Those of you who install non-google-play apps (aka: sideloading), what's your gameplan for the upcoming Google restrictions on Sideloading?
Edit: Replaced "Restrictions" in place of the word "Ban"
Waiting for someone in Europe to sue them.
I use F-droid for everything. I'd truly be fucked.
Chaos and rebellion.
Sell off any phones that I can't modify. Aggressively de-Google while setting up fake accounts to send garbage into their system training.
Light my way with the burning of bridges.
Hoping that EU comes to the rescue.
google saw that EU allowed apple to do something similar, so why not take the chance to lock the garden...
Nah they wont.
Sure, they are really good on the right-to-repair issue, but that's because they want to be more independent and less reliant on other countries to make new phones. As for privacy and information control, the government don't really have an incentive to give people more privacy and freedoms. They are still trying to pass chat control with a majority of the EU members in support (the only reason its not passed yet is because EU laws need to be unanimous)
You obviously don't understand EU, it's far from only right to repair, but EU has many protections against American shenanigans, like tracking and storing of personal data, and right to be forgotten (GDPR). EU Also dictated Apple should allow sideloading, something Apple of course mostly circumvented, but they could face steep fines for that too.
EU also has way stricter regulation than USA and UK on mass surveillance. And generally way better consumer protection than USA.
For the immediate future, I'll be all set with GrapheneOS.
Beyond that, I'll suffer whatever inconveniences I need to in order to avoid this bullshit. If that means I can't use my banking apps, I'll find a better bank, or use the web site, or just say "fuck it all" and stop banking on my phone altogether. I've already given up NFC payments. It's not the end of the world.
This will only become a bigger pain in the ass as time goes on, I'm sure, but I will die on this hill. I suggest that everyone draw their lines in the sand sooner rather than later.
Yep. Me too. I'll be OK for now with GrapheneOS, and as time goes on I'll make changes as needed. I'm actually optimistic things will work out before it gets to that point, but if it doesn't I'm willing to do what I need to. I will die on the hill with you.
I'm so tired of this shit man, I no longer have any real plan.
I'm seriously considering carrying the smallest x86/ARM Tablet capable of running Linux I can alongside some cheap phone for 4G hotspot and calls/strictly necessary.
Guess PC land is the last place we still have freedom (for now!!!! 🙄🙄🙄)
Not for long, the Microsoft boot secure thing is sus
I’m not one to bang on about the year of Linux, but honestly, the floor is falling out from under ‘consumer Windows,’ and they are doing little to stop it.
At some point, even OEMs are going to get fed up and start offering their own wine/proton centric distros on some laptops/big tablets. They will be awful and bloated, and business laptops will probably be stuck with Windows forever, but still.
You can use a MiFi router with tablet and a dumbphone just for calls.
Once my phone becomes that limited I may as well go back to a feature phone after mine stops being usable.
Honestly no idea. It's hard enough finding a phone with an audio jack, and now I have to find a phone with an audio jack, and an unlockable bootloader so I can install another OS?
Just seems like my way of living is incompatible with modern society. It's all just too hard
Just seems like my way of living is incompatible with modern society. It's all just too hard
I know right?
Used a locked phone! Submit your ID to the web! Create a Instagram account! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!
yeah so hard to switch to wireless audio. horrible even.
Idk if you're aware of this. But phones with headphones jacks still have Bluetooth. I use wireless earphones occasionally (and yes, it is horrible) but I also need to be able to plug in to my home hi-fi system
There hasn't been anything Google on my phone for a while now, so I'll first wait and see how they regain control over my phone :D
the ":D" really made the comment, its like the "this is fine" meme, but simplified to 2 characters xD
Basically, yes
All we can really do is deal with shit as it arises, but it's still shit
Trying to import a Pixel 10 from outside of the states for the Sim slot.
Then GrapheneOS and run it into the ground.
