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Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

androidauthority.com

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Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#191

Post by gzread »

miki123211 wrote: post #156
RedComet wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it be something if, given all the surveillance already in place, law enforcement punished the scammers instead of the innocent?

The scammers are often in a very different country than the victim. Finding the scammer is only 50% of the work, the other 50% is diplomacy and hoping the other side is willing to extradite. This is not made easier if the police force in the scammer's country is extremely corrupt. This is why those scams so often rely on gift cards (or sometimes on cash which a local mule converts to crypto).

Maybe they can just sanction that person? Block them from making phone calls to the country and publishing apps?

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#192

Post by deaux »

gzread wrote: post #189
deaux wrote: post #188

> Google's latest concession makes the sideloading controversy a big nothingburger Ah yes, having to now send in a government ID to publish apps on the Play Store is a "big nothingburger". Kindly piss off, megacorp bootlicker Stephen Schenck.

Didn't you always have to do that? I remember having to pay $25 by credit card (for which I had to get a credit card) and also show ID. When they banned me for bullshit reasons, now they can stop me circumventing it because they have my ID.

No. Paying yes, ID no.

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#193

Post by 1vuio0pswjnm7 »

Ms-J wrote: post #122

Play store is the largest distributor of spyware and viruses for Android. Not even a small fraction of a percentage of scams come from installing software normally, but only from Google Play store.

This raises the question: Why publish web pages that discuss topics such as "sideloading". Who would be interested in that information

Who (besides you, dear HN reader) reads googleblog.com, androidauthority.com and other sites that discuss these topics

Is it only a small fraction of a percentage of Android users

When Google makes the obviously bogus claim that Google Play policies, e.g., "sideloaoding" restrictions, are intended to "protect users", who is it addressing. Who is the audience. Is it the "average" Android users that Google claims to be protecting. Is it the Android users who prefer F-Droid that do not need Google's "help" to avoid scams

What if Google Play policies protect Google from competition (cf. protecting users from scams) and this could have an effect on the stock price or on the profits of "app developers" or "ad tech" companies. Who would be interested in that information. Who would accept bogus claims about "protecting users" without question

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#194

Post by lern_too_spel »

lucb1e wrote: post #174
charcircuit wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That breaks Android's security model and reduces overall security.

Ah yes, getting access to your own data would be a massive problem, can you imagine such a world?! /s Such data should be put in (or encrypted by) the hardware-backed keystore. You get to have full access to what the OS does, including seeing what data gets passed into this secure element for encryption or signing (you retain visibility and control), and yet secrets can't be leaked to you or an attacker who tries to…

There is an API for backing up all app data that requires authorization. This is different from giving the user root, so any malicious can back up all app data at any time.

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#195

Post by lern_too_spel »

b112 wrote: post #3
croemer wrote: post #2

Google clarifies that this status can carry over to new devices, so you only ever have to go through it once.

Which makes no sense, if the property is in Android itself. For example, lots of people use phones without any google play framework installed. Without that framework, how does it "carry over"? This just raises more questions about how this whole process works. Is it only the play api doing so? If so, then if you de-google, this entire problem goes away? If not, then how can you 'carry over' to a phone unless you als…

This notarized apps restriction only exists on Google Android builds, so the workaround also only needs to exist on Google Android builds.

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#196

Post by Sophira »

Zak wrote: post #7

It's a very small concession. The high initial friction still means when someone comes to me with a problem and I tell them the solution is in F-Droid, they have to wait a day. Most give up and pick a different, less trustworthy solution from Google Play.

Not to mention that the "concession", such that it is, will presumably only work if you sign into a Google account. Presumably, this will require that you have Google Play Services installed.

Of course, many people who want to de-Google their phones won't want to do either. This is an attack on people who want to keep their lives separate from Google.

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#197

Post by singpolyma3 »

gzread wrote: post #190
singpolyma3 wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"only applies for unregistered developers" but remember the whole point is to allow Google to pull your "registered developer" status on a whim. Something they've shown over and over again they cannot be trusted with

But if there's a court order saying Epic and F-Droid have to be registered developers, they can go to jail for doing that.

Sure. But there isn't.

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#198

Post by lpcvoid »

internet2000 wrote: post #163
lpcvoid wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. I had to remove malware from family phones because they installed the wrong "QR Code Scanner" out of the trillions of copies on the play store, which contained malware that somehow replaced the launcher on a Samsung phone and then showed ads all over the place. The Play store is fucking malware, Google services are malware, and the family member now uses a Pixel 9a with GrapheneOS which makes normie phone usage…

Stories like this is all my family members get iPhones. If Google wants to move to a walled garden too it should at least deliver on the walled garden benefits. No point otherwise.

Apple will enshittify at some point. The only long term way to go is open source.

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#199

Post by scuff3d »

tomhow wrote: post #97
scuff3d wrote: post #41

[flagged]

Please don't fulminate on HN. The guidelines make it clear we're trying for something better here. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I try to be fair minded, but some things warrant strong reactions in my opinion. Journalists shilling for corporations exerting more control over a platform they already have too much control over is one of them.

The mods or whoever are welcome to remove my comment if they think it's too far out of line.

Re: Android’s new sideload settings will carry over to new devices

#200

Post by happymellon »

fluidcruft wrote: post #149
happymellon wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the scams are for apps that are already in the Play and App store.

I don't disagree about that.

Ah, sorry there seem to be a lot of people that seem to think that side loading is an issue to anything other than Apple and Googles profit margins.

They let so much malware in their stores already.

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