> be me > buy new phone, chose android cause I can install anything on it > get free iphone from work > sell iphone on ebay cause I can install anything I want on my android > google doesnt want me to install anything I want
Fuck me.
Apple now allows sideloading of apps and Google is trying to get rid of sideloading.
What… the Fuck?
Now we have to get EU on the case 😀
How does this affect “second-party” apps (i.e. apps you have created yourself)? Are you still allowed to go to Android studio, make an APK, transfer it to your own phone, and install that app? If no, this spells the death of experimental indie developers on Android.
yes. from what I understand, you will get a developer key from Google, and then you will sign your APK with your key.
you’ll still be able to sideload apps that have been signed with developer keys. the main point here is that Google is forcing the developer to identify themselves.
You don’t need to sign anything just turn off play protect with 1 adb command:
adb shell settings get global package_verifier_user_consent adb shell settings put global package_verifier_user_consent -1 # disable Play ProtectNot a solution to our problem, but this is a crumb in our favor.
Even Apple lets you do that… one imagines Google being less restrictive than Apple
Joke’s on them, my phone only cost $300
Can someone explain how this affects graphene os users?
Someday you will have to buy a new phone.
Does this mean the end for YouTube Revanced on Android?
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I’ll just buy and use decade old phones with unlocked bootloader till I can. There’s barely any innovation in phones these days and I’m sure someone will come to fill the gap Android left (hopefully Linux). I’m still using my 5 year old phone degoogled with custom a16 and still going strong. I also have a backup pixel 6 in case the current one breaks. I can easily wait 10-15 years.
This is redicolous
i heard they were softlocking the OP soon in the newer models, but hopefully they dont compeltely lock it down.
If Google is going to lock down my device to the point where I can’t install apps without their permission, I might as well dump Android and go straight to Apple. I sacrificed my phone being good for the openness of the platform, but if Google loses that openness, why shouldn’t I go with Apple?
Openness isn’t just a nice to have. It is essential.
The difference between general purpose computing and gatekept walled garden computing is night and day.
Identifying the devs is not in the “need to know” for Google. Google sells or helps to sell a general purpose open device where it is on us to exploit that device however we will.
Now Google wants to switch to a walled garden, moderated development model.
If Google promises it won’t use those dev IDs to moderate development, their promise is only worth the wind it moves and the sound it makes.
Because the cheapest new iPhone is $600 and you can get a cheap new android phone for around $100-$200 and get 6 years of security updates (Galaxy A16 for example)
If a smartphone is no longer a computer where you can install whatever you want, why bother investing so much money on a very locked-down phone? You can use the hundred of dollars you saved to spend on a small portable PC or something to run any software you want.
$600 is pocket change for a phone these days. And for that $600 you’re getting a flagship phone. You couldn’t pay me enough money to put up with a non-flagship. Been there, done that. They’re too slow and frustrating, and apps keep closing due to lack of RAM. Never again. I much rather spend $600-800 on a high-end device that’s a couple of generations old.
A $200 phone in 2015 is not the same as a $200 phone in 2025. I know from experience.
Those phones in 2015 were awful, but in 2025, they feel more like mid-range phones.
Edit: And $600 is pocket change? Sound like someone lived a privilaged life.
I make $19/hr and live paycheck to paycheck. I’m just being realistic about the current cell phone market.
Surely cost relative to income is more relevant than cost relative to the rest of the market? Something doesn’t magically become cheap just because everything else is ridiculously expensive.
This 100%
I have used tracfone since 2012 and only bought phones from their store, sub $150. The budget phones today are so much better than the last 10 years.
I just can’t wrap my head around sinking that much into a phone when you replace it every year and it cost as much as a decent budget computer, but worse.
I just can’t wrap my head around sinking that much into a phone when you replace it every year
Usually the people who replace their flagship phone every 1 - 2 years aren’t paying full price for it, or at least not upfront. They are receiving trade-in and pre-order discounts, or spreading the cost out over a 12 - 24 month period through a plan with their telco.
Apple hardware has always been a generation ahead. Even when android/qualcom catches up, next generation is out already. The reason to avoid apple was it being a closed system money grab.
Apple hardware ahead of Android? I’ll have what you’re having!
Please show me a single benchmark with a flagship android beating a flagship iPhone.
The only answer is money at that point. I don’t know how much phones are these days, but aren’t iPhones like $1400, but Android is like $900?
I may be wrong though. Last time I bought a phone was 2018, and it was $600. Still using it.
You can get Android phones with reasonable specs around $200. No need for the so called “flagships”.
Oh, I was comparing flagships, because iphone doesn’t have a non-flagship to compare to.
You probably didn’t do it on purpose, but you made a comparison on Apple’s terms, thus implicitly priveleging Apple.
Last thing Apple needs is us priveleging it.
I’m just saying Apple doesn’t make anything close to a cheap stripped down $200 model.
I made the comparison based on feature set. For that you need an android flagship phone. Android DOES make cheap phones…but therexs no 1:1 comparison for Apple.
