cross-posted from: https://jlai.lu/post/24787719
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.
Apps that use dark patterns (aka almost everything in the play store) are more harmful than apps commonly flagged as malware.
Custom ROM usage is gonna explode
Probably why Google is also taking steps to make custom ROM development significantly more difficult. They evidently want to kill off all Android ecosystems except the ones they control and watch.
setting up walled garden using security excuse. What’s the next excuse?
We all know the reason.
Won’t somebody please think of the children!
It’s always the same nonsense. “Safety”, “security”, “privacy”, etc.
They won’t ever say for ma profits
Fuck you Google no one is gonna buy your bull shit anymore. Fork android!!!
Literally switched to graphene today. I was pissed how much “depended” on play store. Google really has positioned themselves perfectly up eveyones ass in a way you don’t notice.
Switched a few months ago. It is such a good OS. I’m never using stock android ever again.
Use Aurora Store and a separate profile if necessary. Avoid apps that require strict level “Google Play Integrity”.
fuck google and all, but yes they will. what other mainstream phone is any better?apple is the only other choice and they are just as bad at best.
android without gapps will be a niche for the foreseeable future, and niches get ever easier to kill. with the play integrity thing and banking apps, i don’t see linux phones getting real traction either as much as i’d like it to.
Yeah the real problem is somewhere else this just symptomatic of the capitalist mode of production and classes society. But no one want to talk about it! So we are getting fuck in the ass by those who possess the means of production and the product of our labour, understood? Alienation big time. The brave new world.
Fairphone 6 looks quite interesting and has a Google-free option. People are saying it’s a bit buggy but they’re fixing the bugs rapidly.
https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-system
I take anything at this point. Jfc. Google needs to fucking die already.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the actual fuck, Google‽
I swear to Hephaestus, at this point I’m considering switching to UBPorts or Sailfish OS or something…
I think Sailfish is banned outside of Scandinavia. The company will not allow others to have it if you dont live there.
I think you’re pulling things straight outta your ass.
It’s the next level for magicians to master, after they’ve perfected the top hat.
Well fuck, if I was off my face, I look again.
If it helps, my comment was more riffing off of noodlejetski’s phrasing than what you’d originally said. “pulling things straight outta your ass” felt like some off-brand magician so I wanted to make a joke about that.
This is from their site:
We currently sell in European Union, UK, Norway and Switzerland.
Please be welcome to use our products anywhere in the world, however due to our limited resources we can only support the noted regions.
Luigi #2 where are you?
ELI5 if this will affect the use of F-Droid?
If you have the stock OS from the manufacturer, it will affect you. If you flash a custom ROM, it won’t.
Edit: You can still use F-Droid regardless of which android you’re running, but if you run stock you can only install the apps that have developers registered with google.
I hope there will be at least some bypass using ADB like with older apps.
The bypass is to just not install gspps…
Sounds like another lawsuit waiting to happen
shit like this really should be illegal
Probably is
Yeah but with dumpy in the wh, who’s gonna stop them?
The fuck…
Wow thanks for posting this. I read the whole thing but what I’m not getting is the fact that their started concern is apks “side loaded”. This is aimed directly at the foss community as normal people already won’t I stall anything outside of the play store. No non tech enthusiasts go straight to git hub …
And, just like that, no more modded apps, no more custom stores, everything is tightly under control unless you install a custom ROM (and then it’s no more banking apps,etc.). And it’s all for our own good, after all, big brother Google knows what’s best for us!
Some banking apps do work so it would be helpful not to spread that misconception.
My (major Canadian) Bank app (TD) has always just worked, no matter the state of my bootloader or root, and I’ve never bothered with Magisk Hide or anything like that to try to dodge root checks.
True. Also, most banks offer a web interface.
For now… :(
I just use the web browser instead of a banking app.
Requirement of authentication apps is making it trickier too. If you want to go to a concert or sporting event vended by ticketmaster, you’re fucked outside of Android and iOS.
Clocking into jobs increasingly requires Android or iOS.
Yes, there used to be papers for “coordinate systems” you could use as 2FA, and SMS one-time-passwords… but they are slowly being rolled out in the EU due to security concerns and the “Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)” standards mandated by PSD2. EU banks are transitioning to app-based and biometric authentication now… here you literally need a phone if you want any form of online banking.
yeah, I had to resurrect an old phone to go to a concert last week. It’s possible I’ll never go to one again. I wouldn’t have bought the tickets had I known about that bullshit.
Fuck off. This is my last android phone
What would you get instead? I think if Google actually follows through with this, I’ll switch to LineageOS, which is still Android. Obviously, iOS is much worse on this front.
Honestly, I don’t know. I’ll find something. Let the recommendations begin!
A phone that isn’t smart, probably
I’ve already gone to an analog pocket watch. Might as well go that route
There’s no alternative that won’t have major limitations. I predict it’ll just be more like going back to the days of jailbreaking to install unsigned apps. Unfortunately AOSP is already pretty much unusable without Google services installed for the vast majority of apps.
I’ll thank you to not rain and piss facts on my moody parade. Just leave an irrationally cranky old man his delusions. Lol
yup, they are closing in. i wonder why the surveillance wing of the fascist regime wants to control everyone’s digital life that more tightly.
you guys may have the power to protest this before it goes worldwide. i wonder if there will be real pushback.
It is unlikely that there will be a real resistance, the majority will resign themselves like submissive cattle and only a few will try to fight to the end, I have already seen this in history.
I mean, some of us did when GrapheneOS and folks started to bootlick goolag for their walled garden in pro of security as well as the economical breach they did not cover (Pixels are not available to everynyan) and even incentivated.
Yet here we are again.
Think of it like an ID check at the airport, which confirms a traveler’s identity but is separate from the security screening of their bags
😐
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-android-security.html
So this is the ID check… When do we get the full body security scans and cavity searches?
