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Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

9to5google.com

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Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#151

Post by cyanydeez »

Ms-J wrote: post #60

This is the worst thing to happen to technology in recent times since there is only two major phone OS's. It isn't possible to ban encryption, so the governments have to chip away at security and privacy using these techniques. From: https://developer.android.com/developer-verification "You may also need to upload official government ID." This won't end well for Google or the governments involved when the people get…

I mean, you're pretty optimistic that the current fascism is going away any time soon.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#152

Post by antman »

This was probably the reason Nokia died. Symbian development, already cumbersome and app deployment required some such procedure. I remember there was an joint effort in a china based forum and many of us got a cert and a key for our phones. I was reading Nokia obituaries from its executives and the sorry state of Symbian development and app deployment was not considered as a cause. So here it, is young executives repeating a simplistic and destructive strategy. ibm, xerox, nokia and intel will be very proud.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#154

Post by sebastiennight »

So what are our options (eg for EU citizens) for lobbying in terms of legislation or directly to Google to show disagreement with this?

It looks like many in this thread are against, but I don't see suggestions for action?

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#155

Post by abeyer »

Even aside from the privacy implications (which aren't trivial themselves,)

Doesn't this make it prohibitively difficult to do local builds of open source projects? It's been a long time since I've done this, but my recollection was that the process to do this was essentially you would build someone else's (the project's) package/namespace up through signing, but sign it locally with your own dev keys. A glance at the docs they've shared makes it sound like the package name essentially gets bound to an identity and you then can't sign it with another key. Am a I misremembering and/or has something changed in this process? Am I missing something?

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#156

Post by subarctic »

antiloper wrote: post #10

Why even run Android at that point anymore? iOS devices get security updates for longer and have much less data collection than stock Android. GrapheneOS won't survive the next generation of devices because bootloader unlocking will also go away ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44765939 ), and without kernel security updates that OS can't continue. Now there's also no more sideloading, so what purpose does Andr…

Exactly, the only reason to be a weirdo and have android in the first place was because there's so many good apps available outside the play store, if they lock it down just like Apple then what's the point?

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#157

Post by sunaookami »

akk0 wrote: post #56

This isn't legal in the EU is it?

It is. Notarization like Apple does is also legal. In fact the EU commission would welcome this with open arms since they can now access the personal data of every developer and can order Google to ban every app they want. This goes hand-in-hand with their new "Digital wallet" app that will be launched next year.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#159

Post by harikb »

gethly wrote: post #96

> Google will begin to verify the identities of developers distributing their apps on Android devices, not just those who distribute via the Play Store This is absolutely unacceptable. That's like you having to submit your personal details to Microsoft in order to just run a program on Windows. Absolutely nuts and it will not go as they think it will.

So long as they don't make it very hard to get an ID approval, I don't see why people shouldn't know who developed an app.

Currently the entire ecosystem is riddled with malware, spyware, or adware with shady source information and people have no way to verify the data practices

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#160

Post by Trasmatta »

I rely on an open source app called xDrip to manage my diabetes. It's way way way better than any of the official apps. It's not distributed on the app stores for obvious reasons. Many others rely on this app as well. Are we cooked?
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