Google: 'Your $1000 phone needs our permission to install apps now'". Android users are screwed - Louis Rossmann
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Waydroid works really well to run
Android apps on mobile Linux, even for games. Doesn't help for banking apps though as they'll usually lock you out due to not passing Google safety checks.I'll give it a try. I only have like two Android apps I really do need. And what do I have to lose but my shackles, right?
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How does this affect "second-party" apps (i.e. apps you have created yourself)? Are you still allowed to go to Android studio, make an APK, transfer it to your own phone, and install that app? If no, this spells the death of experimental indie developers on Android.
wrote last edited by [email protected]yes. from what I understand, you will get a developer key from Google, and then you will sign your APK with your key.
you'll still be able to sideload apps that have been signed with developer keys. the main point here is that Google is forcing the developer to identify themselves.
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As a user I don't have a problem with this , as long it's used ethically. The question is if Google can act ethically.
"I don't mind living under a dictatorship as long as it's just the people I don't care about getting murdered."
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does this control happen with a specific android version release? what number? Can I get a new phone with that version and sideload an alternative OS/ROM?
wrote last edited by [email protected]You can research a phone you like and check if it has an unlockable bootloader, root it, and install something like LineageOS on it. It's fairly straight-forward, not super technically demanding, but it does require some tinkering and time setting up.
xdaforums.com is where the rooting kids hang out, post guides for specific models, upload images et c, you can probably do it in an afternoon with GPT.
The issue is that some apps, notably banking and official type apps, usually don't work as they rely on google services for operation. I solve it by having a cheap secondary phone that I only use for that stuff.
Oh, I almost forgot: FUCK YOU GOOGLE
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GrapheneOS is one of the last bastions of freedom remaining. I don't know what we'll do if that happens.
A phone that works with proper linux: PostmarketOS, Sailfish OS or Ubuntu Touch.
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Just give google more money, no thanks.
Fairphone with lineage OS is a better option in my opinion.Fairphone is contributing directly to the linux kernel so they have my vote!
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yes. from what I understand, you will get a developer key from Google, and then you will sign your APK with your key.
you'll still be able to sideload apps that have been signed with developer keys. the main point here is that Google is forcing the developer to identify themselves.
You don't need to sign anything just turn off play protect with 1 adb command:
adb shell settings get global package_verifier_user_consent adb shell settings put global package_verifier_user_consent -1 # disable Play Protect -
so is this why my phone updated and then took seven hours to connect to the network the other day?
"No" is what I would prefer to say but for some reason "that is extremely unlikely" hits the point home harder.
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Will this kill FDroid ? I imagine yes since you have to install it from a download.
My suspicion is that the main purpose of Googles decision is to stop F-Droid and Aurora Store from working.
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Joke's on them, my phone only cost $300
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Pixels are inferior to even the cheapest android phones out there. I have a two year old Motorola stylus that cost $100 and battery life is still over two days and I've dropped it a million times. Evey pixel I've owned had major issues with screen or battery life not worth the price when google can't handle making reliable hardware. Plus I have a headphone Jack.
pixels battery life is lacking, but they sacrificed that for an AI-spy ware machine anyways.
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And especially any youtube app that blocks ads. OF COURSE Google will never allow Newpipe, Revanced, FreeTube and so on to be installed on Android phones ever again.
None of those have worked for me on Android since a couple of months.
Firefox with uBlock Origin is the last bastion, and don't think that's not on their radar.
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It used to be a pocket computer, now its just a mini-prison-cell.
If anyone is using currently using a flagship phone, when your phone dies and you need a replacement: consider just getting a cheap $100 android phone then spend the rest of the money you would've spent on a flagship on a portable PC instead
wrote last edited by [email protected]This is the route I went years ago. Not only do i not feel like lugging around an obnoxiously long buttonless 1kg remote control, within two months the display will be shattered because I sneezed, and I will have to buy a new one because replacing the screen costs as much as a new phone.
I know they do that shit by design. Why would the back side of the phone need to be made of fucking glass? It's literally the only reason I ever buy new phones, the screen is the only thing that ever breaks, and they never survive long enough to be "too old" to use.
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None of those have worked for me on Android since a couple of months.
Firefox with uBlock Origin is the last bastion, and don't think that's not on their radar.
Hey don't mind me, I'm just gonna whip out my steamdeck (that I already have) to watch a youtube video using the desktop firefox. (Yes I know its 720p, but whatever lol, its good enough for gaming, its good enough for youtube)
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Can someone explain how this affects graphene os users?
