• Petter1@discuss.tchncs.de
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    3 days ago

    I smell revival of jailbreak days 😁

    And maybe a peak of smuggling china android phones running chinaDroid with crapChecks

  • BroBot9000@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Google can go fuck itself.

    Hopefully this will put some jet fuel into the Linux phone development.

    • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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      9 days ago

      I’m checking out Graphene OS next week and pretty pumped about it. This Google ratfucking has been just the push I need to get off Android.

      And obviously I haven’t stopped telling people around me haha

      • ReginaPhalange@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Most F-Droid users are NOT custom ROMs.
        This means that as long as F-Droid does not get their own developer key - it will become useless. F-Droid is privacy focused - both dev and user, and they oppose requiring devs to essentially give up their privacy and sign the APK with their own dev key.

        Now, if F-Droid is dead, GrapheneOS becomes useless. Who would want to develop apps for the 0.0001% of the population (i.e custom ROM users)

        • ChillPill@lemmy.world
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          9 days ago

          This.

          I am the person you are talking about. I’ve looked into graphene before and I do host some of my own services at home. I also work full time and I don’t want to spend all of my free time managing things. I use F-Droid, but I am on stock android on my pixel.

          I appreciate the privacy and FOSS nature of F-Droid, but I use things like Android auto Google maps for work, I use banking apps on my phone as well. I know technically micro G and blah blah blah, but like I said: work full time.

          • null@lemmy.nullspace.lol
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            8 days ago

            Just FYI, absolutely everything you mentioned works absolutely fine OOTB on GrapheneOS with no tinkering.

      • ChilledPeppers@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        9 days ago

        Graphene is bult on top of android AOSP, which is owned by google… And of course they are fucking it over.

        Check calyxos.org s recent blog posts, it is basically dying (and graphene is the same)

        • tate@lemmy.sdf.org
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          9 days ago

          The pause in Calyx updates has nothing to do with Google’s fuckery, and they are not “dying.” They lost a major lead developer and decided they needed to restructure so no one would be so essential going forward.

        • other8026@lemmy.ml
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          8 days ago

          GrapheneOS isn’t dying. There’s an OEM partnership in the works and they’ll release devices with support for GrapheneOS in a year or two. GrapheneOS still provides updates and while the changes have made some things harder, the project is still going strong.

        • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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          9 days ago

          So… huh, so what’s the alternative then? I guess some other flavour of linux?

          • cley_faye@lemmy.world
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            9 days ago

            For mobile phones that works as a daily driver? Gobbling up iOS. Or gobbling up what’s becoming of Android.

            I really wish we had open phones that “just work”. I’d even go with slightly quirky but functional. Unfortunately, that requires strong cooperation between hardware maker and software developers; and it will require a lot of work. But that’s not the main issue. The direction we’re headed toward is “everything need an official app”, and those will mostly only work on “official” phones made by big manufacturers.

            Even today, making some bank apps work on non vanilla Android is not always straightforward, and it’s still relatively open and easy to do. The move by Google is going to tighten this even more, and I have no doubt, if they pull through, that this will go in the requirements for the “play protect” validation BS. Meaning if you want that bank app, or whatever state digital ID app (meh) to work, you’ll need a “real” Android or an iOS device. And those apps are becoming more and more mandatory (I can’t log-in to my bank’s online website without their app and proprietary 2FA…).

            A niche, open-source OS, Linux or modified AOSP or whatever, will have a hard time filling that gap as things keep moving. Which is really sad.

        • tal@olio.cafe
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          9 days ago

          I don’t see why it would need to be affected.

          The constraint to require a valid signing isn’t something imposed by the license on the Android code. If you want to distribute a version of Android that doesn’t check for a registered signature, that should work fine.

          I mean, the Graphene guys could impose that constraint. But they don’t have to do so.

          I think that there’s a larger issue of practicality, though. Stuff like F-Droid works in part because you don’t need to install an alternative firmware on your phone — it’s not hard to install an alternate app store with the stock firmware. If suddenly using a package from a developer that isn’t registered with Google requires installing an alternate firmware, that’s going to severely limit the potential userbase for that package.

