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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

#991

Post by aftergibson »

I’m sick of half-measures around getting off iOS and Android. If you’re an open-source app developer building for Android, please reconsider and put some of that energy into Sailfish.

You have the power to help turn a passionate subset of people away from Android, and now is the best time to do it. Instead of scattering effort into a dozen fragmented experiments, let’s rally around the best bet we have right now: SailfishOS. I'm not at all affiliated with Sailfish, just someone pissed off and am trying to point folks at the most mature alternative out there. I know it has its problems. I know there's even better alternatives that even less people use but seriously, rather than fragment the frustration around android right now, please, just try to rally around a serious legit alternative. We might actually make meaningful change here but it needs focus.

Intro for developers: https://docs.sailfishos.org/Develop/

Getting started guide: https://sailfishos.org/wiki/SailfishOS

Let’s push for something truly independent

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

#992

Post by alt187 »

cedilla wrote: post #565
tgma wrote: post #503

The funny thing is Stallman started his fight like half a century ago and on regular days Hacker News shits on him eating something off of his foot and not being polished and diplomatic, and loves practical aspects of Corporate Open Source and gratis goodies and doesn't particularly care about Free Software. On this day suddenly folks come out of the woodwork advocating for half baked measures to achieve what Stallma…

Stallman actively hurts the cause with his behaviour. I'm not only talking about his eccentricities, but also the adversarial and combative language. Yes, Amazon is trying to swindle us, but few people will be convinced of that when you start your argument by calling the kindle an "Amazon swindle" every time, directly implying that anyone who has one is an idiot or even malicious. Yes, it's unfair that someone can be…

Stallman's mannerisms are one of the only reason FOSS is still standing.

First of all, from a public image point of view, it really doesn't matter at all whether he ate something off his foot or whether he says "Amazon swindle", because Stallman isn't the gateway into free softward anymore.

To an order of magnitude, no one in the last 15 years has heard of Stallman then free software.

The real role of Stallman is to avoid the movement being co-opted by soulless and/or corporate interests. As long as Stallman is here, you can't make free software corporate and well-mannered, which essentially means you can't absorb it into a marketing strategy for your next brand of phones unless you actually plan to deliver.

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

#993

Post by 1vuio0pswjnm7 »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #963
arielcostas wrote: post #765

Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…

Alas, no distinction is made between (a) a computer owner that wants to write software to run on their computer versus (b) an "app developer" who wants to write "mobile apps" and distribute them to others for financial gain The computer owner in (a) is not creating "malware". Any arguments that "verification" is for the protection of users (not commercial benefit of Google) are inapplicable in (a). Unlike the softwar…

"Alas, no distinction is made between (a) a computer owner that wants to write software to run on their computer versus (b) an "app developer" who wants to write "mobile apps" and distribute then to others for financial gain."

I could be wrong:

https://developer.android.com/developer-verification

"For student and hobbyist developers

We're committed to keeping Android an open platform for you to learn, experiment, and build for fun. We recognize that your needs are different from commercial developers, so we're working on a separate type of Android Developer Console account for you. We'll share more information in the coming months."

Will "verification" also be required for "hobbyists", otherwise known as computer owners, or "ad targets" in Google's framing of the www. Who knows

Putting restrictions on distributing bad software ("malware") to others is one thing. It makes sense, But putting restrictions on computer owners ("hobbyists") who write, compile and run software on their own computers is another thing entirely

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

#994

Post by anticensor »

rickdeckard wrote: post #550

Sep.2026: "The requirement goes into effect in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. At this point, any app installed on a certified device in these regions must be registered by a verified developer." Any hint why those countries first? Is it a local law there driving this whole move? Is a critical mass of malware originating from there?

Low financial activity, high population; except for Singapore, which is high financial activity, low population.

