Yes, you must have missed it. And so it begins.

Google is moving to make Android less open source. I'm not sure more devs following suit is going be good for them or their users. The G doesn't give an F.

What we need is an OS fork that gets maintained. If not that, some other workaround that fools the Google servers. Because you can bet money that nobody made from flesh and blood is going to look at this inside Google.

Maybe devs can band together and form Middle Finger Corp. and designate one willing person as their contact to serve as registered dev for a gazillion apps. Follow the letter of the law, not the misguided spirit of it, in a manner of speaking.

If you are sitting on a mobile OS and you were afraid to fail like Windows, maybe now is the time to give it a go?

They're not "pulling" the app from anywhere, it's just simply not going to work on "certified devices". This is the end of Android as we know. It's been a good run.

It is a big thing at least in developer circles. It made the front page of Hacker News multiple times.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45087396

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45256651

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45082750

I'm going to look into adding this to my app https://git.allpurposem.at/mat/Sudoku Indeed I do not agree with this, so it will become unavailable when the terms go into effect. I will look into making it available for Linux Mobile.

And so it continues... Google trying to shoehorn themselves into a position of authority of the internet. Imagine they get as much sway as the banks now have? Private entities controlling the masses for massive profits. Fuck off Google.

Wording of the message implies it’s possible to have uncertified version of Android… Such a thing possible?

Yet another possible antitrust lawsuit series. Some day maybe a judge will do something to help the consumers.

Just to clarify:

Will my apps installed from F-droid be unaffected by this?

Would people be able to circumvent this by downgrading their version of Google Play Services? ..or not updating it in the first place?

Was this a big thing I somehow missed?

It's one of the many small things that hide the big thing. In 2027 android will be fully locked down, unnecessarily.

The big thing is whatever the lockdown is for.

This news makes me actually sad. I have had high hopes in the last years in the FOSS world, having myself and three other persons move to use Linux as daily driver on Desktop/Laptop.

My phone has FOSS apps only except for banking, health, transport tickets and 2/3 work rekated stuff. My messaging, files and pictures are handled by FOSS apps installed from third parties (F-Droid, Obtainium) on selfhosted servers... I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

This news sound to me like the tunnel ahaead is collapsing.

We'll be able to install via adb hopefully.

How easy is it to convert an Android app to a Linux mobile app of you're the developer? If it's written in JVM languages it shouldn't be that hard right?