          Even if you can handle installing the alternate firmware, a lot of developers probably just aren’t going to bother trying to develop software without being registered.

          • SMillerNL@lemmy.world
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            9 days ago

            But if Graphene chooses not to do this, they diverge from the Android project. Which will take more time to maintain the project which will ultimately lead to more developers burning out and dropping out of the project.

            It doesn’t need to be affected, but most open source projects don’t have the resources to keep going against big companies when most of their users aren’t contributing.

            • iopq@lemmy.world
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              9 days ago

              They already diverge by having a network permission and a bunch of other differences, and not being allowed to use Google Pay because of those differences

              • SMillerNL@lemmy.world
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                8 days ago

                That might be true, I don’t know much about GrapheneOS. But I do know that users of open source projects expecting changes to come out of thin air, and filing bugs when they don’t, is hurting the volunteers behind open source projects. So we should all make sure to volunteer some of our own time or money to keep the projects we love going, instead of just expecting them to fix the things we dislike.

            • tal@olio.cafe
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              9 days ago

              I would guess that it’s probably not much by way of change — theoretically, maybe just a single line patch — to cause this check not to take place.

            • Attacker94@lemmy.world
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              9 days ago

              The aosp has been in the process of being gutted, I surmise in preparation of these anti consumer measures, graphene os has its work cut out for it. I imagine that after the dust settles, consumers will have to pick between an immature Linux os or their personal preference of walled garden.

              • iopq@lemmy.world
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                8 days ago

                It becomes an integrity check arms race. Graphene OS devs not keen on this idea, but they may not have a choice in the near future

            • other8026@lemmy.ml
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              8 days ago

              GrapheneOS wasn’t going to be affected anyway and there’s nothing for the GrapheneOS developers to change. The developer verification thing will be done by proprietary Google apps. Those apps cannot get the necessary permissions to block app installs or disable apps.

          • Arcka@midwest.social
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            9 days ago

            F-Droid works […]

            […]

            […] that’s going to severely limit the potential userbase for that package.

            I don’t think most developers who are putting their Open-Source apps on F-Droid have any minimum user threshold.

        • grrgyle@slrpnk.net
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          9 days ago

          What?? I was not. I thought it was compatible, or like a fork idk… Guess I’ve got some reading to do.

        • other8026@lemmy.ml
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          8 days ago

          GrapheneOS won’t be affected. The developer verification thing will be handled by another app and won’t be part of the OS. That app won’t have permission to block app installs or anything like that.

      • Prathas@lemmy.zip
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        8 days ago

        But for such major FOSS development, we usually have to throw money at them in advance, which is the problem.

    • katy ✨@piefed.blahaj.zone
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      8 days ago

      i wonder if it’s possible for fdroid or another dev to make a linux/windows/osx app which basically uses an adb connection to automatically upload and install applications

      • railwhale@lemmy.nz
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        7 days ago

        Shizuku provides this fully on-device for android 10 or 11 and above, and droid-ify supports using shizuku to install apps.

        The one main downside is that it only works when you’re connected to wifi.

  • Kairos@lemmy.today
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    9 days ago

    The only advantage Android has over iOS is being able to install [any] software.

    • dan1101@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      That’s one of the big ones. Also phones with SD card slots and headphone jacks.

    • mesa@piefed.socialOP
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      9 days ago

      Just about. There used to be more, but if im honest, if it works in iOS then its a decent experience most of the time.

      But my custom apps makes or breaks my phone. Its so convenient.

      Ill probably get a uconsole or something. Or keep my current phone til all this blows over.

      • Kairos@lemmy.today
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        9 days ago

        iOS is infinitely more polished than Android. It’s rather stable and at least the main notification system isn’t that bad for privacy.

        Edit: I want to inquire: what exactly is wrong about my comments. Android is a piece of shit. iOS is a piece of shit. iOS is smoother because Apple can engineer the parts more smoothly. Android lets you run software. I hate them both but I need to run Termux.

        • mesa@piefed.socialOP
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          9 days ago

          Its terrible for security haha. We were able to 0 day it a couple of times without trying all that hard. So many CVEs that are repeatable. I wil admit the UI is phenominally better (in my opinion). And the official apps (as long as you dont want to do something specific) are perfect at what they do.

