We shouldn't accept "sideloading" as a term. It's meant to make "installing an app without monopolist approval" seem like a dirty/weird/niche trick.
Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
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Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#242Time for a Steam Phone. Or FirefoxOS reloaded. The general purpose mobile computing market must be sizeable. I cannot believe everybody just puts up with these increasingly draconic restrictions.
A linux-based phone... with an 18650 battery slot... with a keyboard... and a meshtastic radio... drool.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#243Are there any competing phone OS'es still around? Maybe there is something in China I dont have a view on?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HarmonyOS
It does have an Android subsystem stuck on, but it's not necessary.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#244> 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.
Ah, then it would be acceptable if an independent third party who does not share data with Google other than Boolean yes/no was used to do this. I expect that’s their long-term plan anyways, to defuse the predictable backlash and externalize the problem and liabilities altogether, once the initial ID harvesting is done.
I think google has incentive to get that data for themselves so they won’t give that up.
One of those would be in corrupt countries you don’t have the „trusted 3rd party”
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#245Most Android apps are crapware anyways. The only respectful apps that I know are open-source, and are being kicked out the of play store progressively.
I'm cancelling my Pixel 10 preorder.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#246I cannot resist the urge to point out that we wouldn't have had this problem if people actually sticked to free software instead of "commercial use friendly" open source licensing
You are 100% correct.
Such a shame that the Free Software Foundation has been such an awful steward of the GPL. The fact that the GPLv3 didn't close the network hole is a decision made either out of myopia or abject cowardice, you shouldn't need a separate license (AGPLv3) to ensure true freedom of the codebase.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#247Yeah... They just want to ban NewPipe. It's sad to see Android getting locked down, also with the source closing of the development branches, etc. I can as well buy Apple then, it doesn't matter anymore.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#248From the announcement
> our recent analysis found over 50 times more malware from internet-sideloaded sources than on apps available through Google Play.
I will believe this when we stop seeing brazen malware in marquee app store apps, e.g. https://www.tracesecurity.com/blog/articles/meta-pixel-and-t...
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#249When I switched from Android to iOS, this was one of the things I missed a lot: the ability to write my own app and side load it on my phone. Even more so with the advent of LLM. Oh well, now I don't have to worry about that.
Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android
#250How did we let this happen? Oh, yes... Actually I remember: it was a long slow series of accepting small artificial restrictions. I remember people laughing at me at the time. They said it won't matter, they didn't care, that I was paranoid... Now... Here we are.
and don't forget all the people with the dismissive remarks about how it didn't affect them on their Graphene or Calyx phones. We're all downstream of something. The real product of Android for us was always the interoperability with the normal world for the tinkerer.