E: apparently it needs to be said that I am not suggesting you switch to Linux on your phone today; just that development needs to accelerate.
Android has always been a fairly open platform, especially if you were deliberate about getting it that way, but we’ve seen in recent months an extremely rapid devolution of the Android ecosystem:
- The closing of development of an increasing number of components in AOSP.
- Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus have removed the option of bootloader unlocking on all of their devices. I suspect Google is not far behind.
- Google implementing Play Integrity API and encouraging developers to implement it. Notably the EU’s own identity verification wallet requires this, in stark contrast to their own laws and policies, despite the protest of hundreds on Github.
- And finally, the mandatory implementation of developer verification across Android systems. Yes, if you’re running a 3rd-party OS like GOS you won’t be directly affected by this, but it will impact 99.9% of devices, and I foresee many open source developers just opting out of developing apps for Android entirely as a result. We’ve already seen SyncThing simply discontinue development for this reason, citing issues with Google Play Store. They’ve also repeatedly denied updates for NextCloud with no explanation, only restoring it after mass outcry. And we’ve already seen Google targeting any software intended to circumvent ads, labeling them in the system as “dangerous” and “untrusted”. This will most certainly carry into their new “verification” system.
Google once competed with Apple for customers. But in a world where Google walks away from the biggest antitrust trial since 1998 with yet another slap on the wrist, competition is dead, and Google is taking notes from Apple about what they can legally get away with.
Android as we know it is dead. And/or will be dead very soon. We need an open replacement.
Is identity verification for publishing android apps that bad? Both the app store and play store already have your billing information since you have to pay to publish an app anyway right?
What does “that bad” mean? It gives Google ultimate control over what apps you can install on “your” phone. Essentially bringing it on PAR with Apple.
There are (currently) ways to distribute apps outside of Play Store on Android. So no.
Only if you’re using Android, though. It makes sense to me that Google would want publishers of Android apps to be verified, since Google would face backlash if any attacker could publish Android apps anonymously.
This is about installing APKs, not apps downloaded from the Play Store. Which, by the way, also have no quality control. Publish a YouTube downloader and it gets taken down in 3 seconds. Make an app to steal people’s data, perhaps even steal their money? Literally not an issue.
Google doesn’t want you to be able to install a secure open source YouTube client that can ignore ads, or modified apps that can bypass ads they serve that 3rd party app developers put in. They do not give a fuck about attackers getting all your shit. They also don’t want you using NextCloud if you could be using Google Drive - so rest assured, Nextcloud fuckery will now continue on APKs too, not just the Play Store verifications.
In all of this, Apple is in some ways better than what Google wants to do - only because Apple makes money off all devices that run iOS. So they don’t really care if you use something like NextCloud instead of iCloud - they already made money off you, anything else is a bonus. Of course they do still want to keep you paying for shit and they don’t want to be sued by Google for allowing ad-free youtube apps, so they’re only marginally better.
Google has continuously faced bad press for having a nearly non-existent quality control for their play store. Apps loaded with malware, or updated to become malware, are super common. The majority will attempt to inject ads every-fucking-where, like press back, SURPRISE AD! Press home, AD TIME! Close the ad, HERE’S AD 2 ELECTRIC BOOGALOO!
…Yeah? That was my point. It’s time to move away from Android.
I don’t think you understand. This is the way it’s always been, since the beginning of Android.
It may be what Google wants; as a user it is absolutely not what I want. It is not any of Google’s business what I install on my device. If they want to provide it as a service and give users the option to opt out of it, I’m totally fine with that. As is, it sure looks like they just want more control, the same way Apple has. I’d be very unsurprised to see Google following in their footsteps in short order and requiring 27% of their income in order to be “verified”, or blocking apps that compete with them, or making it so God Damn frustrating that developers just quit, as they have on the Play Store.