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

Post by alexey-salmin » Tue, Aug 26, 2025, 5:21 AM UTC

UncleMeat wrote: post #180

87636899376 wrote: post #14

Official announcement: https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-... More info: https://developer.android.com/developer-verification https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ... Personally...we all know the Play Store is chock full of malicious garbage, so the verification requirements there don't do jack to protect users. The way I see it, this is nothing but a power grab, a way…

> Every time I hear mentions of "safety" from the folks at Google, I'm reminded that there's a hidden Internet permission on Android that can neuter 95% of malicious apps. But it's hidden, apparently because keeping users from using it to block ads on apps is of greater concern to Google than keeping people safe. You've never needed the internet permission to exfiltrate data. Just send an intent to the browser app to…

Post by pyrale » Tue, Aug 26, 2025, 5:23 AM UTC

quotemstr wrote: post #479

medhir wrote: post #407

Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access

It's amazing how often we hamper the majority of society by protecting the bottom quintile from the consequences of their own mistakes.

Post by throwaway2037 » Tue, Aug 26, 2025, 5:23 AM UTC

nabogh wrote: post #395

throw10920 wrote: post #393

This is really bad. I think that most people on HN will agree with that. The problem is that most normal people (HN is not normal - mostly for the better) don't even understand what sideloading is - let alone actually care . How can we fix this? (aside from making people care - apathy enables so many political problems in the current age, but it's such a huge problem that this definitely isn't going to be the impetus…

We need another os in the market. A duopoly just isn't competitive enough. Too bad the cost of entry is so high.

Post by simianparrot » Tue, Aug 26, 2025, 5:28 AM UTC

nabogh wrote: post #395

throw10920 wrote: post #393

This is really bad. I think that most people on HN will agree with that. The problem is that most normal people (HN is not normal - mostly for the better) don't even understand what sideloading is - let alone actually care . How can we fix this? (aside from making people care - apathy enables so many political problems in the current age, but it's such a huge problem that this definitely isn't going to be the impetus…

We need another os in the market. A duopoly just isn't competitive enough. Too bad the cost of entry is so high.

Post by pishpash » Tue, Aug 26, 2025, 5:31 AM UTC

paradite wrote: post #464

rvnx wrote: post #406

If this is a thing then the solution they offer is incorrect. A big giant red screen: “warning the identity of this application developer has not been verified and this could be an application stealing your data, etc” would have worked. What they want is to get rid of apps like YouTube Vanced that are making them lose money (and other Play Store apps)

It won't work because of too many false positives. People are already trained to ignore warnings, like how they blindly accept T&C without reading.