cross-posted from: https://jlai.lu/post/24787719
Starting next year, Google will begin to verify the identities of developers distributing their apps on Android devices, not just those who distribute via the Play Store.
Does this even effect GrapheneOS? Could they not use their own package installer by getting rid of the installer code?
My blood glucose monitor is not on the play store. So one dy next year I’ll wake up and no longer be able to get that data…?
Sorry, your survival is incompatible with this version of Android.
You are probably half-joking, but… yeah.
I fucking hate this timeline. Actually, scratch that, that is way to placid and abstract.
I hate the assholes in charge. Fuck all of them. Luigi did nothing wrong.
Yeah sorry, I feel you. Things like these make me really cynical.
Fühl ich, Bruder.
Yawn. Guess more people will just have to not install gapps…
Let Google know what you think about this: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfN3UQeNspQsZCO2ITkdzMxv81rJDEGGjO-UIDDY28Rz_GEVA/viewform
Love it!
I’m probably going to spam this around a bit, since most people don’t seem to know about it, but a reminder that FuriLabs has a (GNU+)Linux phone with decent spec.s and the ability to run Android app.s (from what I’ve heard) pretty decently: https://furilabs.com/
Biggest drawback is it’s based on Halium. Usual growing pains of a new product/company apply but apparently the company is pretty responsive and their dev.s have worked with customers to get things like calling working with the carrier and bands of their country where it hasn’t worked before so improvements move pretty quickly.
Collection of different experiences I’ve variously seen online over the last year or so:
- https://clehaxze.tw/gemlog/2025/07-20-flx1-actually-usable-linux-phone.gmi
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41839326
- https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1fa1ljn/furilabs_flx1/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1j46f2w/flx1_linux_phone_display_out/
- https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/03/furiphone_flx1/
I don’t own one, myself, so I can’t give any personal experience but I’ve seen it around for a few years now but most people don’t seem to even know about it. Maybe there’s a reason for that? But none I’ve ever seen anyone say.
With a microSD slot and a 3.5mm jack, too. I’m just gonna go ahead and save this
Why does every interesting / unique phone have to be phablet sized. ;(
Is this just a signature check when installing? Could it be bypassed by getting your dev cert and just signing everything you want to install? Things like obtainium and fdroid could even have a “load your own cert” option and automate this.
one of those things that’s good in theory but i have no trust in google handling it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the actual fuck, Google‽
I swear to Hephaestus, at this point I’m considering switching to UBPorts or Sailfish OS or something…
I think Sailfish is banned outside of Scandinavia. The company will not allow others to have it if you dont live there.
I think you’re pulling things straight outta your ass.
It’s the next levels for magicians to master, after they’ve perfected the top hat.
Well fuck, if I was off my face, I look again.
If it helps, my comment was more riffing off of noodlejetski’s phrasing than what you’d originally said. “pulling things straight outta your ass” felt like some off-brand magician so I wanted to make a joke about that.
I swear I just saw something the other day that said it was unauthorized outside the region. I remember thinking it was strange. I swear I remember seeing it.
This is from their site:
We currently sell in European Union, UK, Norway and Switzerland.
Please be welcome to use our products anywhere in the world, however due to our limited resources we can only support the noted regions.
And, just like that, no more modded apps, no more custom stores, everything is tightly under control unless you install a custom ROM (and then it’s no more banking apps,etc.). And it’s all for our own good, after all, big brother Google knows what’s best for us!
Requirement of authentication apps is making it trickier too. If you want to go to a concert or sporting event vended by ticketmaster, you’re fucked outside of Android and iOS.
Clocking into jobs increasingly requires Android or iOS.
yeah, I had to resurrect an old phone to go to a concert last week. It’s possible I’ll never go to one again. I wouldn’t have bought the tickets had I known about that bullshit.
Yes, there used to be papers for “coordinate systems” you could use as 2FA, and SMS one-time-passwords… but they are slowly being rolled out in the EU due to security concerns and the “Strong Customer Authentication (SCA)” standards mandated by PSD2. EU banks are transitioning to app-based and biometric authentication now… here you literally need a phone if you want any form of online banking.
I just use the web browser instead of a banking app.
Some banking apps do work so it would be helpful not to spread that misconception.
My (major Canadian) Bank app (TD) has always just worked, no matter the state of my bootloader or root, and I’ve never bothered with Magisk Hide or anything like that to try to dodge root checks.
True. Also, most banks offer a web interface.
For now… :(
While I won’t tell people exactly what to search, I can guarantee that I can find malware first try on Google Play. Google Play Integrity is just as dodgy.
When a preventative measure very obviously won’t solve the stated problem, that may not be what it’s really there to solve. This is another of Google’s anti-open-source moves designed to bring all Android devices entirely under their control and surveillance. It goes along with their bringinh all Android development in house and making it harder for third parties to make their own custom versions of Android (Graphene OS etc.). It also seems a little odd that this happens right when several countries are introducing requirements that users supply ID to visit websites.
It is like the whole world becomes a psychopathic dictatorship overnight.
My personal favorite is how they are doing it to prevent data theft and malware. All they have ever done is trick people out of data. All of their shitty apps that I can not remove from my Samsung phone ARE the malware I do not want. Fuck Google and every person that works there!
shit like this really should be illegal
Probably is
Yeah but with dumpy in the wh, who’s gonna stop them?
Custom ROM usage is gonna explode
Probably why Google is also taking steps to make custom ROM development significantly more difficult. They evidently want to kill off all Android ecosystems except the ones they control and watch.
setting up walled garden using security excuse. What’s the next excuse?
Won’t somebody please think of the children!
We all know the reason.
It’s always the same nonsense. “Safety”, “security”, “privacy”, etc.
They won’t ever say for ma profits
The terrible risk that you install apps which don’t use google-tagmanager, googleanalytics and don’t send logging and user data to Alphabet.
Won’t someone think of the
childrenshareholders