          Android is a bit better but you can exploit it because people dont update their phones. Google is actually VERY good at keep those up to date…but if no one updates, its kinda a wash.

          Again my opinion, im not too attached to either. They both suck in their own unique ways. #1 is you have to use their tool sets which is unique instead of any other computer system. Its such a hassle to keep up with as a software developer.

          • Kairos@lemmy.today
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            9 days ago

            I was just talking about the notification system which doesn’t require something that uploads your location to Google 24/7

            • mesa@piefed.socialOP
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              9 days ago

              ah ok. Well im not familiar with that other than push notifications, which you can set up outside of googles ecosystem…although everyone likes using firebase for some reason.

        • R00bot@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          9 days ago

          Really depends which spin of Android you have. I have a Nothing Phone 2 and the OS is arguably more polished than on my SO’s iPhone 14, which frequently has bugs, lag, and crashes. You can’t really generalise about Android when there are so many versions of it.

          That being said I’ll probably be looking into Linux phones in the next few years because I’m tired of corporations trying to control my devices.

          • Kairos@lemmy.today
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            9 days ago

            Well I’m using graphene and it’s so laggy and can’t keep more than one app open at a time, so.

            • markko@lemmy.world
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              9 days ago

              Also running GrapheneOS (on an older phone) and this is not something I’ve ever experienced, nor seen as an issue in the forums.

                • markko@lemmy.world
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                  9 days ago

                  I wasn’t denying the fact that you’re experiencing this issue, but since this is the first I’ve heard of something this bad in my 3 years of using GrapheneOS, this does appear to be a fairly unique case.

                  Provided you are using an otherwise well-functioning and currently supported device (and not an emulator), and that you are using a stable release installed via an official method (and there were no install issues), your best bet would be to ask for help in one of the community chats or forums: https://grapheneos.org/contact#community

                  You will be asked to share which device you are using though, which you did not seem comfortable doing in the post you linked to.

                  Unrelated, but I learned about the Android “task manager” (Running Services) from that post of yours, so thanks for sharing that.

            • R00bot@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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              9 days ago

              Yeah GrapheneOS is open source bro. Probably doesn’t have full compatibility with your phone if I had to guess. That’s really not a like-for-like comparison to iOS.

              • Kairos@lemmy.today
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                9 days ago

                “It works on my machine”

                The fact of the matter is that Android is hacked on top of Linux and there’s endless problems because of it. One part is that there’s no task manager and system apps eat up well over half my memory which means that once I open one app, the other needs to be immediately evicted from RAM

                https://lemmy.today/post/36815604

        • JustARaccoon@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          How is the notification system better for privacy on iOS? On android you have notification groups to toggle and you can set which notifications show up on the lock screen and how much of them is visible there. The notification system is to me arguably the best designed thing on android and one of the worst on iOS

            • JustARaccoon@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              Interesting, I’m not too familiar with how they work, what makes Apple’s more privacy-friendly than Google’s?

              • Kairos@lemmy.today
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                8 days ago

                Apple doesn’t know who is subscribed to what notification channel. Its similar to Signal’s sealed sender. Meanwhile Google does.

    • BitingChaos@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      I was able to set custom APN settings on my Pixel to bypass the tethering block that MetroPCS puts on their cheapest plan.

      There is nothing in iOS that lets you do that.

      I also can’t run WiFi scanners on iOS.

      And Android will still have ADB sideloading. On iOS I have to run shit like Sideloadly to re-sign applications every 7 days.

      If you’re a true Android fan, there is still a lot to keep you on the platform.

  • Baguette@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    9 days ago

    I hope google fails as a whole in the near future and gets dissolved once and for all. Sick and tired of tech companies trying to be sources of authority, working with authoritarian governments, and dictating what you can and can’t do.

  • Suavevillain@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    We really need some money poured into the Linux mobile space because this is a terrible direction to go.

    • PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk
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      8 days ago

      dug my pinephone out of a drawer yesterday and gave it a whirl. still pretty rough unfortunately even after updating postmarket os.

