[flagged]
Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
41–50 of 245 posts
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#42What's the phone OS landscape now? What can someone who values their agency and wants FOSS choose? * iOS - walled garden, so no * Android: * * with a Google account and Play Services - a bit less of a walled garden, but still no * * Android without Google: * * * GrapheneOS - root or adb not supported, so no * * * LineageOS - (edit: root or adb not supported, so no - just learned) seems like a viable option although i…
Why do you want to root? I didn't really feel the need for the past few years.
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#43What's the phone OS landscape now? What can someone who values their agency and wants FOSS choose? * iOS - walled garden, so no * Android: * * with a Google account and Play Services - a bit less of a walled garden, but still no * * Android without Google: * * * GrapheneOS - root or adb not supported, so no * * * LineageOS - (edit: root or adb not supported, so no - just learned) seems like a viable option although i…
> GrapheneOS - root or adb not supported, so no Like the other poster said, you can get root on GOS. However it's highly ill advised and severely breaks the security model of devices. 99% of the time nobody, especially the average person, needs root on their phone (imo). Allowing that easily just opens up the average person to getting duped into getting their phone rocked with exploits and possibly persistent malware…
> 99% of the time nobody [...] needs root on their phone
Do you also not have root on your laptops or desktops? I don't get why it's so different. I don't just want to open TikTok and Instagram, I want to use my phone computer as a computer. I assumed HN folks would get it.
I would choose something as locked down as GrapheneOS for its security if I was going to use it to install random apps left and right and give them root or run JavaScript from random sites on a browser I gave root to.
Anyway, not having root seems like a very weird way to harden security. What about compartmentalization?
And what's wrong with my my terminal app having root sometimes? How is shadycryptonews.xyz/exploit.js going to leverage it? How would even the Official Authoritarian Police State app leverage it?
I probably don't get it, but it's like people see 2 extremes - run nothing ever in root or run everything in root all the time.
I want to run like 5-6 apps I trust.
Maybe if I wanted to secure a billion dollars worth of Bitcoin, I would be OK with a separate phone without root, but then again I would likely use a hardware wallet. What's the threat model for someone who doesn't blindly give apps root or do anything stupid, really?
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#44You still seem to need a Google account to be able to use the hardware you just paid for. I don't have one, don't want one either. I've been using Android without Google for about 15 years now but will hold off on getting a new device until I'm sure I can continue using it without getting a Google account.
Do you run a custom ROM? I can't imagine bothering with the hassle of running a vendor OS without signing into Play.
I'm using stock Android with a bunch of F-droid apps and no Google account. I've never installed anything from Play and don't feel like I'm missing anything.
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#45I thought that even after the 24h wait, you will have to go through some annoying dialog to install (or maybe even update) anything not from the play store. So installing from F-droid will become an obnoxious process. Even worse if updates also become obnoxious. F-droid often wants to update several apps at once, so I click "update all". If that becomes multiple dialogs, that sucks.
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#46What's the phone OS landscape now? What can someone who values their agency and wants FOSS choose? * iOS - walled garden, so no * Android: * * with a Google account and Play Services - a bit less of a walled garden, but still no * * Android without Google: * * * GrapheneOS - root or adb not supported, so no * * * LineageOS - (edit: root or adb not supported, so no - just learned) seems like a viable option although i…
I think a problem is that phones, as a concept, are communication first, rather than general computing first. If you want to partake in social networks, messaging, work communication, banking, etc you're at the mercy of the service's owner and their moat. You can't access Instagram in any other way than their app, and at that point an open OS doesn't help a lot. I'm sure FOSS can make a feature equivalent Instagram (…
> I think a problem is that phones, as a concept, are communication first, rather than general computing first.
I use all kinds of computers for communication. I'm communicating with you on my desktop. I had a call earlier on my laptop. And a phone IS a computer, so why pretend it's not?
> If you want to partake in social networks, messaging, work communication, banking, etc you're at the mercy of the service's owner and their moat. You can't access Instagram in any other way than their app, and at that point an open OS doesn't help a lot.
I wouldn't use proprietary work tools on a personal device. It's not good hygiene.
I don't care if Instagram requires an app on a non-rooted phone with verified Google attestations because I don't use it and it's not essential.
Banking apps ARE a problem because a lot of banks don't let you use their site without their app at all. That should be solved with regulations - give people a FOSS banking app or, better yet, an API, so they can bank however they want to. Let us create FOSS interfaces for the different banks. Right now we need to revert the regulations who more or less force us to rely on Google or Apple's attestation. Internet banking is important both because there's a trend, even in countries where cash is still widely used, to have places that don't take cash, and because it's a highly regulated system paid for my taxes - I should be able to participate in a modern way with bullshit restrictions allegedly made to prevent someone's grandpa from getting hacked or phished.
But if I can't access my bank online, I'm not going to bow my head and buy a bank-approved phone with a bank-approved OS and a bank-approved $tech_company account. Who banks that often that they really need to do that, outside of places like Sweden where cash is almost dead?
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why the hell should we "mother may I" with Google for running apps on our own phones if it isn't sourced from the Play Store? The "security" rationale is horseshit given just how much malware is readily download able on the Play Store. Google never cleans its own house before going after others.
Don't you know? If one elderly person gets scammed we all deserve to be infantilized.
Ok, but the vast majority of people do need their hand held because they're incompetent, naive, or both. IMO this is pro consumer move
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#48What's the phone OS landscape now? What can someone who values their agency and wants FOSS choose? * iOS - walled garden, so no * Android: * * with a Google account and Play Services - a bit less of a walled garden, but still no * * Android without Google: * * * GrapheneOS - root or adb not supported, so no * * * LineageOS - (edit: root or adb not supported, so no - just learned) seems like a viable option although i…
Why do you want to root? I didn't really feel the need for the past few years.
Because my new phone would be my new phone. And a phone is a computer. That should be enough of a reason.
I'm quite surprised people who post here don't get that. I've been lurking for years even though my account is new and even though general hackerishness here has gotten a bit reduced over the years, but it's still HackerNews, not ConsumerNews. No offense implied - I just hoped I'd see more people willing to claim their right to own and modify their OS like a true hacker.
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't you know? If one elderly person gets scammed we all deserve to be infantilized.
Ok, but the vast majority of people do need their hand held because they're incompetent, naive, or both. IMO this is pro consumer move
We shouldn't let naive or mentally disabled people to dictate how computing should work. That's the same logic behind the age verification shit that's happening worldwide.
If you (not you specifically) are unsure of your abilities to use computers, let a friend or a family member buy a dumbed down device for you or install parental controls or something. Or maybe have clicking the build number 7 times reveal "toddler mode" where you can lock your device down irreversibly as much as you want.
Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices
#50Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you run a custom ROM? I can't imagine bothering with the hassle of running a vendor OS without signing into Play.
I'm using stock Android with a bunch of F-droid apps and no Google account. I've never installed anything from Play and don't feel like I'm missing anything.
I don't use F-Droid, but I've been an Android user for several years on two different devices and I've never associated a Google account with a device. I've installed all my software from APK downloads from the open source project site releases they came from.
It was really nice last year when I moved to a new device. I restored my last SMS, call log, and contact backup with the open source app I use for that, then loaded the rest of the apps I use from their APKs. It was a lot like getting a new PC. Very enjoyable.