Google is Killing Open Source Android Apps (Here's Why)
Google's new developer verification requirements starting September 2026 will force ALL Android app developers to register with Google - even those avoiding the Play Store entirely. F-Droid, the tr...
Is there any partition in the E U to stop Google from implementing their developer verification system?
Like Stop Killing Games?
Telling people to file DMA complaints may be a start, ostensibly it was passed to prevent monopolists from locking things down like this, a stick that has already been used on Apple with some success: https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/contact-dma-team_en
Done
Done
There probably will be an exception for the EU. I imagine.
Unfortunately, I think this plays into the EU Cyber Resilience Act, and the developer verification is how Google is trying to comply with it...
Distributors and importers must verify that products comply with CRA standards before selling them. They must review technical documentation, ensure that software does not have known vulnerabilities and comply with update obligations. They must work with vendors to report vulnerabilities and request patches. Finally, they must conduct audits to ensure continued security over time.
[...] Finally, the resilience of mobile apps must be verified through regular testing.
To get more control and more money. Saved you a click.
Yeah it's a real same thing we do every night pinky vibes.
Reasons:
Etc
the other reason that they're killing something - it's a day ending in a "y".
Everyone is suggesting LineageOS, but my big questions are:
This is only affecting roms that are Google approved and have Google play services installed meaning that going to a custom rom will fix this but also that any device currently supported by GPS will be affected. Therefore even old unsupported devices which are no longer receiving updates from their manufacturer will be locked down without the user's choice
Few weeks ago google started messing with aosp. I don't really remember what they did but I think it was either delaying security patches or something to do with firmware. The point is that they can lock apks while pointing at Roms to call the privacy users, then few years later, kill Aosp and we are done
Google made Android to get a foothold into the market. The free and open model was only because they were up against Apple. Don’t nobody kid yourself into thinking their intent was all along anything other than being able to rake it in and have total control just like Apple. They just needed an in to get big. Now Android is huge and now they wanna slam the door and lock everyone down and start really fucking the cash out of everyone’s asses.
Embrace. Expand. Extinguish.
I started using Android in 2011, IIRC, the enshittification has hit hard.
Yeah, I'm fixing to move to either /e/OS or LineageOS. I'm leaning /e/OS, but I'm worried it's less supported than LineageOS for a newbie like myself. On a side note, I also need to go through all my Authy 2FA keys and refresh them because Authy is too locked down to work on anything but a "real" android phone. That's going to be another PITA.
I am enjoying /e/ on the Fairphone.
Im very tempted to just get a small cyber-deck setup and "call" it a day ;). https://www.clockworkpi.com/shop is VERY close to what I want.
Serously, the only people that "Call" me are spam callers. Everyone SMSs or something similar. A small linux device can do the same when you think about it. The only thing I am missing is a directions app and Ill personally be fine.
I honestly don't use my phone much either, it's as you say, mostly for text based messages.
::: spoiler Luckily I don't get spam calls because in my country we have pretty good privacy laws still:
like my number is set to private and I'm on the "Robinson" list, and if someone calls that's not in my contacts list I don't pick up. Cold calls is how they get ya, and once they know there's someone picking up, it's like sharks smelling blood.
:::
The app I use the most, besides my banking app (which I've confirmed works in waydroid aka LineageOS), is probably the Lidl app 😂.
I do still use Google Pay quite a bit, but I'm fine going back to card. I don't even know if NFC works in LineageOS or /e/OS.
And like you said, as long as the phone can do some GPS stuff for navigation, that's mostly all I need. And browse the internet (IronFox) every now and then.
This is the first time I've seen a device like this, super cool. Thanks for sharing.
Google's version of android isn't the "real" one, it's the (soon to be even more) defective one.
There used to be an exploit in an older version of the Authy desktop app that could let you export your 2FA keys, but i dont think you can sign in on the old desktop apps anymore (iirc the app was made in Electron and they left chromium's developer tools enabled in it, which allowed you to run your own JS or something like that). It's always a pain to move 2FA keys to a new app.
I spent the whole weekend going through every possible step. I installed Android-x86, I installed Android Studio, I installed Waydroid. Authy will not run on a rooted device.
I downloaded the Snap version of Authy Desktop v. 2.2.3, but alas, they've closed all the loopholes.
It’s always a pain to move 2FA keys to a new app.
Yeah. Sucks. But I've been registrering all new 2FA keys in both Authy and KeePassXC since I moved to Linux, so hopefully it's not as bad as I think it'll be, at least I'll have KeePassXC TOTP setup for maybe >20% of my accounts.
This right here is the biggest barrier for me. I have so many authentication keys that I need that are on my Android devices and I have no idea how to transfer them to something else.
/e and others like it are just flavors. I happen to like Bliss and crDroid and several others as well. But they aren’t exactly unique, so whatever ROM will work for what you need is what you should go with.
On a side note, I also need to go through all my Authy 2FA keys and refresh them because Authy is too locked down to work on anything but a "real" android phone.
Oof. One of the things I love about Aegis is that I can export and import encrypted MFA configs, to recover from a lost or reinstalled phone.
Yeah, I really shot myself in the foot when I originally went with Authy. I remember looking around for an alternative to Google Authenticator back in ~2014 when I got my first smartphone, and Authy was recommended at the time. Had I been more worried about FOSS back then I might've picked a better solution.
