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Android developer verification: Early access starts

android-developers.googleblog.com

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Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#311

Post by sschueller »

nake89 wrote: post #274
sschueller wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They removed the "ICE" app and if the US government has an issue with other Apps they bend over and do it. Switzerland is currently dealing with a 39% and Brazil with a 50% tariff because Trump has a personal problem with them. It would not be far fetched for an administration to have another states app removed.

I just want to preface that I am not in support of Apple or Google in their closed ecosystem. I was specifically referring to you saying "Switzerland is implementing a digital ID[1]. It will be made available to the most common devices and is open source. However Google and Apple can just remove it, what then?" It seemed like you were saying that because it is open source, it will be removed. I simply disagreed with…

> It seemed like you were saying that because it is open source, it will be removed. I simply disagreed with that. Plenty of opensource software exists in the app store.

Sorry if it came across that way. It is not what I meant, I just mentioned that it is open source. ESL...

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#312

Post by darkwater »

potwinkle wrote: post #138
ashleyn wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yt-dlp's days are fairly numbered as Google has a trump card they can eventually deploy: all content is gated behind DRM. IIRC the only reason YouTube content is not yet served exclusively through DRM is to maintain compatibility with older hardware like smart TVs.

All levels of Widevine are cracked, but only the software-exclusive vulnerabilities are publicly available. It's only used for valuable content though (netflix/disney+/primevideo), so it might still work out for YouTube as no one will want to waste a vulnerability on a Mr. Beast slop video.

Do you have any link? All the things I can find are about the 2019 L3 crack

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#313

Post by bux93 »

BoredPositron wrote: post #286
groestl wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the central bank requested That's the answer, it's regulatory bodies causing this.

In 90% it's insurance compliance.

Is this is something small regional banks in the US do? I'd actually be very interested to know about who is providing, and who is taking such coverage if this is being (re)insured. If you have any market data/news, I would love to know.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#314

Post by peterdn »

imp0cat wrote: post #309
floppyd wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have definitely seen this "you need to go deep in the settings to enable 3rd party installs at all" flow before, but I don't remember which device it was. (Just saying that the commenter above is not just inventing something, I was surprised when I saw it as well)

There definitely is such setting, but I have no idea when it was introduced. S21 is an old phone (not to disparage it in any way). Your Galaxy phone or tablet is configured by default to prevent the installation of apps from sources other than the Play Store and Galaxy Store. https://www.samsung.com/ae/support/mobile-devices/how-to-ena...

Hah, yes, this is also how S21 works. But to still refute the OP's point: (1) it is in stock settings, you do not need to enable the developer settings menu via any arcane method. (2) When you tap on an APK in e.g. Google Drive or WhatsApp, Android "helpfully" forwards you straight to this settings page, allowing you to immediately toggle the "Install unknown apps" and installation will begin (there may be another "do you want to install this app" confirmation).

The point being that there is not a whole lot of friction in this flow -- one or two taps -- likely making it easy for scammers to coach victims to perform.

I agree that activating the developer settings menu is substantially more friction, and may arouse more suspicion in a victim, but [on many/most devices] is not currently required. I guess the original article is alluding to putting this kind of friction in place.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#315

Post by consp »

miki123211 wrote: post #176
Zak wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would like a world where buying something means you get final say over how it operates even if you might do something dangerous/harmful/illegal.

I would like a world where I have the final say over whether I should have a final say. One way to achieve this is to only allow sideloading in "developer mode", which could only be activated from the setup / onboarding screen. That way, power users who know they'll want to sideload could still sideload. The rest could enjoy the benefits of an ecosystem where somebody more competent than their 80-year-old nontechnica…

> which could only be activated from the setup / onboarding screen

Yea no. Now companies have to supply two phones, one for dev and one for calling. It is hard enough to get one...

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#316

Post by zarzavat »

notepad0x90 wrote: post #271
flakiness wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not super clear from the post, but if I read it correctly there are two modifications suggested. - 1: Separate verification type for "student and hobbyist" - 2: "advanced flow" for "power users" that allows sideloading of unverified apps - I imagine this is some kind of scare-screen, but we'll see. What you describe as "worst of both worlds" is about point 1. I'm not sure point 2 is powerful enough to suppor thi…

malware are good at getting users to click past scare screens unfortunately. this isn't a solved problem, even with desktop browsers.

If you don't look both ways when you cross the road, then you may get hit by a car. The solution is to pay attention.

It's acceptable to build a system where human error can lead to catastrophic consequences, even death. Every time you go outside you encounter many of these systems.

Not everything in life can be made 100% safe, but that's no reason to stop living.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#317

Post by m4rtink »

khannn wrote: post #248
Lammy wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google have their own reasons too. They would love to kill off YouTube ReVanced and other haxx0red clients that give features for free which Google would rather sell you on subscription. Just look at everything they've done to break yt-dlp over and over again. In fact their newest countermeasure is a frontpage story right beside this one: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45898407

Too bad that I'm going iPhone if Google removes sideloading and now I know about revanced so they aren't getting any more than the zero dollars that youtube and youtube music are worth from me If I'm going to live in a walled garden it's going to the fanciest

I still don't get this mindset - all is lost, I am not going to do anything aboit that AND I will punish them by going with the even worse option!

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#318

Post by consp »

advisedwang wrote: post #169
geoffschmidt wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But see also the next section ("empowering experienced users"): > We are building a new advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn't verified

That doesn't say that you can just build an APK and distribute it. I suspect this path _still_ requires you to create a developer console account and distribute binaries signed by it... just that that developer account doesn't have to have completed identity verification.

So you will now need a useless and needless account to build and run your own apps? It's like Microsoft forcing online login on pcs.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#319

Post by consp »

zarzavat wrote: post #316
notepad0x90 wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

malware are good at getting users to click past scare screens unfortunately. this isn't a solved problem, even with desktop browsers.

If you don't look both ways when you cross the road, then you may get hit by a car. The solution is to pay attention. It's acceptable to build a system where human error can lead to catastrophic consequences, even death. Every time you go outside you encounter many of these systems. Not everything in life can be made 100% safe, but that's no reason to stop living.

> The solution is to pay attention.

Swindlers work by that is a story as old as time. Even snakeoil salesmen were good at distracting people from obvious signs of false promises and warnings. People often overestimate their own capabilities greatly, same as there are no bad drivers on the road when you ask people about themselves.

Re: Android developer verification: Early access starts

#320

Post by m4rtink »

ashikns wrote: post #67
tomrod wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought the hardware, therefore I have the right to modify and repair. Natural right, full stop. That right ends are your nose, as the saying goes.

Yeah then you have the choice to not buy the locked down hardware, you don't have a right to get open hardware FROM Google. Of course there are no good options for open hardware, but that is a related but separate problem.

Given how antitrust is not really working right now I would say this is debatable. Also monopolies in the past were forced to do various things to keep their status for longer.
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