      Cool being able to SSH into my phone though

      • Suavevillain@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        I’m still hoping they can get to a state for more general users. I really want one still. I need a Linux phone doing the old sidekick designs.

        • tempest@lemmy.ca
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          8 days ago

          The main issue will be application support.

          Linux running on the desktop in 2025 is helped immensely by everything being web based. So long as you have a browser you are fine for a lot of general computing.

          The phone space is ruled by apps. The phone makers and the companies developing apps prefer it this way.

          Getting a banking app, or Uber or Facebook Messenger to work on a Linux phone is going to be a massive pain in the ass (ignoring the rest of the OS which is definitely not even close to useable for the general public).

          I would love a Linux phone but we are so far away.

          • pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip
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            8 days ago

            The phone space is ruled by apps. The phone makers and the companies developing apps prefer it this way.

            That’s true, but for everything non-free, they always end up having a perfectly working web app that will accept my money.

            • slamphear@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              There already is! I had a Furi Labs FLX1 for a while and it was able to run Android apps surprisingly via Andromeda (their fork of Waydroid).

        • PrettyFlyForAFatGuy@feddit.uk
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          8 days ago

          tbh part of the rough experience for me may be down to the hardware. the ubports version of the pinephone i have is quite low power. 2GB memory and a little ARM Cortex-A53

          tis sluggish

      • Leon@pawb.social
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        8 days ago

        Cool being able to SSH into my phone though

        I thought you could do that on Android?

    • aquovie@lemmy.cafe
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      8 days ago

      Plain AOSP is already pretty brutal. An alternate OS is practically a non-starter. Phones aren’t just web browsers and SMS.

      • Tap-to-pay
        • Including transit fares
      • Bank apps
      • RCS messaging
      • MFA and security apps
      • Work profiles
      • Streaming media that’s not 480p

      Not to mention that the camera is going to suuuuuuuuck.

      Forking or improving AOSP is more viable but none of the more mainstream ROMs want to piss off Google. That’s why most LineageOS forums forbid talking about defeating Play Integrity.

      • ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Also no GPU driver, because even if the manufacturer does actually provide it, some nerd within the community will block it for not being “free software” enough and that “for light 2D applications, CPU blitter is more than enough”.

        • aquovie@lemmy.cafe
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          7 days ago

          On a mobile device? It’s more likely that only OSS drivers work and the binary blob driver only worked with a pre-Pandemic aged kernel. Or it needed a very specific userspace library that doesn’t work with a minimal libc.

          “Free software enough” usually means “has a snowball’s chance of actually working”.

  • ruplicant@sh.itjust.works
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    9 days ago

    this seems to be going the shittitest direction it could…fuck Google

    ps: loving the apple simps coming out to claim iPhones aren’t perfect just because you can’t “sideload” lool

    • NatakuNox@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      They literally have to be more shitty to make money. Side loading allows individuals to choose not to give their money and data to Google. Companies must grow year over year. It doesn’t matter if the growth is unnecessary, imaginary line must go up. So remove standard features and then charge a premium for that feature to return, or cut pay/benefits/hours, or layoffs. Those are what’s left for our corporations to grow. No new ideas. Just shit.

    • REDACTED@infosec.pub
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      9 days ago

      loving the apple simps coming out to claim iPhones aren’t perfect just because you can’t “sideload” lool

      Confused ape noises

    • BigFig@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      EU wants to read all your online communications so, no, they will not be saving you from this. This furthers that goal

      • themurphy@lemmy.ml
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        9 days ago

        Luckily it’s not the same body in the EU who’s in charge of enforcing AND setting up proposals.

        The EU is not a “one opinion” government body.

      • sleen@lemmy.zip
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        9 days ago

        Big gov and big corp are essentially the same thing. And while the people jump ship to be at the mercy of the “better side”, the elites are sharing a cocktail in secret.

        The scale still remains, however one side tilted more so than the other.

        • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works
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          9 days ago

          “big gov” can be influenced by citizens. meanwhile, “big corp” is controlled by shareholders, the average person has zero say in how the corporate is run

          • iopq@lemmy.world
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            9 days ago

            Not true, vanguard sends me vote notifications. Basically, vanguard will vote on the board the way the vanguard shareholders do

        • LadyAutumn@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          9 days ago

          Yuuuup. The state and capitalists collude against the working class. Neither one nor the other can ever be trusted to put the interests of workers first, though they will each make empty promises to do so. Then they will privilege the ruling class every time.

    • Zak@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      This is basically the same as Apple’s notarization scheme for direct app installation on iOS in the EU. I do not believe the EU has sued Apple over that yet, and they’ve had plenty of time to do so.

      • themurphy@lemmy.ml
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        9 days ago

        They usually sue if the practice doesnt stop for over a year. They do send warnings before anything official comes out FYI.

        But I dont know if they want to do anything though. No one but them and Apple knows for sure.

    • takeda@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 days ago

      The law EU created looks like it has a loophole which allows manufacturer to prescreen side loaded apps (like what? What’s the point of sideloading then?) it is what Apple exploited and Google is going the same direction.

    • cley_faye@lemmy.world
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      9 days ago

      A few months ago? Yeah, I’d be with you. Today? It’s the wet dream of the current EU leads. Closed devices, where they can run spyware without risk of it being hindered by custom OS with proper permissions and process separations? So good. For them.

    • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      This is forced by EU regulations. I doubt Google would have introduced this on its own. If they wanted to do this, then why wait until forced?

  • katy ✨@piefed.blahaj.zone
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    8 days ago

    i love how google will basically destroy the worlds most popular mobile operating system just to protect youtube premium revenue

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      Honestly at this point they actually likely need to be EVEN MORE strict to deal with how bad the app store is and how many scam apps are floating around.

      My grand father has been given like 30 scam apks to install via email that we’re just crypto ransomware basically, and he’s had to reformat his phone at least 10 times this year from installing scam shit from the playstore it self too.

      Both the playstore AND scammers are target android like crazy

      There’s basically no way to crack down on it short of what they are doing and frankly it’s still not enough.

      Anyone who thinks this is just Google being evil is massive fucking out of touch with the reality of what elderly and less it savvy people have to deal with. It fucking SUCKS.

      And I fucking hate these changes too, but even I cant say it’s enough. There’s too many fucking shit bag assholes ruining all the good things.

      • Gary Ghost@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        They should just display more warning’s or safeguards, they don’t have to remove it completely. There’s several apps that I use that google would never let register. :(

        • Mistic@lemmy.world
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          They also already have installation from external sources turned on by default.

          Why the hell are we babying people who turn it off? They read the warning, they know the risks.

  • squaresinger@lemmy.world
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    8 days ago

    So now 3rd party app stores need an ADB loopback to work around that.

    Not hard to do, but uselessly annoying.

    • Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Installing the third party stores would be way harder than it is right now if they do that though. No way the devs of e.g. f-droid are getting a verification on an app that bypasses Google’s new ‘safety measures’

    • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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      That’s only if the apps distributed are unverified. Mind, the EU already requires app stores to document the identities of devs, but there are loopholes for Small enterprises. In 2027, manufacturers need to document the identities of their suppliers. There are still exceptions for non-profit open source projects, but that’s not what Google is. Surely, no one here wants Google to avoid regulations by investing in open source.

      • aquovie@lemmy.cafe
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        8 days ago

        I believe F-Droid signs the packages it distributes so that creates a painful choke point. Revoke F-Droid’s key and it will break all of F-Droid instantaneously. The only exception for F-Droid’s signing is if the build is reproducible, which is a high bar for a lot of projects, and then F-Droid will use the upstream signature.

        Also, they’re trying to close the ADB loophole.

        • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          I expect phones in the EU are going to become a lot more locked down in the next 14 months, like Samsung is already showing. But also think that Google will try its best to make developing for Android easy to get into.

    • AItoothbrush@lemmy.zip
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      8 days ago

      I think you can already do that with shizuku and dome fdroid clients. It also makes using 3rd party appstores more convenient just in general.

