separate user on Graphene OS not to pollute my main profile.
How to setup Android Auto with /e/OS?
/e/OS documentationNotEasyBeingGreen
in reply to ExLisper • • •neo2478
in reply to NotEasyBeingGreen • • •neo2478
in reply to NotEasyBeingGreen • • •NotEasyBeingGreen
in reply to neo2478 • • •What I really want is my bank to support NFC payments on my phone. They see the details of my purchase anyway!
My bank used to do this, but migrated to Google Wallet, which sucks. I think that is the cheapest option for banks, so I would be surprised if any choose to roll their own.
wampus
in reply to NotEasyBeingGreen • • •Depending on the financial institution, that sort of app function would be outsourced to a third party anyhow. Payment networks are semi-separate from banks/financial institutions, and they're generally involved in digital wallets. And those payment networks are separate -- like how we recently saw the big banks sell Moneris, a payment network, off to US private equity. Or how Interac isn't a 'bank'. Even something like an ATM is a partnership between banks and payment networks -- you can see the payment networks ATMs are a part of on the decals on the ATM, which generally need to match the decals on your card. Those are the payment networks the banks semi-outsourced / partnered with for facilitating ATM activities. The bank buys/owns the ATM (typically), and then has an agreement in place with those networks in regards to payments / transactions, and a defined data exchange between those networks and the banks systems for settlements.
Migrations to google wallet are generally cheaper than getting that sort of feature with one of the older style payment networks, you're righ
... Mostrar másDepending on the financial institution, that sort of app function would be outsourced to a third party anyhow. Payment networks are semi-separate from banks/financial institutions, and they're generally involved in digital wallets. And those payment networks are separate -- like how we recently saw the big banks sell Moneris, a payment network, off to US private equity. Or how Interac isn't a 'bank'. Even something like an ATM is a partnership between banks and payment networks -- you can see the payment networks ATMs are a part of on the decals on the ATM, which generally need to match the decals on your card. Those are the payment networks the banks semi-outsourced / partnered with for facilitating ATM activities. The bank buys/owns the ATM (typically), and then has an agreement in place with those networks in regards to payments / transactions, and a defined data exchange between those networks and the banks systems for settlements.
Migrations to google wallet are generally cheaper than getting that sort of feature with one of the older style payment networks, you're right about that. Cheaper by a fairly large margin.
One point I was making though, is that there are likely more companies 'seeing' the details of your purchase than you may realize. And many of those companies have significant ties to the USA, and are reliant on USA products/services. Even "local community credit unions" tend to use one of two networks, one of which has all its support coming out of the USA. Our government / regulators have made no movement to detangle any of that, and are, in fact, pushing more and more of your financial industry into offshoring services to the USA. Our government/Carney are all "Elbows up!" in the media, but "Pants Down!" in practice.
NotEasyBeingGreen
in reply to wampus • • •wampus
in reply to NotEasyBeingGreen • • •NotEasyBeingGreen
in reply to wampus • • •wampus
in reply to NotEasyBeingGreen • • •BurgerBaron
in reply to Sunshine • • •I switched to GrapheneOS soon after the Pixel 8 came out, so ~2.5 years ago. DeGoogled last year. DeAmerican'd as much as possible this year.
I'm hoping Android getting locked down will motivate more people to work on Linux for mobile devices.
forkDestroyer
in reply to BurgerBaron • • •bad1080
in reply to Sunshine • • •ArmchairAce1944
in reply to Sunshine • • •Alavi
in reply to Sunshine • • •snoons
in reply to Sunshine • • •1337ESTbun
in reply to Sunshine • • •this phone probably has at least 10 CVE's I'm sure of it
Sunshine
in reply to 1337ESTbun • • •doingthestuff
in reply to Sunshine • • •Man I wish we could all agree to use the most superior date format:
YYYY MM DD
Bahnd Rollard
in reply to doingthestuff • • •ILikeBoobies
in reply to doingthestuff • • •corsicanguppy
in reply to ILikeBoobies • • •ILikeBoobies
in reply to corsicanguppy • • •It's relevant for OP being Canadian. The requested standard is what they would use.
