- cross-posted to:
- hackernews
- cross-posted to:
- hackernews
Starting next year, Google will begin to verify the identities of developers distributing their apps on Android devices, not just those who distribute via the Play Store.
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Time to build more PWAs please?
Let Google know what you think about this: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfN3UQeNspQsZCO2ITkdzMxv81rJDEGGjO-UIDDY28Rz_GEVA/viewform
Guess I’m going back to a dumbphone next time because I’m NOT letting Google see what I’m downloading, I’d rather carry a laptop all day.
There are alternatives to Google and Apple products. I recommend the MNT Pocket Reform if you’d like a full keyboard, or a Librem 5 if you prefer a more typical smartphone form factor.
goddamnit I JUST bought a new Fairphone 5 and opted not to go for e/os variant, because I was worried of incompatibility issues.
Guess I’ll have to learn how to replace my phone OS in 2026…
Will, what’s the point now? Fuck it get an Apple. Why not.
EDIT This is the future. Stop sideloading apps, then lock the bootloader.
will I be able to install the Google Play store on graphino S
Right now? Yeah, its very easy to do, and there’s a download link for it included in GrapheneOS’s preinstalled app-store.
I am however worried that eventually Google will make running custom software (apks, alternate firmwares) so difficult that development for those will stop long term.
Damn, it feels like someone is treating a 1984 novel like an instruction…
In short, they make independent stores impossible?
Mostly; they just force themselves into the process for publishing each app and have an effective veto on apps. So yeah, no stores fully independent of Google.
So I guess my next phone will be a Chinese phone. Even if it spies on me, I’ll have the freedom to install whatever I want from anywhere.
The Chinese have a golden window of opportunity. Let’s hope they don’t mess this up.
And here I thought I wouldn’t root or flash my next phone.
linux phones please hurry!
Android is Linux…
This is about as useful as the assholes going “It’s not Pedophilia, it’s Hebephilia!”.
Haha. Ha.
oh what’s the problem then I wonder
It’s so heavily derive so as to be effectively wrong. It’d be like calling a human a jawless fish sure it’s technically true but entirely misses the point.
It really is past time we saw serious work on a mobile flavor of Linux. Not AOSP, not anything whatsoever downstream of Google, but a regular Linux distro with a mobile friendly DTE.
Sadly, it only runs on genuinely ancient smart phones. I can’t even re-purpose my old pre-loved phones that I’ve kept after upgrading, because most of them are still too new for postmarketos
Woah, what’s a red username mean on Voyager? Are you an administrator?
Isn’t that what Ubuntu Touch is?
Oh, I thought the project was dead. Apparently after Canonical dropped it, it was picked up by the community. Thanks, I’ll look into it. It might even be worth supporting.
Hasn’t Apple been losing in court across the world for doing exactly this?
No, it’s nothing like what Apple’s been doing.
Apple has been losing in court about everyone needs to give them money anytime anything makes any money on iOS, or even thinking absolutely allowing others to install anything beyond their App Store.
This is Google demanding every app that can be installed on Android must be signed by them, and the only cost is registering with them your name and address, possibly verified by government ID. (And quite possible doxxing you at the same time as they already do on the Play Store…)
These are very different, and unlike Apple, will more likely be applauded by numerous world governments in the current “anything a child can even remotely even know about” must have its users be checked to make sure they are “allowed to”.
This is awful. One of my favorite differences between Android and iOS, as both a user AND developer is sideloading.
The closer google gets to apple, the more similar they become. Except apples shit generally all works well together. Knock off air tags, chromecast, audio groups, and so many other things are riddled with bugs and never fixed.
If you make android the same as iOS, I might as well switch.
Sideloading still works, just the apps have to be signed. Still awfull.
We just need to find a way to fake it, I guess anyone that wants to sideload has to root.
The only way to fake it would be to use a “public” signature, but then again, I’m sure google will revoke them eventually. I guess rooting won’t be enough, one would have to change some internal binaries. Perhaps it’s time for a ungooglified android OS 🤷♂️
I highly doubt they’ll sign Torrent clients.
(Yes I torrent on my phone, cuz why not lol :P)
Torrent client is just an application, author shouldn’t be responsible - naive thinking I suppose
Torrent clients are not illegal in any way. So why not?
Idk, apple doesn’t allow them on their app store.
Right sorry. I thought you meant developers won’t sign them. Obviously you mean Google.
I hope Google at least will only sign identities, e.g. you really are DeathByBigSad and this is your key which you can sign apps with. Not look at the apps themselves. That may be too much to hope for. :(
Can Nintendo request Google revoke authorization for emulator developers? Or publishers requesting revoking any of the hugely popular manga aggregator apps. Or maybe they’ll just outright refuse them from the start, like they will with revanced.
none of those apps would receive authorization in this scenario. you would not be able to use them
I’m on your side and you are correct, besides Google amassing a ton of money (each registration costs $25) they will have total control and we know that Google is far beyond “not evil”.
How many great apps will we lose because of this, though?
What’s extra funny is that I already did all of this, and yet, I’ve been informed that my developer account is subject to deletion because I’m not active enough. Since my game does not get regular updates I said F this, let them delete my account. It’s still available for sideload on itch.io anyway. Jokes on me for believing that.
So yeah, it seems like Google is actively hostile towards building a library of software/games that just work and intentionally only wants live service garbage apps on their platform because those make more revenue.
I’d say a big ton of them :(
This will not apply to GrapheneOS, right?
It won’t apply to GrapheneOS. It only applies to certified OSes and GrapheneOS is not certified because it doesn’t license Google Mobile Services.
just last month there was news about some changes in Android that will make it harder for alternative distributions… go figure
this might be the thing that makes me install it
I highly doubt it