  • excral@feddit.org
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    8 days ago

    Is this even legal in the EU? The majority of phones in the EU are Android phones so this effectively gives Google control over what apps can be installed to the majority of phones. I thought the Digital Markets Act was designed to prevent exactly this.

    • DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works
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      Google will become the exact same as apple, third party stores are technically “allowed”, but requires Google’s official stamp (digital signature), it’s same with Apple. Its probably legal since Apple is already like this.

      A corporation like Epic Games will be left alone since they can afford lawyers. An open source volunteer dev making a Youtube alternative client will get their certificates revoked under dubious “ToS Violation” claims and they won’t have money to sue.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      It’ll be a battle and then they’ll get knocked and so on and so forth until we get these lazy cunts out of politics and break up the fuckin tech companies.

    • MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works
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      I think some recent EU proposals that make Google responsible for ensuring users can’t install malicious apps is what has caused this to happen though. I could be wrong but I think I remember hearing about that.

    • lengau@midwest.social
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      8 days ago

      This is essentially Google moving to do what I always thought was Apple’s malicious compliance on the DMA, but which European courts seem to have accepted as just fine. I’m pretty miffed at Google for sinking to Apple’s level on this.

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    9 days ago

    i bailed on android to join my family on ios, and i hate it. now i cant even go back comfortably. so… linux phones?

  • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    Can someone “redpilled by corporate” explain me how this policy actually increase security?

    It’s trivial for a malware developer to pay $25 with a stolen card and a stolen id

    Look at the “verified” bots on xitter, they didn’t solve the bots problem, rather just monetized it

    • killeronthecorner@lemmy.world
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      The vast majority of malware isn’t delivered via play store because of the existing measures and protections they have. Same reason you see very little app-store-based malware on iOS. DISCLAIMER: YES MALWARE EXISTS ON APPLE HARDWARE PLEASE DON’T SHOUT AT ME. Talking specifically about anything installed via first party stores on both platforms.

      Their main issue is this: dumb people install apks from spurious website and infect their phones. The least controllable and most pervasive factor here is the intelligence and knowledge of the user which cannot be controlled for by Google. So by eliminating the ability to exploit this entirely, it will eliminate that specific vector.

      It’s a sledgehammer solution that naturally comes with many downsides like disrupting intelligent and knowledgeable users that just want to hack around with FOSS and such.

      Google is relying on It being too expensive for malware creators to have to guide each individual user through adb installation and usage process just to get access to their phone. Most scammers only do that level of interaction to extract actual cash/gift cards from the target.

      I am personally and directly affected by their decision in many negative ways, but I’m not so dense as to not understand why they’re doing it.

      /corpodronespeak

      EDIT: bots help Xitter maintain inflated usage figures which justify people’s jobs, share prices, etc. Bots are a feature, not a bug.

      • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        yes, of course malware is distributed via apk.

        But what’s the difference between:

        1. malware that is signed anonymously and then, when its signature is identified, it’s removed via play protect
        2. malware that is signed with a stolen identity and then, when its signature is identified, it’s removed via play protect

        ?

        Isn’t exactly the same stuff? Or there’s someone that is actually thinking that criminals will use their real ID card for the verification?

        Does not change anything for malware distribution, except bother them for a dozen minutes meanwhile they “verify” their stolen ID

        • killeronthecorner@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          Because it can be invalidated. That’s the difference.

          It’s absolutely not foolproof, but nothing is. Most actions corps take for this stuff only slows down the spread. Hackers and bad actors innovate way faster than companies can keep up with. So companies cast a wide net with their solutions. And the cycle continues.

            • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              with the new system, you must go online to check if the license for that app is still valid or revoked. But the current system works almost the same: if there’s an internet connection play protect checks the signature against an online malware db and prevents installation.

              From a couple years ago, google has the power to remotely install/uninstall any apk on your phone without your consent

            • killeronthecorner@lemmy.world
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              8 days ago

              No, the certificate can be invalidated preventing future installations for other users. If you already have it you’re SOOL

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        8 days ago

        Their main issue is this: dumb people install apks from spurious website

        No they don’t. Most people don’t even know what an apk even is.

        • killeronthecorner@lemmy.world
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          Most people don’t know what a bootloader is. They still turn their devices on and off every day.