Though the way they wrote it is conventional in Quebec.
Beangut
in reply to Sunshine • • •Linux Phones reshared this.
winkerjadams
in reply to Beangut • • •HuePony
in reply to Sunshine • • •dubs
in reply to Sunshine • • •Nik282000
in reply to Sunshine • • •melsaskca
in reply to Sunshine • • •Linux Phones reshared this.
corsicanguppy
in reply to melsaskca • • •melsaskca
in reply to corsicanguppy • • •ZILtoid1991
in reply to Sunshine • • •chunes
in reply to Sunshine • • •SCmSTR
in reply to chunes • • •I'm assuming, then, though, that you do have a computer, in order to receive emails and such. Too much in society is attached to having other stuff: mailing address, email, phone number, two factor authentication, running privacy violating software on Windows, etc...
If you've been doing it since the 80s, have there been eras that have really challenged your desire or whatever to not have a mobile phone?
Do you think life would be much easier if you did have a mobile phone?
Why do you not have a mobile phone?
Do you think other or younger people should follow your lead?
I'm so curious about your story. I've thought about it many times, and as much as I think the technology is super cool and amazing, I also really wish it wasn't all but legally required to participate in so many aspects of society. It makes me wonder where you're from and where you live and if you're American or not.
AdolfSchmitler
in reply to SCmSTR • • •like this
falseprophet likes this.
SCmSTR
in reply to AdolfSchmitler • • •RIGHT?!
Like, I am perpetually curious and interested in knowing more about other people, especially those older than me.
chunes
in reply to SCmSTR • • •You assume correctly. My computer (which is not a laptop btw) is indispensable. I have a strong desire to keep my digital life all in one spot and a PC is my best option, since I also like to make software and play video games.
I have never once looked at a smartphone and thought "man, I wish I could do that." I'll admit, once in a while I do daydream about how easy they make it to send and receive money, but that's about it. I don't make or spend enough of it for it to be a huge concern.
... Mostrar másBelieve it or not, it has gotten slightly easier to live without a smartphone in recent years. Medical providers started providing online portals where you can do everything. In years past, they
You assume correctly. My computer (which is not a laptop btw) is indispensable. I have a strong desire to keep my digital life all in one spot and a PC is my best option, since I also like to make software and play video games.
I have never once looked at a smartphone and thought "man, I wish I could do that." I'll admit, once in a while I do daydream about how easy they make it to send and receive money, but that's about it. I don't make or spend enough of it for it to be a huge concern.
Believe it or not, it has gotten slightly easier to live without a smartphone in recent years. Medical providers started providing online portals where you can do everything. In years past, they were pretty dogmatic about doing everything over the phone.
It helps a lot that I live in a very rural area full of boomers (in America, yes). People here still go to the bank in person, restaurants have paper menus, people still use paper atlases to get around, etc. So I haven't run into any barriers to conducting life business without a phone.
They simply never interested me when they started becoming popular while I was in college. I grew up in a time when you left the house in the morning, and no one knew where you were or what you were doing until you told them when you got home in the evening. I like that, so I keep doing it.
I think they should do it if they want to, and fight to keep it possible. And always remember: if someone tries to tell you you can't do something without a phone, they're just bluffing. Everything is negotiable.
SCmSTR
in reply to chunes • • •Wow, thank you for taking the time to give such thoughtful answers.
I have one more slightly more complex question, though, since I run into it occasionally and absolutely abhor it: do you ever have to use a scan-only pay-to-park or anything like that? You said you live in a rural area that has paper/physical things, still - does that imply that you never encounter these digital-only things? Or that maybe you do and just choose not to engage with them? If you don't, what would you do if you did?
For example, you go into town and the available parking at a restaurant is pay to park, and there is no physical meter, only a scannable code on the signs everywhere, telling you you scan it and pay with an account at a website or through their app.
A real parking garage I often really visit has a system that scans your license plate on entry. Then on exit, there is no booth anymore, but another camera that scans your plate at the exit. If you don't have an account or haven't paid, the bar blocking your way doesn't lift. The system is designed to be interactionle
... Mostrar másWow, thank you for taking the time to give such thoughtful answers.