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You don't need to sign anything just turn off play protect with 1 adb command:
adb shell settings get global package_verifier_user_consent adb shell settings put global package_verifier_user_consent -1 # disable Play ProtectNot a solution to our problem, but this is a crumb in our favor.
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I'll just buy and use decade old phones with unlocked bootloader till I can. There's barely any innovation in phones these days and I'm sure someone will come to fill the gap Android left (hopefully Linux). I'm still using my 5 year old phone degoogled with custom a16 and still going strong. I also have a backup pixel 6 in case the current one breaks. I can easily wait 10-15 years.
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Does this mean the end for YouTube Revanced on Android?
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If Google is going to lock down my device to the point where I can't install apps without their permission, I might as well dump Android and go straight to Apple. I sacrificed my phone being good for the openness of the platform, but if Google loses that openness, why shouldn't I go with Apple?
wrote last edited by [email protected]Openness isn't just a nice to have. It is essential.
The difference between general purpose computing and gatekept walled garden computing is night and day.
Identifying the devs is not in the "need to know" for Google. Google sells or helps to sell a general purpose open device where it is on us to exploit that device however we will.
Now Google wants to switch to a walled garden, moderated development model.
If Google promises it won't use those dev IDs to moderate development, their promise is only worth the wind it moves and the sound it makes.
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Bluetooth alternatives are far better these days
Disputable.
- they are cable-less, thus need to be charged separately
- they are cable-less, thus it is easier to lose them
- bluetooth implementation is a potential security vulnerability
- transmission by radio will always be less energy efficient than transmission by wire
wrote last edited by [email protected]they are cable-less, thus need to be charged separately
Not a major drawback, IMO.
they are cable-less, thus it is easier to lose them
True, but I haven't lost any in the something like 6 years I've been using them.
bluetooth implementation is a potential security vulnerability
What's your threat model? Who's going to be attacking your security via your headphones? What happens if they succeed?
IMO this is a pretty ridiculous drawback, it's like saying "wired headphones are worse because the wire can be used as a garrote", which is true, but not an actual drawback for 99.999% of people.
transmission by radio will always be less energy efficient than transmission by wire
So what?
IMO the drawbacks of wired headphones are:
- The cable often gets tangled, and it's a pain in the ass to untangle it
- The cable can often get snagged on things, and if that happens the best thing that can happen is that the headphones can go flying out of your ears. The worst thing that can happen is that the phone goes flying out of your pocket and smashes on the ground.
- The cables can get dirty and frayed, and if they get too frayed they can break or get worn down so they have an iffy connection.
- Even when the cable isn't tangled, just arranging the wire so it's out of the way, long enough to get to your ears, but not so long it gets tangled can be frustrating.
- Trying to use your phone for anything else while your headphones are attached can be a problem. Say you want to take a picture of something, or pay for something using NFC, you have to be careful of the cable. If you had the cable tucked into your shirt or zipped up in your jacket so it's out of the way, now the cable might not be long enough anymore.
- Because of the wire, you're limited in where you can put your phone, and your head has to always be within a short distance to your phone. With a wireless headset you can choose to put the phone in a knapsack if that's more convenient, and when you put down the knapsack you can take a few steps away from it without losing your connection and interrupting whatever you're listening to.
- If you're doing something like working in the kitchen while listening to music or a podcast, you can't put your phone down on the counter and use it to look at a recipe, because as soon as you have to move to go get another ingredient, or to move from the cutting board to the sink, you have to pick the phone up again. And that can be a real issue if you have goop on your hands and you're moving to the sink to wash them off.
- In cold weather / winter you might want to have your phone in a jacket or something. If you go inside and take the jacket off you either have to pause things while you transfer the phone to another pocket and rearrange the wire, or you have to do this complicated dance where you clear the wire and move the phone without accidentally yanking the wire out of the phone or out of your ears. With a wireless headset you just take the phone and move it to a new pocket whenever that's convenient.
The headphone wire is a potential personal security vulnerability as a ninja can use it to garrote you.
The drawbacks for a wireless headset are:
- They tend to have batteries that can't be replaced, so eventually they lose their ability to hold a charge and need to be replaced. It can get really annoying to use them when the batteries are starting to fail and they hold less than an hour of charge.
- They tend to be much more expensive than wired headphones.
- Wireless buds are easier to lose, and easier to drop. If you drop them they can bounce and roll under things, or into the street or who knows where.
- They do eventually run out of charge, and you do have to charge them, and sometimes they can be low on charge / out of charge when you want to use them.
- There's a fair amount of lag, which can be annoying when you're trying to skip commercials on podcasts and so-on.
