Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year
Google says it’s no different than checking IDs at the airport.
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Looks like I'm gonna just carry a stock phone, give it nothing but the most basic information and tether it to a laptop over a VPN. They stop tethering? I'll use VOIP and a hotspot.
Welcome back to 2011. Maybe messenger bags will come back into fashion in foss culture.
Run Lineage on your phone of choice.
Or if you're paranoid, a Pixel with Graphene.
...What about after September 2026?
Well, there's one teensy tiny caveat.
Google says that only apps with verified identities will be installable on certified Android devices, which is virtually every Android-based device—if it has Google services on it, it's a certified device.
So, in theory... no gapps, no approval necessary?
Open devs just have to have two versions, as many already do, one signed with Google's spyware and one on github/fdroid with nothing.
So install Lineage OS without Google services, got it.
Seems about right, for as long as they can.
I'd even consider the possibility of "google-free" phones showing up on kickstarter in two or three years for the tinkerer market. That market exists. Raspberrypi didn't buy itself. We are here!