I have one more slightly more complex question, though, since I run into it occasionally and absolutely abhor it: do you ever have to use a scan-only pay-to-park or anything like that? You said you live in a rural area that has paper/physical things, still - does that imply that you never encounter these digital-only things? Or that maybe you do and just choose not to engage with them? If you don't, what would you do if you did?
For example, you go into town and the available parking at a restaurant is pay to park, and there is no physical meter, only a scannable code on the signs everywhere, telling you you scan it and pay with an account at a website or through their app.
A real parking garage I often really visit has a system that scans your license plate on entry. Then on exit, there is no booth anymore, but another camera that scans your plate at the exit. If you don't have an account or haven't paid, the bar blocking your way doesn't lift. The system is designed to be interactionless, but only as long as you've made an account with a valid payment option on it.
chunes
in reply to SCmSTR • • •
... Mostrar másI have not encountered anything like that myself. And frankly, I stay as far away as I can from big cities because of reading stuff like this. That is pure cancer. If I ran into something like that with no alternative, I would definitely give somebody a piece of my mind over it. Maybe not everything is negotiable in the moment after all.
I have not encountered anything like that myself. And frankly, I stay as far away as I can from big cities because of reading stuff like this. That is pure cancer. If I ran into something like that with no alternative, I would definitely give somebody a piece of my mind over it. Maybe not everything is negotiable in the moment after all.
This makes no sense to me. how are you even supposed to know this the first time you use it? So they just trap people inside with no recourse? That's 'calling the cops for false imprisonment' territory.
I'm definitely hoping I die before bullshit like this catches up to me.
Linux Phones reshared this.
SCmSTR
in reply to chunes • • •Hahaha there are a bunch of big colorful signs at the entrance, but yeah, you are correct, it is cancerous bullshit. That parking garage constantly has issues with lines of people getting stuck and having to wait.
It's also a new system, as of maybe 2023, which was bad enough, being automated and only accepting card, before.
Another bad detail to ruin your day is that it's at a hospital and is basically the only parking available.
BCsven
in reply to Sunshine • • •Linux Phones reshared this.
corsicanguppy
in reply to BCsven • • •BCsven
in reply to corsicanguppy • • •Random Dent
in reply to BCsven • • •Confused_Emus
in reply to BCsven • • •Banking Applications Compatibility with GrapheneOS
akc3n, Tommy, spring-onion (PrivSec - A practical approach to Privacy and Security)BCsven
in reply to Confused_Emus • • •Confused_Emus
in reply to BCsven • • •spacegoat
in reply to Sunshine • • •corsicanguppy
in reply to spacegoat • • •like this
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orenj [he/they]
in reply to Sunshine • • •Bilb!
in reply to orenj [he/they] • • •Smaile
in reply to Sunshine • • •SCmSTR
in reply to Sunshine • • •CumbrianCucumber
in reply to Sunshine • • •flightyhobler
in reply to Sunshine • • •Linux Phones reshared this.
CanadianCorhen
in reply to Sunshine • • •Bilb!
in reply to CanadianCorhen • • •I'm still on my Fold6. I got a Pixel Pro Fold to use Graphene and it was great for a while, but the device itself kinda fell apart, so I'm back on the Fold6.
A folding Linux phone would be really cool, and also $3000.
CanadianCorhen
in reply to Bilb! • • •yea
I love my fold since i play OSRS for a couple hours a day, and can watch youtube on half the screen while still having a decent sized screen.
Its also great professionally, since i can call up blueprints and not have them postage stamp sized.
Washedupcynic
in reply to Sunshine • • •Canaconda
in reply to Washedupcynic • • •LaunchesKayaks
in reply to Sunshine • • •greedytacothief
in reply to Sunshine • • •Canaconda
in reply to greedytacothief • • •Jaysyn
in reply to Sunshine • • •mofongo
in reply to Sunshine • • •DeadEndLink
in reply to Sunshine • • •COASTER1921
in reply to Sunshine • • •tom
in reply to Sunshine • • •Linux Phones reshared this.