I already tend to buy the expensive flagship models of phones. I buy unlocked and it lasts me ~5+ years, so I get the best phone I can get at the time and make it last, so money isn’t as much of an issue if I were to move to an iPhone.
Sideloading being so easy on iphones and now becoming very difficult on android. Wow
Yeah but don’t you have to boot up your PC and connect your phone to iTunes once a week to re-enable developer mode to be able to sideload? Is there a more permanent method that I’m unaware of?
Jesus, how the heck is this called “sideloading is so easy on an iPhone”?
That’s a nightmare procedure, and completely unnecessary.
Obviously Apple makes sideloading as hard as possible.
They are converging to become the same thing.
Its not any better on iOS, fyi, they too require Apple’s final approval.
Will this kill FDroid ? I imagine yes since you have to install it from a download.
My suspicion is that the main purpose of Googles decision is to stop F-Droid and Aurora Store from working.
They don’t care about those.
They want revanced and other ad circumvention tools out.
They ARE an ad company, you know?
And especially any youtube app that blocks ads. OF COURSE Google will never allow Newpipe, Revanced, FreeTube and so on to be installed on Android phones ever again.
None of those have worked for me on Android since a couple of months.
Firefox with uBlock Origin is the last bastion, and don’t think that’s not on their radar.
Hey don’t mind me, I’m just gonna whip out my steamdeck (that I already have) to watch a youtube video using the desktop firefox. (Yes I know its 720p, but whatever lol, its good enough for gaming, its good enough for youtube)
I haven’t watched the video — I would generally rather have text form content — but if Rossman is announcing the same thing that I just read about elsewhere, it’s not a removal of sideloading. It requires that a developer register and provide Google with personal information for Google to let them create packages. Assuming that Google is willing to let the F-Droid developers register an account (which I assume they have) and sign the F-Droid package, it should not restrict installation of the F-Droid package.
However, you wouldn’t be able to use F-Droid to install any packages that didn’t conform to Google’s new requirements.
I doubt that the restriction is at the store app level, but at the package installation level. That is, I would expect that the F-Droid or Google’s store app or whatever says “install this package” and the OS refuses.
https://developer.android.com/developer-verification
Starting in September 2026, Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed on certified Android devices.
Step 1
Verify your identity
You will need to provide and verify your personal details, like your legal name, address, email address, and phone number.
If you’re registering as an organization, you’ll also need to provide a D-U-N-S number and verify your organization’s website.
You may also need to upload official government ID.
Step 2
Register your apps
You’ll need to prove you own your apps by providing your app package name and app signing keys.
so is this why my phone updated and then took seven hours to connect to the network the other day?
“No” is what I would prefer to say but for some reason “that is extremely unlikely” hits the point home harder.
I think I am just done with the whole concept of the convenient prepackaged tech product, and especially staying “connected” with them.
For example, I stopped wearing a smart watch this summer and it’s been a positive. I was the type to wear it 23 hours a day and track my sleep with it and everything. It turns out that not instantly seeing every notification or knowing the exact minute of the day are not a big deal, sans are even good for me.
Part of what I’ve also done is use my phone a lot less and my linux desktop a lot more. I use it as a mobile communication device and not my computer for everything. I guess the next time I need to replace it I’ll either get an iphone since everybody in my family has one, or I’ll see where these wonderful Linux phone projects end up.
I’m wearing my smartwatch as a wristwatch. All notifications are off, but I see the temperature, UV index, step and calorie counters, which is nice. And if I ever want to review my sleep data, pulse, sPO2 saturation and location history, I got it available just in case. And for the very rare case that my phone is charging and I want to access messages from another room, I can do that manually.
In all fairness to smart watches, mine is what turned me on to regularly checking the UV index. That’s an important thing for all people, but especially me because I have an increased skin cancer risk due to unrelated medical stuff. And it was extra-extra important this year because I have done a ton of good work outside this summer.
And to be more specific about my watch situation, there’s more going on than just avoiding notifications. I have been minimizing the amount of stuff I keep on my person in general, right down to finally getting my wedding ring tattooed on this year. There are various reasons ranging from abstract introspective life improvement stuff to the practical where that outside work I mentioned was constant and pretty rough on anything on my hands/arms.
So even if I wore a nice mechanical watch, I’d probably still be going with the double bare wrists right now.
does this control happen with a specific android version release? what number? Can I get a new phone with that version and sideload an alternative OS/ROM?
You can research a phone you like and check if it has an unlockable bootloader, root it, and install something like LineageOS on it. It’s fairly straight-forward, not super technically demanding, but it does require some tinkering and time setting up.
xdaforums.com is where the rooting kids hang out, post guides for specific models, upload images et c, you can probably do it in an afternoon with GPT.
The issue is that some apps, notably banking and official type apps, usually don’t work as they rely on google services for operation. I solve it by having a cheap secondary phone that I only use for that stuff.
Oh, I almost forgot: FUCK YOU GOOGLE