I really hope Graphene partners with Fairphone, helps them get their security up to par, and make the Fairphone the official Graphene phone.
Then I could just use Fairphone forever.
The 10 might not get graphene due to changes in the way the hardware is done. If you want graphene now, grab a pixel 9 instead. Or at least wait till they have an official statement for it.
They have officially stated that they can support the 10 now, but it will have to wait until after the port to QPR1. https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/1960792610114511190#m
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:
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.
(all that said, – if they take PayPal – I'm gonna buy one with PayPal credit as soon as humanly feasible; the end goal, for me, was always to move to Mobile Linux, eventually, so I'm very interested to try out if this makes it finally feasible, for me)
This is what I have my eye on. That or a sailfish phone. Reviews seem really good so they gives me hope. Still going to be inconsistencies but that's a tradeoff I'd make.
I think I want this. I just can't do without rcs messaging. My family won't switch to the apps
FLX1 has an audio jack, SD card, and removable battery?? If they continue to develop this (if it doesn't die by the wayside, as the others have), and Signal continues to work on it, I'm in! From this cursory look, it seems to be exactly what I was looking for.
Edit: holy crap. It's bigger than the Pixel 7 Pro.
| Pixel 7 Pro | FLX1 |
|---|---|
| 162.9mm | 171mm |
| 76.6mm | 82mm |
| 8.9mm | 12mm |
We'll have to see how they implement it first. If it's just through Play Protect, I'm fine as I'm already not using that. If not, guess I'll have to make-do with a Linux phone.
I'm going to wait for someone else to figure out a workaround and write a tutorial. Then wait for some indian youtuber to make a video tutorial out of that.
Without someone mumbling into a buzzing mic, I don't believe its authenticity.
Dude, why do half the Indian YouTubers sound like mumble rappers. Hell, they’re better than me because they probably speak 3+ languages, but they can’t think it’s good for their viewership.
So how long until celluar providers also say you have to have a trusted device to activate your SIM? Apple, Google, Samsung, automotive and Windows would be fine and they’d probably allow their branded or limited hotspots.
This would basically eliminate any Linux option (pc or phone), and DIY devices. I could see other OOB vendors getting on board to be certified to have a certificate issued to them.
Not impossible, but SIMs go in all kinds of devices nowadays including tons of generic IOT gadgets.
The ban is only in Brazil, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Terrible, and those are some of the bigger markets, but I am not affected in a years time. I will have to see more as we approach the date on working around it.
The change is global, but it's hitting those countries first (2026).
From the official post about the change:
I think it was clear I know about it, because I said "in a year's time". I even already sent this exact timeline in this thread
What's their PR flavour text for that?
And how does a company get the authority to do a "ban"? Isn't that supposed to be a Government thing?
Seems like their real goal is to make the users of their devices as vulnerable as possible. How?
This comment is very conspiratorial. While this change is making people more vulnerable to malware and lessening their freedom, the screen lock thing is complete nonsense. Your launcher has been given permission to keep the screen on. If it is the system launcher and that permission was provided automatically, all you need to do is use another launcher.
The official Google blogpost states this timeline:
There is no PR stunt here, just the need to read. Unless you are considering a PR stunt the claim that it is 50 times more likely to get malware from outside of the Play Store, that is just a complete lie as the Play Store is filled to the brim with malware.
Gonna push me to using a dumb phone and a Linux laptop I guess.
Doesn't sound bad at all really when you think of it.
Strongly Considering going back to a Prepaid burner style and just carrying a laptop everywhere.
I don't need to be that connected.
The Punkt Mp02 would be great for that.
You get a feature phone that can still do hotspot so you can get data to your laptop
Oh my god that's incredible
Your brain will thank you!
Honestly, last year I started a "tech reclaimation" period where I was reclaiming my time from corporate social media to free myself from the (as arctic monkeys put it) "endless stream of great tv".
I've moved to selfhosting almost all my services and have gone back to physical media (except my digital backup library) for most games and movies.