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

#995

Post by mbs159 »

cedilla wrote: post #565
tgma wrote: post #503

The funny thing is Stallman started his fight like half a century ago and on regular days Hacker News shits on him eating something off of his foot and not being polished and diplomatic, and loves practical aspects of Corporate Open Source and gratis goodies and doesn't particularly care about Free Software. On this day suddenly folks come out of the woodwork advocating for half baked measures to achieve what Stallma…

Stallman actively hurts the cause with his behaviour. I'm not only talking about his eccentricities, but also the adversarial and combative language. Yes, Amazon is trying to swindle us, but few people will be convinced of that when you start your argument by calling the kindle an "Amazon swindle" every time, directly implying that anyone who has one is an idiot or even malicious. Yes, it's unfair that someone can be…

I will forever call it the Amazon Swindle now, that's hilarious

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

#996

Post by msgodel »

cedilla wrote: post #565
tgma wrote: post #503

The funny thing is Stallman started his fight like half a century ago and on regular days Hacker News shits on him eating something off of his foot and not being polished and diplomatic, and loves practical aspects of Corporate Open Source and gratis goodies and doesn't particularly care about Free Software. On this day suddenly folks come out of the woodwork advocating for half baked measures to achieve what Stallma…

Stallman actively hurts the cause with his behaviour. I'm not only talking about his eccentricities, but also the adversarial and combative language. Yes, Amazon is trying to swindle us, but few people will be convinced of that when you start your argument by calling the kindle an "Amazon swindle" every time, directly implying that anyone who has one is an idiot or even malicious. Yes, it's unfair that someone can be…

Language matters. I actually really like what Stallman does. You need this kind of thing to counteract repeated exposure to marketing material. It's similar to the Dave Ramsey situation IMO. Dave Ramsey's advice is objectively bad but you need something to be repeated as an alternative to the credit ads people hear multiple times a day.

These simple repeated ideas slowly absorb into people's subconscious.

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

#997

Post by palata »

miohtama wrote: post #837
arielcostas wrote: post #765

Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…

The EU is planning to make Play Store de facto mandatory, so no more Graphene in the EU https://www.androidheadlines.com/2025/07/eu-age-verification...

Graphene can run the Play Store, can't it?

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

#998

Post by palata »

archvile wrote: post #863
arielcostas wrote: post #765

Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…

Less and less of AOSP is being updated also, as Google rolls most of its new features and updates behind the Play Services system. Install Graphene and you will see what I am talking about - the SMS app for example hasn't been updated in probably a decade and looks and functions like it did back in Android 4 (KitKat). Same with the other built-in apps. While I used Graphene myself for a solid 6 months, the features y…

> While I used Graphene myself for a solid 6 months, the features you have to give up on using or find some obtuse workaround for aren't appealing to the "normies" who just want their phone to do what they want

Did you use GrapheneOS with the Play Services? Sounds like you didn't. Of course if you don't use the Play Services, you lose... the Play Services. But GrapheneOS allows you to run them in the sandbox.

> Throw in how Google starting with Android 16 is not releasing updated drivers with AOSP and Graphene probably doesn't have much life left in it, either.

This sounds incorrect. Google decided to stop sending the device tree of the Pixel devices in AOSP. And GrapheneOS is still fine, though it will take more effort because they won't get the device tree from Google.

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

#999

Post by palata »

arielcostas wrote: post #765

Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…

> Maybe it's time for a third large phone OS

I don't think that the problem is the OS. The problem is access to the hardware. Hardware manufacturers can decide to prevent you from installing an alternative OS on your hardware.

If the law made it mandatory to allow this, it would be a lot easier to go with alternative OSes like GrapheneOS.

> Huawei has HarmonyOS but it's not open

I was thinking at some point that they would go with AOSP and their own Huawei Services on top. Could have been fun. Also I wonder why they don't just support GrapheneOS as an alternative OS.

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

#1000

Post by skrlet13 »

pimterry wrote: post #769
arielcostas wrote: post #765

Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…

I think Play Integrity is the fundamental issue here, and needs to go. That's the crux of the issue. Allowing apps to say "we only run on Google's officially certified unmodified Android devices" and tightly restricting which devices are certified is the part that makes changes like this deeply problematic. Without that, non-Google Android versions are on a fair playing field; if you don't like their rules, you can i…

Add blocked bootloaders, remember when Huawei let you just do it if you wanted?

Most devices are just blocked and won't let you unblock. It is stuck it OS.

You can't even try alternatives.

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