This kills Aurora store and other alternate play store frontends that are entirely based on spoofing your identity when you download an app. Of course, you can still install these things on Custom ROMs I assume, since those aren't going to be verified Android or whatever google is calling this bullshit, right?
Shi, this kills Aurora too. Didn't occur to me. My whole phone might just become unusable, if I can't get apps semi-officially or from alternate sources
Time stamp is about 7 minutes to 18 and a half minutes.
Next version of Android 14 Graphene OS flavored with desktop mode and Linux apps will give plenty of time to wait for my next phone.
Get Linux phone. There are some decent ones coming out.
@DarkAri @warmaster Agreed. @henry Linux phones are the only long-term freedom and privacy respecting solution. Check out the #Furiphone #FLX1s from @furilabs
I'm daily driving a #Librem5 with #postmarketOS and most important things work OK despite the modest specs. I especially appreciate the removable user-replaceable battery and general modularity. However, the feature I use most (more than calls and messages even) is... the #HeadphoneJack!
These companies and their enshittification have kinda killed the broader concept of phones in my mind.
What is my phone? It's my worst computer, proprietary and closed, and which I have been actively avoiding using all year long in order to improve my mental health. It's a tool that makes it easier to exist in modern society, not something that enhances my quality of life.
So I'm not thinking about whether I need iMessage vs Android openness like I might have a decade ago. I'm sitting here wondering if I even need a phone number in the first place! But, even with some wonderful Linux phone device that's like a 6" laptop with a touch screen and LTE/5G, I guess you'd still just have a number associated with your service.
I think this is an exaggeration. Smartphones are one of the greatest inventions in human history, the problem is corporate control, the actual device is amazing.
I have a smartphone, just like there is no more need for a dedicated music player and a portable game console, I can play games and music on this as much as I want. A question popped into my head? I can look it up immediately. Love reading books? You now have effectively infinite space for them and don't need to carry them around, trying to make sure they don't get damaged. Want to watch a movie or a series? You got it. You even used to be able use it as a VR viewer! How cool is that?
If you suffered from social media addiction and just can't use the device without risking a relapse I can sympathize with that. But that's big tech's fault, nothing necessitates smartphones being that way apart from corporate desire for infinite wealth.
Most of the world will not have access to phones that put freedom first, but if you have access to them they can remind you how amazing these things actually are.
I have actually made comments very similar to yours. Basically how phones are a technological marvel but are ruined by greed.
I hope this leads to a LOT of people moving to iOS.
If we have to pick between two overpriced Fisher Price Phones, I'll go for the one that was always against its users on the hope that there's still a chance they'll change...
Ideally, we need affordable Linux phones ASAP.
While I do not prefer either of them to an open platform, I think the more common draw of iOS is that you know what you're getting versus the bait and switch that Google always seems to bring.
You guys keep misrepresenting things I disagree with and make me fact check them, then argue with me as if I'm agreeing with them.
Google isn't killing Open Source Android apps, although it may very well kill F-Droid. Open source devs can definitely still register and provide their apps as a standalone APK.
This does open the door to Google refusing to grant an account to people they don't like, although they haven't done that yet, and it should be noted that as they present it once you have a dev account you can just sign as many apps as you want.
The real eff you from Google to F-Droid here is that they are presenting two types of accounts you can use for this: dev accounts, meant to publish on Google Play (although potentially you could just... not do that) and student/personal accounts that are free and they claim are meant for hobbyists. I've heard rumbings online about what the dividing line will be between them, so that may be a functional workaround for anybody who doesn't want to be on Google Play, but I haven't seen anything specific from Google on it other than "it's coming". It does stand out that "I'm an Open Source dev who doesn't care about Google Play" is not part of the equation here, though, and "I'm F-Droid and I intend to build and verify a TON of apks" is also not accounted for at all.
And of course there now will be a direct paper trail between any signed app and an organization or individual, which is a legal liability issue for a number of app developers. At least on phones. Non-Google certified devices (think Android SBCs and handhelds) should still be able to load unsigned APKs, although those are residual.
I mean, that's all really bad. Why do we need the hyperbolic "Google is killing Open Source" framing? The real thing is bad enough and it doesn't make me show up to argue about it. Plus you could have accurately stated "Google kills anonymous apps, threatening alternate app stores" and that would have been 100% accurate and just as horrifying.
let's be real, this is entirely to kill revanced
"Google refusing to grant an account to people they don't like, although they haven't done that yet"
I have no trust that they will play honest or cleanly with that. Google has a knack for banning accounts randomly, and that's a ban for everything, gmail, YouTube, AdSense. Now give them a reason to ban me for any of the apps I choose to sign. Created an app for tracking ICE agents? Good bye gmail account. A VPN app to circumvent porn bans and the government said that's a no-no? No, more account for you.
I don't care who you trust, honestly.
I have no patience for slippery slope arguments to justify poor reporting or misinformation.
For what it's worth, I do think there is a slippery slope and it's reasonable to expect things to tighten down the line without regulatory intervention.
But that doesn't matter, because this is bad even if nothing like that happens down the line, and even if Google can't be trusted the coverage is misrepresenting the issue.
Man, I hate the Internet.
but app devs and users should be free to do whatever they want without anyone interrupting them.
Doesn't seem that way anymore. Everyone is just leasing their phones. You havnt for awhile been able to do whatever you want with your phone. Otherwise we'd have more phones supporting Linux.
