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Android's new developer verification rollout begins, sideloading changes are next
(www.androidauthority.com)
For those who haven’t seen this excellent video:
It's not that "excellent." It's just 'for the evulz' mustache-twirling comical villainy, which ends up downplaying what's actually important to know about enshittification, which is how self-serving and abusive it is. When companies enshittify products and services, they're not just making them worse; they're specifically making them more exploitative.
A lot of the examples shown in the video -- cutting holes in socks, sawing off a chair leg so it wobbles, drying out a marker, etc. -- are not enshittification. Enshittification is stuff like putting spyware in devices so that you double-dip on the purchase price and the value of the data, or turning products (as opposed to services) into a subscription. Stuff that extracts unearned value from the customer.
It touches on it in the latter part of the video, but for the most part misses the mark.
You know, it was funny. Bit long in the tooth. The best thing about the video, it was actually produced by Norway. The government produced the video. That's pretty freaking cool.
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Ummm... Isn't this precisely against the whole EU's make sideloading (ie. installing) as easy as main app store installing thing?
Taking steps backwards...
Apple shat all over those regulations with their implementation and got away with it so now Google are doing the same
Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
Accountability is key in regulations. Without it, why should anyone follow them?
I also blame the Epic lawsuits. How the fuck did they lose to Apple but win against Google, the platform where Fortnite was still fully playable and monetised?
I don't know anything about those. What's the story?
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Great. So half my software won't work.
Google, just call it what it is. Ad blocking prevention.
This is in no way a jusficitaion for what Google is doing, but they came to a "compromise" where you can still opt-in to being allowed to "sideload unverified apps" (read: install apps that didn't have to get approval from Google).
You have to enable it in the settings, and then you need to wait 24 hours before the setting is enabled. After that you can continue to run "unverified" apps
What I haven't seen is what happens to all of the apps I currently have installed when this hits.
Am I going to have to wait 24 hours to open apps I already have installed?
Will they all get auto-removed and need reinstalling?
Everything is written as if you're starting from new not an existing state.
What happens if I just stop updating android for as long as I can? Quite a few apps on my phone have retained functionality past when their developers attempted to brick them because I froze updates
My Samsung S22 let me pause updates anymore. And it nags me to death.
My workaround is to start downloading the update and then pausing it.
RIP, that's cancer. Yeah samsung has lost its fucking mind. I wish I had been considering the availability of 3rd party roms when I chose my model
This is all managed via Play services not the android OS so you'd need to not update the core services.
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Am I going to have to wait 24 hours to open apps I already have installed? Will they all get auto-removed and need reinstalling?
At the start I would have thought this was possible but pretty ridiculous. Why would Google do any of that?
But it turns out this was not ridiculous, as Play Protect literally just removed Ankiconnect, an app I already had installed for months, without giving me the choice to keep it or axe it. They certainly could force us to go with their "Uncle Google can I have permission to use my phone?" flow for apps we already use.
WE MUST CONTINUE TO OPPOSE THESE CHANGES, THESE ATTACKS ON OUR ABILITY TO INSTALL APPS AS WE WISH.
Haven't seen anything official but I'd assume they will behave as normal and you may not be able to update them without going through the advanced flow. Since ADB installs aren't restricted I don't think there will be any changes to existing installs. Just my thoughts based on what they have confirmed so far. I am just waiting for GOS to support the Pixel 10a so I can get further away from Google and their BS in general.
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it wont remain at that. i bet they will disable that setting occasionally and make you wait that 24h again and again.
The "advanced flow" with a one-day wait is just Google realizing they need to boil this frog a little more slowly to prevent a backlash. They still want a fully boiled frog in the end.
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And that's why I'm installing /e/OS in my Fairphone 6, and shifting to Linux based phones.
Even now Google is removing everything that is a choice to avoid their massive surveillance machine, apps started complaining about removal of UnifiedPush:
Fuck Google.
That's actually a known bug in Fennec, nothing to do with Google
FF6 with eOS is awesome! For the first time in a very long time, I feel like I actually own the device! Very liberating.
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Welcome friend! I've been having a great time with e/os on my FP6.
I recommend the lawnchair launcher if you don't like the stock one.
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Do we stand any chance? And how fucking dare these fucking outlets continue to normalize this shit.
We need development of Linux OSs for phones to ramp up. And we need Linux distributors and backers to fight back against "age verification" laws that are actually ID verification laws. There's a global attack underway on multiple fronts against free software, private computing, and user ownership and control of devices.
In the meantime, for a stopgap, there's GrapheneOS, but that doesn't fix the problem of developers having to choose between Google's way or unpaid obscurity.
PostmarketOS was already mentioned.
There's another Linux OS for phones I'm aware of: https://sailfishos.org/
- Android is a Linux distro
- Most people, me included, don't want to run normal Linux on their phone. I use Linux on the desktop. I don't hate Linux or anything of the sorts. But for phone use, normal Linux sucks major ass. What we need is GrapheneOS to be normalized and independent app stores for GrapheneOS.
- The above is not to say Linux phones are bad for everyone. I am sure there are few people who would enjoy it, but they are the minority.
No, not really. This is not a real alternative. Google will still try to kill alternative ROMs and it's just a matter of time before GrapheneOS will no longer be maintainable. A push for true Linux mobile OS is needed. Time is running out.
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How is it even legal for a company to decide what you can or can't install in your own device?
Because anti-trust has not been enforced this century, with the exception of Lina Khan's work as the FCC director.
Companies have been pushing the boundaries further and further for decades, with almost no push back.
For the same reason they can make you click agree to terms before you can do anything with the device.
The US supports monopolies as long as they have a backdoor. It was the same with Microsoft in the 90s.
I reckon that means it is not actually your own device.
Legal is just whoever has the most resources.
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Just bought a second hand pixel 6 to test Graphene. Let's see what Motorola does and how Linux phones do in the future.
Alternatives
Fairphone https://shop.fairphone.com/the-fairphone-gen-6-e-operating-system
GrapheneOS https://grapheneos.org/
Sailfish OS https://sailfishos.org/
LibrePhone from GNU/Linux https://librephone.fsf.org/
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Reckon we are gonna need to see some how to guides for adb. I presume its like the linux terminal?
It's pretty easy to use, you just need a USB cable. But it is a cli like terminal so you do want to search for how to use it and not just guess because you can delete files accidentally easier. But you always just start with 'adb devices' and that just lets you know if it's working.
I have the new Jolla Phone preordered and I'm excited to see how it plays out. Maybe 2026 is the year of the Linux Phone
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What if I disabled Play store and use Aurora and Fdroid for everything? Am I safe until I can afford to replace?
I think it's on Google Play services so you need a rom with microG services.
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this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2026
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