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Verify my balls, Google.
if you've ever sent a nude, they probably can.
How are they going to enforce this? Is side loading getting some extra signing step only Google can provide?
I shouldn't need to go through Google at all to release an Android app if it's not on their store. This is bullshit
Any device with Google Play services will enforce this. Any device that does not have Google Apps and services will not enforce this.
In this case, China actually has a leg up over the West because they haven't had Google Play services for a long time.
I'm so glad I degoogled my phone already. Fuck Google!
and just like that google expands their walled garden and becomes apple 2
remember when the internet was an open platform and computers were yours to run programs you wanted?
Why am I using an Android device then? Also how would this even work with open source apps that people build from source?
You build an app from source, I assume you'll get a prompt on your phone that says it can't run because it's not signed.
Another article did mention that it's only for devices with Play Protect enabled so if they keep that as easy as it is to disable right now, it'll be a non issue actually.
Until play protect becomes mandatory
There dies the last remaining reason to use Android.
You say that like there's a better alternative
And use what instead?
Linux. The mobile ecosystem will have to mature fast though.
I don't think it will. It hasn't so far, despite there having been linux phones in the past, and it's got the Windows Phone/Symbian problem where users don't go to it because it lacks support for the apps they use, and developers don't support it because it doesn't have much by way of users.
Didn't realize the device in my pocket was google's
You are going to learn.
"With software there are only two possibilities: either the users control the program or the program controls the users. If the program controls the users, and the developer controls the program, then the program is an instrument of unjust power."
- Richard M. Stallman
If it starts for real, the freedom of Android is lost.
We need to sue them 1000 times and more before they can even start this.
I'll register an account and share my signing cert for y'all to use. I don't care.
Then they'll ban you for life like they do other people who violate their rules, and they're very good at banning people who try to open new accounts and banning people who have any links to you.
Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul
Or, said in the common corporate tongue, “embrace, extend, extinguish”.
I guess it's time to switch to developing apps for Linux mobile distro
The only reason I like android is cuz I can make my own apks and use them without issue.
They're already starting to clamp down on sideloading. I use Aurora Store out of principle, but it's getting more and more common that apps will refuse to launch if not downloaded from the Play Store. I get the risk of sideloading maliciously modified banking apps or whatever, but surely you could just compare a checksum or something?
Man! These guys are literally recreating what made using Symbian a pain to deal with and what sparked its downfall. Even if it was somewhat warranted due to the legitimate malware but atleast you could still run Java and Flash apps with permissions just fine. Now the last reason to run android is basically disappearing and I'm kinda glad I degoogled my latest pixel as of late. But like I kinda also hate that we are moving into an era where you cannot even control what apps on your mobile device right now outright. It was already bad enough with the automatic opening of Google Play for sideloaded apps and now its only to get worse from there. Genuinely speaking android when it first came out was a breath of fresh air compared to symbian and iOS. It's kinda a shame that now it's losing what made it great to begin with.
Fuck you
Hasn’t Apple been losing in court across the world for doing exactly this?
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?
Yep, blahaj.zone admin :)
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.
this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2025
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