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Keep Android Open

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Re: Keep Android Open

#61

Post by Pfhortune »

0x1ch wrote: post #27
hparadiz wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No idea why you are even bringing this up. It works just fine right now.

It verifiably does not on open source and free android roms like Graphene. Unsure where you're getting your info.

[citation needed]

I run GrapheneOS and use several US-based banking apps. I'll not name them since I don't really want my HN account associated with my financials in any way, but I've got a mix of well-known national bank apps and smaller local credit union apps working.

I'll admit there is a single institution's app I've found that doesn't work, but that is just one of several that I use.

Re: Keep Android Open

#62

Post by fermigier »

It is a disgrace how Google has managed this situation.

To recap the storyline, as far as I understand it: last August, Google announced plans to heavily restrict sideloading. Following community pushback, they promised an "advanced flow" for power users. The media widely reported this as a walk-back, leading users to assume the open ecosystem was safe.

But this promised feature hasn't appeared in any Android 16 or 17 betas. Google is quietly proceeding with the original lockdown.

The impact is a direct threat to independent AOSP distributions like Murena's e/OS/ (which I'm personally using). If installing a basic APK eventually requires a Google-verified developer ID, maintaining a truly de-Googled mobile OS becomes nearly impossible.

Re: Keep Android Open

#63

Post by stackghost »

drnick1 wrote: post #44
stackghost wrote: post #2

From a marketing standpoint it seems like a baffling decision on Google's part. I own a Pixel and while the hardware seems decent, I've had a buggy and annoying experience with Android, and it's been getting worse lately. Are Google so high on their own supply that they think people use their phones out of preference for the OS? Because frankly it's not very good. That's like Microsoft thinking people use Teams becau…

Have you considered Graphene since you own a Pixel? It's a huge upgrade over the stock OS in terms of security, privacy and general reduction of bloat.

Yep it's definitely on my list but my Pixel is on its last legs and I'm considering going back to iOS.

Re: Keep Android Open

#64

Post by pixelready »

Atlas667 wrote: post #42
encom wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would rather put my phone in the microwave than run Chinese Communist Party OS.

Meanwhile the NSA and Mossad can see you fapping on your phone and scan your face in real time and you're implicitly fine with it This is what lack of options does to a MF

Yeah, I’m amazed at how far the western surveillance apparatus has been able to coast on plausible deniability. Folks, please don’t stick your head in the sand domestically just because there’s an even more obvious or egregious example abroad.

Say it with me: “Living in a police state is bad no matter who’s running it”.

Re: Keep Android Open

#66

Post by 0x1ch »

hparadiz wrote: post #34
0x1ch wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It verifiably does not on open source and free android roms like Graphene. Unsure where you're getting your info.

No one even brought that up. We're discussing being able to install unsigned/self signed APKs. Please stay on topic and take your strawman elsewhere.

The ability to install signed and unsigned APKs directly correlates to the financial institution policy regarding mobile devices and banking apps. Unsure how you've separated these two.

Re: Keep Android Open

#67

Post by bodge5000 »

Ir0nMan wrote: post #47
lm28469 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Half, or more, of the world thinks exactly the same in regards to the US

If 50% of the world started running the CCP backed fork and 50% of the world ran the US backed fork, which one would you choose for your phone?

If there were truly no other choice, CCP without a doubt. At least they claim to have good intentions, whether that's true or not

Re: Keep Android Open

#68

Post by hparadiz »

tadfisher wrote: post #55
drnick1 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I run Graphene on my Pixel and banking apps just work. There is no Google Pay, obviously, since Google dependencies have been stripped out from the system. I just carry a credit card.

Even with the sandboxed Play Store, Google Pay disables NFC payments as it requires hardware attestation against Google's root keys.

No inherent reason all that stuff can't work on an open platform. It works just fine on my Linux box with yubikeys, fido2, and smart cards. Gcloud even let's you authenticate with them only to put a medium lived token in plaintext into a sqlite file on disk.

Re: Keep Android Open

#69

Post by RussianCow »

colordrops wrote: post #18
notorandit wrote: post #9

We ("you") have no power to keep android open. Unfortunately it is in the hands of a company that is building it for profit, in a way or the other. It's been our choice to drink this glass of wishful thinking while giving that company a solid dominant position in the market. We ("you") can only make choices that will overturn that trend. Fully opensource hardware with fully opensource software? Maybe, but also this i…

If they close things up with no alternative, the free open source software will likely start to catch up. it will take a few years though. This could be a blessing in disguise.

There is just no reasonable way that the open source community can compete with a $3.8T company. And before you say something along the lines of, "But they don't need to compete, they just need to be good enough", that still requires business to put their apps on some open source app store and make them compatible with the open source OS, and there is close to zero incentive for them to do so.

Re: Keep Android Open

#70

Post by kelnos »

embedding-shape wrote: post #41
malfist wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

90% of your usage on your phone is banking apps or NFC payments? That seems hard to believe.

That's pretty much my usage pattern too, including some group texting, the occasional call and sometimes taking photos/videos. Otherwise my phone pretty much stays in my pocket or on my table the entire day. What are you using your phone for that makes that so unbelievable?

Web browsing (like right now), photos, e-books, lots of messaging, music, sometimes video.

I use NFC payments often, but I wouldn't say that amounts to more than a few percent of my total usage.

Everyone uses their phones differently, of course. I don't think your use is unbelievable or odd, but I do think your use patterns are not the common case.

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