The detox has been nice, I enjoy games again, I can experience boredom and all the inspiration that comes with it. Life is good. Disconnection is bliss.
Not updating my phone for now. Installing a custom ROM on my next phone
Get a Fairphone. Install Lineage on my current phone, install Linux on the Fairphone.
I'm not sure really.
I like the idea of alternatives like a Linux phone OS or a custom ROM like Graphene, but I also hate the idea of needing to faff around with my phone to make it work how I want it to.
Pray for lawsuits.
my plan is not updating my phone until the google plan is reversed.
Stay on GrapheneOS as long as I can, then look for an alternative OS like trying Linux phones again and maybe they will be ready for prime time by then (hope springs eternal and all that).
Probably grapheneos until it dies (thanks Google) then 2 phones, a cheap stock one at home shutdown and no sim, only for critical services that are exclusively app based, and a Linux phone as my main.
Good transitional way to do it too. I thought of similar for travel. Have a "travel phone" for flights, rental car, ride share, whatever. And it goes off as soon as you're far enough along to not need it anymore. On for return trip, then back in the drawer it goes.
I have been using custom ROMs since CyanogenMod and am currently mostly on GrapheneOS, some of it entirely Google-free.
I used to use cyanogen mod but have not used a custom ROM in years. How difficult is it to setup these days and how difficult will it be to adjust?
GrapheneOS is very easy and smooth, but only works on Pixel hardware. LineageOS is more rough around the edges and considerably less secure.
Hopefully GrapheneOS can be my solution since I've got a Pixel 7a, but I first need to move over all my 2FA accounts because Twilio Authy does not work on GrapheneOS 😭
FYI, Aegis works on GrapheneOS if you need a recommendation (in terms of an app for 2FA).
1 plus for Aegis.
Backup all your codes to an encrypted file you can do whatever you want with.
No cloud, no "automagic", no obfuscation.
True peace of mind.
I ordered a Pixel and plan to flash Graphine. I hate the cruel irony of paying Google to degoogle a phone, but my current phone is on its last legs.
Hope to keep this one alive a good few years, after that I have no clue. I hope Linux phones catch up.
I've been meaning to get around to installing GrapheneOS on my phone (Pixel 7 pro) for a while now. I'll make sure my next phone has a LineageOS ROM available.
Can wholeheartedly recommend gos.
Im sorta lazy. Did not switch to linux until windows 11 even though I should have after windows 7. I use the android that came on the phone because im lazy but I have to be able to sideload so this may turn out to be androids windows 11.
Burn google down
I'll stay on GrapheneOS as long as possible. And if it stops, I'll get a Linux phone.
Im starting to get to a point where I don’t even want to have a phone anymore. Like fuck people in general lol I don’t have many who call or text anyway. The browsing I do I can just stick to my PC.
I haven't fully researched that topic yet but should I be safe with e/os?
For now... Google is developing AOSP more and more behind closed doors, which is more troubling for other Android based OS's. So even if e/OS is not (much) effected by this 'sideloading' thing, other choices Google makes will destroy something at some point.
If Google is going to build this "sideload protection" in the core of Android, this is going to be very bad, even for e/OS.
Fuck Google.
I'm probably going to have get a separate phone for work, need a few apps that I don't foresee working on a Linux phone anytime soon.
"The apps don't work on my phone" won't fly as an excuse lol, and I like my job most days.
This is likely my result as well. I've tried to avoid needing 2 phones but... I think it'll be nice to explore Linux phone options.
Well hey, having clear separation between work and personal could be a plus. Hopefully enough to offset the annoyance of carrying 2 devices...
Use whatever I got for now and then hope that phones that allow custom Roms don't die out when it comes to buying a replacement in the future.
I don't even use gmail anymore which made it easy to start degoogling and moving away from using Google account based stuff like Google Keep and opting for Foss variants. So hope custom ROM scene can survive or look into Linux phones.
