Android Developer Verification • Hacker News Board

Re: Android Developer Verification

#111

Post by renewiltord » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:37 AM UTC

supern0va wrote: post #73

glenstein wrote: post #65

Don't love it but (1) it's addressing a serious problem and I'm not sure what the alternative is and (2) if you all remember the starting place, it was staggeringly, dramatically worse, practically a death sentence for F-Droid and seemingly testing the waters for if they could simply power through and do it despite objection. This is a major course correction that doesn't kill F-Droid. A one time 24 hour hoop to jump…

Is it a serious problem that you can run whatever software you want on your computer? Should we make it so that no one can do that without permission to protect them? I recommend Cory Doctorow's talk on why this is a serious problem for society: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Coming_War_on_General_Com... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEvRyemKSg

Yes, lots of vulnerable users get harmed by modern tech. E.g. people have lost their minds using AI, their livelihoods using smartphones, their life savings using the Internet. In general, I prefer a solution where any mental health issue (age-related infirmity, ADHD, etc.) result in protection from modern exploitative tech like this.

Every application use for such people should be supervised by a government official trained to ensure you are not hurting yourself.

This way people who want to use AI, smartphones, or the Internet can do so if they’re healthy and the mentally disabled can be protected. We know that this need exists because even on this “Hacker” News forum everyone gets very upset when a mentally disabled person gets injured after AI use.

Re: Android Developer Verification

#112

Post by fc417fc802 » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:39 AM UTC

pzo wrote: post #28

lokar wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the limits on side-loading in particular, there are a few southeast asian nations (I can't recall, Vietnam? Thailand?) where almost all internet access is via Android, including banking. And social engineering fraud, where they call someone up, pretend to be the bank, and get them to side-load malware, has become a major financial, and political problem. AIUI, they have told Google to find a fix, or else.

> pretend to be the bank, and get them to side-load malware, has become a major financial, and political problem. I been living in SE Asia for few years each in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and really didn't notice that this is supposed to be like major political problem. 'Fraud' is the same smoke screen and excuse as 'protect the children from social media or pedophiles'.

Someone has to stop the pedophiles from using social media to scam vulnerable children out of their millions of hard earned robux.

Re: Android Developer Verification

#113

Post by creatonez » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:39 AM UTC

> However, our recent analysis found over 90 times more malware from sideloaded sources than on Google Play

Google has seemingly never seen an elderly person's phone, where it is completely infected with crap including literal popup ads (that somehow overlay other apps), yet all of it was downloaded from GPlay.

Re: Android Developer Verification

#114

Post by fluoridation » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:42 AM UTC

glenstein wrote: post #65

Don't love it but (1) it's addressing a serious problem and I'm not sure what the alternative is and (2) if you all remember the starting place, it was staggeringly, dramatically worse, practically a death sentence for F-Droid and seemingly testing the waters for if they could simply power through and do it despite objection. This is a major course correction that doesn't kill F-Droid. A one time 24 hour hoop to jump…

What's the serious problem?

Re: Android Developer Verification

#115

Post by pserwylo » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:42 AM UTC

glenstein wrote: post #65

Don't love it but (1) it's addressing a serious problem and I'm not sure what the alternative is and (2) if you all remember the starting place, it was staggeringly, dramatically worse, practically a death sentence for F-Droid and seemingly testing the waters for if they could simply power through and do it despite objection. This is a major course correction that doesn't kill F-Droid. A one time 24 hour hoop to jump…

F-Droid has spent many years trying to step out of the "only for technical/power users" into the "This is a tool that normal phone users should have and use". A one time 24hr wait moves back to the "F-Droid is only for technical users" big time.

Bought a new phone? Moved from iPhone to Android? Want help from your friend/family member/librarian/other to setup your new phone for getting apps? Sorry, you need to come back a day later before you can actually use it.

Guess what the normal/non-tech user does in this 24hr period? Go to Play Store, install a bunch of apps, forget that you had the desire to use an alternative.

This indeed does make F-Droid no longer a tool for normal people, but only a tool for those willing to do a bunch of "Advanced" things on their phone. By definition, not regular users.

Re: Android Developer Verification

#116

Post by jaimex2 » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:44 AM UTC

The only malware I've had to clean off peoples devices has come from the Google Play Store.

Re: Android Developer Verification

#117

Post by userbinator » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:45 AM UTC

stavros wrote: post #88

userbinator wrote: post #68

Older Androids which are fully rootable and unbrickable are cheap (maybe even monetarily free) and will let you continue to have freedom despite what Google wants. "Those who give up freedom for security deserve neither."

Older Androids won't exist for long.

That's what Google wants, but they're not getting their way with mine.

Re: Android Developer Verification

#118

Post by hnburnsy » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:46 AM UTC

hnburnsy wrote: post #44

What Android versions is this applicable to?

Found the answer...

>What Android versions will the developer verification requirements be enforced on? It will apply to all certified Android devices running Android 7 or higher. These updates are delivered through Google Play services to help maintain consistent security across the ecosystem. Last updated: March 23, 2026

Re: Android Developer Verification

#119

Post by marcprux » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:50 AM UTC

satvikpendem wrote: post #81

marcprux wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What % of Android users actually want this? Do they know or care? 2%, according to the keepandroidopen.org poll[^1] [^1] https://techhub.social/@keepandroidopen/116251892296272830

Sampling bias.

Perhaps. And yet … 98% opposition from 4K respondents? I'd be very surprised to see any other poll that tilts the other way, regardless of sampling bias.

Re: Android Developer Verification

#120

Post by fc417fc802 » Tue, Mar 31, 2026, 1:50 AM UTC

TGower wrote: post #31

It really seems like they are doing a lot to appease the tiny minority of us power users, adb load unaffected, one time toggle in settings to opt out, no change to alternative app stores as long as the apk was built by a verified developer. Crazy how harsh the sentiment is here, there are real people being harmed by scam apps intercepting sms one time codes and this will reduce the rate of that happening. It's not li…

> intercepting sms one time codes

Crazy idea, maybe they shouldn't be using those then. Maybe they should use email? Or god forbid a TOTP app. Or perhaps webauthn via the platform provided authenticator.

They very clearly aren't behaving in good faith. That's why the harsh sentiment.