Apple now allows sideloading of apps and Google is trying to get rid of sideloading.
What… the Fuck?
Apple now allows sideloading of apps
Apple allows as much sideloading as google wants to next near.
Yes, you can install from .iPa files, but you still need to pay 100€ a year to be able to sign the IPA files, otherwise you cant run them. as much as with googles new policy you now need to pay 25€ + your full name to get a signature, to sign the Apks with
To be fair, they are now both on the same level. Both now allow sideloading from “trusted” sources, aka developers verified by Apple/Google.
Now we have to get EU on the case 😀
Don’t call it sideloading. Did you watch the video?
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?
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.
You might say their words are like farts in the wind
This change requires you to attach your real name when publishing software. That’s all. You can still publish to and install packages from anywhere. This doesn’t come close to Apple’s complete control.
Google already scans packages you’re installing for malware and alerts you and allows you to install them anyway. This gives that scanner one more tool to identify bad actors.
The only answer is money at that point. I don’t know how much phones are these days, but aren’t iPhones like $1400, but Android is like $900?
I may be wrong though. Last time I bought a phone was 2018, and it was $600. Still using it.
I already tend to buy the expensive flagship models of phones. I buy unlocked and it lasts me ~5+ years, so I get the best phone I can get at the time and make it last, so money isn’t as much of an issue if I were to move to an iPhone.
So yeah we’ll do a decentralized Linux phone of sorts, if Google is going full 3rd Reich with Android we’ll move to a Linux based OS phone.
Simple as that.
Who is we? what group of people has the dev funding and time to produce FOSS hardware and software to compete with the average android phone?
We the people that want a finished product with distribution and a good eco system from day zero. It must be next gen hardware and be priced more than competitively.
It’s good to want, and I say that as someone who would dance for joy if an open source phone became viable. If you think starting a new ecosystem and expecting it to be “good, next gen, priced competitively” is feasible via volunteer work anytime soon, I want whatever you’re smoking :)
It was a sarcasm.
You forgot your /s
Expecting sarcasm to be understood in text is dumb. Too many dipshits exist to assume people arnt serious
I wouldn’t call it dumb but maybe expecting too much from people now that convenience and hand holding is expected at all times.
*Canned laughter that fades into awkward reflective silence.*
This was the main reason I have a spare android phone to install whatever I want on it and just factory reset if there’s an issue. Android / Google is really shooting itself in the foot cause there isn’t a point in owning an android after this imo
Similar story here. I’ve got apps that I need to use from developers that are not around anymore. My old phone only needs wifi and I’ve disabled/uninstalled everything else. The phones battery last like 7 days now.
> be me
> buy new phone, chose android cause I can install anything on it
> get free iphone from work
> sell iphone on ebay cause I can install anything I want on my android
> google doesnt want me to install anything I wantFuck me. I kept the wrong phone.
They are both now on the same level. Both iPhone and Android now allow sideloading of apps of “trusted” developers, so developers verified by Google/Apple.
So in your world, a completely locked down phone is better than a phone that you can easily open up again by flashing a ROM or replacing Gservices for MicroG with adb + Magisk?
When it comes to the current final frontier, Linux phones, what brands/models would be the best option? Or are you all really recommending iPhones?
Linux handheld with a 4g usb modem, doing calls over the internet. Just an idea, im not doing this, nor do i know how practical it actually is.
You can’t sideload in Linux.
“All” you need to do is reflash your phone and reinstall Android/Chromium (soon to be renamed Android). Since you are not a certified supplier, the checking is not activated.
On Chromebooks the setting will be on, since they are used in schools, but since it has a terminal you can remove the block, it won’t be simple, probably terminal commands and changing configuration files, but it won’t be impossible.
Will this kill FDroid ? I imagine yes since you have to install it from a download.
Joke’s on them, my phone only cost $300
Same here, got a recent (so not completely new) Xiaomi 13T Pro. Very little crap on it and it has impressive specs like 16GB RAM, 1TB storage and a very good Leica camera.
I’d love putting Linux on it one day, the specs are almost as good as my main PC lol.
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They also stopped support that allowed for easier development of custom ROMs a couple weeks back. So it’s not good news for custom ROMs. Either someone needs to form Android for good, or Linux phones are our next best bet.
Back in 2019 when the leadership changed, they moved to be 100% about advertising, which is why Google started going browser fingerprint tracking. Invasive is the name of the game. Within 6 months of that, they’re also locking down their entire ecosystem like Apples does, specifically to squeeze more data out for advertising. This isn’t an action taken in a vacuum.
Just get root, and it wouldn’t be too difficult to bypass.
I already bypass many of Google’s stupid and arbitrary restrictions like their minimal SDK version requirement for side-loading apps and such with Magisk and Xposed modules.
Are you sure it won’t apply? As far as I understand, it’ll apply to all devices with Google services installed. Which includes most ROMs, as well as non-Google ROMs after you manually install gapps. Is my understanding off?
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Soon aurora store may stop working. They could add some crap to the apks in the play store that checks whether the phone has google services. So either the devs put their apks somewhere available (like on fdroid, which most wont do), or theyll just put their binaries on the play store, which will just be a useless blob for those that dont have play services. Then we get another shitty cat an mouse game about spoofing play services, them catching up, on repeat.
$1000 USD for a mobile phone…no thanks.
Its like Microsoft and Google are teaming up to drive me closer to Linux.
Windows 12 phones are going to come. Microsoft will have their own RISC chips to run mobile platforms. Their relationship with Intel has limited them too much while the rest of the Tech giants grew too powerful with their own branded chips and devices.
My problem with this is when I now don’t have freedom from surveillance in my country because I mainly use F-Droid to install my privacy conscious apps.
I bought a Pixel recently and for 2 days I tried to make it work. 2 whole days of fumbling pain! And I felt fucking horrible. Almost nothing is customizable and everything coated in a thick layer of AI. Every google app has dark patterns. Don’t like it? Well too bad, apps like goog photos keep on asking if you want to upload your life with a recurring popup that tries to trick you. Don’t want Google Search Bar? Well… you don’t get to say no bitch, don’t make me hurt you. It is not a healthy relationship.
So. I just took the plunge and flashed GrapheneOS. Graphene will take a bit of work getting replacements for some of my needed apps like mail and map. But there are lots of neat options and I’m having fun with it. Problem fixed.
I used the graphene web install. I booted up my Pi 4B+ and used gnome-disks to flash a MicroSD with Ubuntu 24.10 then installed the two packages in the web install instructions then I got Brave (I went to the Brave homepage and they have some curl option to download. I needed to install curl, did that then got Brave installed. Once brave is installed you have to disable browser fingerprinting memory reduction and disable the “brave shield” (the little shield near the address bar) for the web installer GrapheneOS page. (It’s a fresh install, on a Pi, and I know the site, no real risk)
After this you can just press the big buttons on the page and follow the instructions on the page.
There are many ways to do this. They have lists of compatible browsers and operating systems. I picked (eww) Ubuntu and (eww) Brave because they seemed easiest on the list and I did not virtualize or use containers in any way cause it messes up the webUSB magic the website uses. I like to play it safe as possible when firmware is involved so I didnt speed up the instructions. And also when you buy a Pixel, big thing! Turn on dev tools and toggle your oem bootloader setting off and on again. If it can’t do that you need to return the phone because it’s locked down by carrier.
Well… I hope my long sleep deprived ramblings help someone else break their chains. Read a bunch about it before starting! Good Luck!
This should read that google is screwed, as android users flock to alternative phones. But no, so many would rather just keep on bending the knee to daddy data scrap.
