S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
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Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#2I recently installed LineageOS on my phone, replacing the stock MIUI. I would probably return this phone if I had no other option than to use MIUI. I much prefer the "pure" Android experience.
For many essential and security critical apps to work, like bank apps or the McDonald's app you need to hide the fact you're using a modified system, because of SafetyNet.
This hiding/bypass works for now, because it tricks Google into thinking your device doesn't support hardware attestation, and fallbacking to Basic attestation, which is easier to bypass. Google can at any time flip the switch to require hardware attestation, and your apps will stop working, with no way around it, other than flashing back the stock ROM your device came with and locking the bootloader. At that point I will probably just buy a new phone.
Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#3I hate when a law or legal decision is aimed 45 degrees off like this. Letting manufacturers bundle their fucked-up version of Android is a bad thing. What we need is mandatory unlockable bootloaders so the users can load whatever they want on their devices.
Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#4I recently installed LineageOS on my phone, replacing the stock MIUI. I would probably return this phone if I had no other option than to use MIUI. I much prefer the "pure" Android experience. For many essential and security critical apps to work, like bank apps or the McDonald's app you need to hide the fact you're using a modified system, because of SafetyNet. This hiding/bypass works for now, because it tricks Goo…
>or the McDonald's app
Excuse me? McDonald's app considers itself security critical now?
Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#5I hate when a law or legal decision is aimed 45 degrees off like this. Letting manufacturers bundle their fucked-up version of Android is a bad thing. What we need is mandatory unlockable bootloaders so the users can load whatever they want on their devices.
There will still need to be the option for a locked boot loader though.
If I’m Snowden, knowing my boot loader could be unlocked and a key logger side loaded isn’t reassuring.
Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#6Will they also fine Samsung for blocking the user's right to remove manufacturer-bundled cruftware?
Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#7I recently installed LineageOS on my phone, replacing the stock MIUI. I would probably return this phone if I had no other option than to use MIUI. I much prefer the "pure" Android experience. For many essential and security critical apps to work, like bank apps or the McDonald's app you need to hide the fact you're using a modified system, because of SafetyNet. This hiding/bypass works for now, because it tricks Goo…
I bought a Miui phone about a week ago. It's on miui 12.5 and it's the first time I've ever used this OS. I expected to hate it because of all the flack it gets. But honestly, it's fine. It's not that different from Android.
I did have to uninstall a load of bloatware using ADB and I added a custom launcher (Niagara).
Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#8I hate when a law or legal decision is aimed 45 degrees off like this. Letting manufacturers bundle their fucked-up version of Android is a bad thing. What we need is mandatory unlockable bootloaders so the users can load whatever they want on their devices.
There will still need to be the option for a locked boot loader though. If I’m Snowden, knowing my boot loader could be unlocked and a key logger side loaded isn’t reassuring.
I'm not aware of any manufacturer who allows bootloader unlocking without also displaying a warning screen every time the phone boots up.
Example: https://www.thecustomdroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Ho...
Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#9I hate when a law or legal decision is aimed 45 degrees off like this. Letting manufacturers bundle their fucked-up version of Android is a bad thing. What we need is mandatory unlockable bootloaders so the users can load whatever they want on their devices.
There will still need to be the option for a locked boot loader though. If I’m Snowden, knowing my boot loader could be unlocked and a key logger side loaded isn’t reassuring.
If such snowden like person wants to use such a device, wouldn't he be able to change to lineage os or whatever knowing full well he is now the master of the device or is there malware that persists still ?
Re: S.Korea fines Google $177M for blocking Android customisation
#10I recently installed LineageOS on my phone, replacing the stock MIUI. I would probably return this phone if I had no other option than to use MIUI. I much prefer the "pure" Android experience. For many essential and security critical apps to work, like bank apps or the McDonald's app you need to hide the fact you're using a modified system, because of SafetyNet. This hiding/bypass works for now, because it tricks Goo…
Sure, but your LineageOS only works because Google is forcing manufacturers to pass CTS tests (which ensure that all Android devices are actually compatible with your apps).
If that disappears, you'll end up with apps that only work on Samsung Androids and your LineageOS will stop being compatible. We're essentially going back to horrorshow of SymbianOS, where different Symbian devices weren't compatible between themselves because the OEMs kept fscking up.
(Heck, in early Android versions Samsung tended to break core APIs all the time and caused a lot of churn on developer side to workaround their per-device fsckups. Having to import phones from half a world away so you could see why the video recorder hardcrashes when you call an API is NOT FUN.).