I've been looking into pure Linux Phones like Ubuntu touch and the Kali Mobile thing. Shame that its limited to hardware that I can't find here
If this actually happens, my next phone will probably be a dumb phone, unless I can find a true linux phone.
Wait and see, then panic if affected.
I sideload two apps and when I can't use them anymore is when I can't trust android. One of them is package disabler pro. I use it to keep androids bloat and spyware shutdown.
Planning to become a primary iphone user with a PostmarketOS side phone. Want I want in the future is that if I'm using Android apps, it's through Waydroid or Android Translation layer. Then hopefully in my lifetime I see non-Android Linux become popular. Or a non-commercial organization take lead on an Android fork that gets significant adoption
What phone are you planning to run postmarket os on? They have like a long list of supported devicws and honestly IDK which one to pick if I were to hypothetically go with with postmarket os
I'm thinking of buying a fairphone or test it out. I do have a pixel 7 that I can give it a go with
Might have to check their list and see what I can obtain cheaply
I've been using LineageOS for years, and have been planning for my next phone to be a used Pixel running GrapheneOS. While this announcement from Google sucks shit, it won't affect me I don't think. More worrying are the other changes in the pipeline that would stop development of GrapheneOS. I am dying for a working Linux phone.
It won’t apply to GrapheneOS. It only applies to certified OSes and GrapheneOS is not certified because it doesn’t license Google Mobile Services.
I get that. I'm more worried about other planned changes that will affect Grapheme development.
What are you talking about a ban on sideloading?
Fairphone makes an effort to open source all code including device trees and encourages the developement of custom roms and alternative oses like Linux mobile. So I'll just switch to a Fairphone with a custom ROM.
I won't switch to mobile linux though since I don't want to go back to an unsandboxed environment.
It affects only people using factory roms and google play services. I don't remember the last time I used a factory rom, I've use microg for nearly a decade, (and I'm a mod of !microg@discuss.tchncs.de) and I'm not planning to change this workflow even when I will replace my phone, so I'm pretty sure I'm not affected at all.
See the thing with this is, Google would be forcing manufacturers to meet their "requirements" in order to get Google Play Certified, now they are using the requirement list to force this change, they could also add a "Disable Bootloader Unlocking" requirement to certification.
Its the mobile equivalent of the "Windows 11 TPM Requirement".
Unlockable bootloader is indeed more and more important. Hopefully a handful of manufacturers still allow that
PinePhone?
I am hoping, that I can switch to a Fairphone with a custom ROM til next year. If I can't get the money for it until then, I Am just hoping that it will be implemented through an android Update, because in that case it won't affect me, since I Am already stuck on Android 11 or so.
What about Aurora Store and F-Droid?
You have to "side-load" those apps, so they will at least need to register with Google. Aurora is unlikely to be granted such dispensation. Apps that are currently only offered through F-Droid will also need to be registered with Google. I doubt they'll look kindly on apps like NewPipe, or AdAway.
Each individual app developer will have to register with Google, regardless of where you install the app from: F-Droid, Aurora, Obtainium, directly getting the APK from GitHub, doesn't matter.
This is coming off like the nightmare scenario that Valve thought would happen to Windows that led them to start investing into Linux as an alternative.
Wait until it affects me. Just like when I ditched Chrome. Just like when I ditched Windows. I used Vanced long after they were stopped, didn't switch to ReVanced until Vanced literally could not play anymore. I'm the latest adopter, for sure. By the time I make a change, the path of what I want to do has been well-tread by others.
So you're ditching Android, for what? Is there an actual Linux phone you're looking for, are are you gonna carry around a pocker-sized PC? (genuinely asking)
My phone only updates until Jan 2026 so I'll be fine. I reckon they'll allow installing via adb still as otherwise people won't be able to develop new android apps
chuckles nervously in GrapheneOS