          This whole conversation is about adding obstacles to prevent non technical users from doing things they don’t fully understand.

          • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            The overwhelming majority of Android users don’t even know where to start to install software outside of the Play Store. If they’re even aware that it’s possible.

            • KuroiKaze@lemmy.world
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              It’s actually an incredibly common way that they are infected, especially in places where WhatsApp is the default communication platform

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              Yes you’re right. If they knew, it would likely come with the knowledge that, if someone asks you to do this, you’re probably being scammed.

              That’s what makes them most vulnerable to these kinds of scams.

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      It’s not about stopping malware; it’s about being able to act on malware.

      Making a new account with a new phone number and new credit card is a minor barrier to entry.

      That said, it’s a cool story, but I think they’re looking to stop vanced style patching.

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      Corporate needs to have somebody to sue in case of a policy violation. Very especially those debloated apps that float around the web - they need to ensure they have a physical person to pin the blame to in court.

      • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        if scammers can open a bank account with stolen identities, i’d assume google, which is entirely run by bots without any human oversight, wouldn’t have a better detection

        • FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au
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          You don’t think Google have better tech than banks?

          Oh boy. You have no idea how old and bad the underlying tech that banks work on is.

    • Reginald_T_Biter@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      I presume they are implying that the play store review process will catch compromised apps? Not likely considering how many dodgy apps have been found on play store. It’s just another controlling act.

    • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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      Google is doing this to comply with EU regulations supposed to increase security. Now imagine that Google was pushing back against this instead of complying. As per usual, Lemmy would be up in arms against Google for failing to protect people’s data and not complying with our laws and culture. You’d be downvoted to oblivion for asked that question and called a corporate bootlicker.

      I think these rules come from German legal culture, which traditionally has a strong need to control information exchange and processing.

      • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        the way they originally phrased it, it was seemingly because of authoritarian governments like singapore wanting to exert more control (hey google, can you revoke the certificate or doxx this dev for us?) and then they realized that they could make more money if they extended this block worldwide

        • General_Effort@lemmy.world
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          8 days ago

          I’m sure the EU is not the only jurisdiction demanding this sort of thing, but I doubt Singapore has the pull needed to get Google to move.

          Brussels effect. Imagine Google were to still allow unverified apps in the US. Most devs would still opt for verification so as not to lose the EU market. The proportion of malware is probably going to be higher among the few remaining unverified apps. Sooner or later, some US scam victims would sue Google for failing to protect them like it protects Europeans. Hard to refute.

  • Kokesh@lemmy.world
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    9 days ago

    So… Will the ADB let me do this? reVanced specially, YouTube is completely unwatchable otherwise.

    • PhAzE@lemmy.ca
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      9 days ago

      I suspect this is designed to block revanced entirely. It won’t be able to install the apk it compiles or downloads, so apps won’t be able to update even if you have it installed via adb to begin with.

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      I haven’t used revanced in a while, but Fennic + ubo + sponsor block should get you to basically the same place unless they’ve added new features since I used it last.

      No separate app required.

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        9 days ago

        I wouldn’t count on it. I’m 100% expecting them to follow up on this in another update, blocking devices from wirelessly debugging themselves for “security” reasons.

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        9 days ago

        All APKs will need a valid Google developer signature.

        Doesn’t matter if it’s installed from GitHub or F-Droid, no signature, no installation.

    • crumpted@sopuli.xyz
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      All APKs will require a signed developer certificate.

      I doubt they will be signing keys for developers who circumvent Google’s services, or that violate their ToS.

      They’re copying this scheme from Apple in Europe, when it was forced to allow other app stores.

      In that case, Apple revoked certificates for apps it didn’t like, such as P2P/torrents. Mind you, these were NOT apps that were not hosted on Apple’s App Store.

    • kernelle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      They’re doing the same thing Apple has been doing for years, I used to run a self-signing application which ran every week or so by itself.

      Workarounds are going to exist plenty, it’s just a slap in the face. Especially because the Play Store is filled with malware. Apple’s strict rules are horrible for developers, but at least it’s not as riddled with malware.