Google's new developer verification requirements starting September 2026 will force ALL Android app developers to register with Google - even those avoiding the Play Store entirely. F-Droid, the tr...

Fuck Google with a stiff wire brush.

  • Arghblarg@lemmy.ca
    63·
    2 个月前

    I read somewhere that GrapheneOS devs have a strategy which they believe will work – they strip out something or other about app/device attestation (?) from APK files before installing occurs, or the enforcement code itself from their spin of the OS, so sideloading (ie., user-controlled installation) can still work.

    I sure hope so… I think everyone in their respective country needs to scream at their local regulators about this.

    Of course, this will only help those whose devices GrapheneOS can run on.

    • Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      52·
      2 个月前

      The GrapheneOS team is already in communications with an Android OEM to see if they can make a device that meets their specs, hopefully that bears fruit in a year or two.

    • other8026@lemmy.mlEnglish
      23·
      2 个月前

      Google has already shared how apps’ developers will be verified. They’re adding another app that will have access to block installing apps or disable them. That won’t work on GrapheneOS because 1. the app won’t be installed and 2. the app won’t have that kind of privileged access.

      • BCsven@lemmy.ca
        7·
        2 个月前

        I think the issue is new hardware and google starting to close source android, so that Graphene devs don’t have the open source to work with. They’ll probably get binary blobs

        • other8026@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          2 个月前

          It’s my understanding that the changes that were made didn’t make things more or less proprietary. Some drivers are still open source, others are still closed source. The device trees mostly have other things in them like configuration files and stuff like that.

          • BCsven@lemmy.ca
            1·
            2 个月前

            It sounds OK for now, but it seems Google is on a path of closing things up like Apple.

        • other8026@lemmy.mlEnglish
          1·
          2 个月前

          It just won’t work on GrapheneOS. Not sure if disabling it will work on the stock OS. We will have to wait and see on that one.

      • other8026@lemmy.mlEnglish
        15·
        2 个月前

        The way Google will block apps with unverified developers won’t work on GrapheneOS. The change won’t be part of AOSP. On the stock OS, the functionality will be handled by another Google app that has privileged access. GrapheneOS won’t be affected directly.

    • ORbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      7·
      2 个月前

      I hope so as well. This debacle with RCS not working on GrapheneOS has been a real dick-punch. I really don’t want to go back to a stock OS.

      • other8026@lemmy.mlEnglish
        3·
        2 个月前

        It’s my understanding that RCS was fixed for most users after this update: https://grapheneos.org/releases#2025092700. You may need to grant permissions to Google Play Services first, then clear Google Messages’ storage, grant permissions to Google Messages, then try setting it up again.

        • ORbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          4·
          2 个月前

          It was not. I have been on the Discord #Testing channel working with others to troubleshoot. Those steps do not work.

          It seemed to be fixed on the 20251003 release, a lot of people got it working for a while, including me. It died within 24 hours.

          • other8026@lemmy.mlEnglish
            1·
            2 个月前

            I said “most users”. There are some who are still experiencing issues, which is being looked into. Other people have had issues that were fixed by clearing the storage for Google Play, Google Play Services, Google Messages, then granting all necessary permissions before launching Google Messages again.

      • Chulk@lemmy.mlEnglish
        3·
        2 个月前

        I thought the RCS thing was also happening on stock Android? Wasn’t it more of a carrier thing?

        • ORbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          5·
          2 个月前

          It’s been largely fixed for stock with select regions still being affected. RCS is failing on GOS because the correct device ID isn’t getting reported and the verification services won’t authenticate the OS.

          It’ll work for about 24 hours, give or take, from a fresh installation, but after that RCS dies and no longer works. Any groups you were in will see you as departed and you will lose any future messages to that group.

          It’s pretty fucked.

          • Chulk@lemmy.mlEnglish
            6·
            2 个月前

            Thanks, I had no idea of the severity. I wonder if they’ll be able to fix it.

            I convinced my fiance to switch over to GOS because I’ve had moderate success with it for about a year now. So of course this happens as soon as she made the switch. Now she’s talking about getting an iPhone.

            • ORbituary@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
              3·
              2 个月前

              Ain’t that how it always goes? Best I could do with mine was to get her to use Signal. Better than nothing, I guess.

      • rhythmisaprancer@piefed.socialEnglish
        3·
        2 个月前

        I have accepted no RCS. I miss some of the features, sure, but until I can get more than one person to use something like signal I’ll stick with insecure SMS thru a FOSS provider I guess.

  • nicgentile@lemmy.world
    20·
    2 个月前

    This will face legal hurdles, especially in the EU and China. It reminds me of the time Microsoft played shell games with Chrome and Firefox and then lost eventually. That being said, it will kickstart a new mobile OS arms race, not necessarily to beat Android but for choices.

    • ISOmorph@feddit.org
      10·
      2 个月前

      This will definitely not be challenged in the EU. It’s the whole basis that makes chat control possible on a technical level.

      • porous_grey_matter@lemmy.ml
        9·
        2 个月前

        The markets authority and antitrust offices are different people than the chat control people, they aren’t a unified organisation, they will probably argue about it.

      • nicgentile@lemmy.world
        2·
        2 个月前

        I’m surprises at how SailfishOS has a limited presence. This could be that moment. HarmonyOS is sick. I’ve seen it in action and it is on another league.

      • JBrickelt963@jlai.lu
        3·
        2 个月前

        Above all, the organisation behind it must be or become sufficiently robust, like GNU/Linux, in order to take up the torch, but that requires a lot of financial backing.

        It’s not impossible, but in my opinion it won’t happen right away and is likely to take time to implement. Once that’s done, the only issue left will be installation (for users, that is).

          • JBrickelt963@jlai.lu
            1·
            2 个月前

            That was a possibility, but if I’m not mistaken, it was either Chrome or Android.

            And it seems to me that an agreement was reached on Chrome (but no sale planned). So I won’t make any predictions. Especially when you see the lockdown on Android, something is brewing, and Google wouldn’t allow that if it had to part with it.

            Unless they are preparing for the separation by establishing as much interdependence as possible between the two in case of a takeover by another company with a partnership. Because otherwise, the community will know how to unravel and clean up the Android project.

            EDIT:

            If anything, I’ve just looked into it and it seems to be stronger than ever after this antitrust ruling. Because what you heard was more what the Ministry was asking the judge to do.

            In the end, there will be no dismantling of Android or Chrome, no loss of revenue for “partners” such as Firefox.

            There is an end to exclusive contracts, notably to prevent it from imposing Gemini or Chrome, but ONLY for one year. There is also data sharing, particularly related to parts of its search index, but no total obligation and nothing on advertising data, only interactions as a supplement.

            It’s as if it were letting its competitors take a look at its library without giving them the keys to the safe.

            And to top it all off, it seems that Google is preparing a gradual merger of Chrome OS and Android for “greater hegemony”. If anything, I’ve just looked and it seems to be stronger than ever after this antitrust decision. Because what you heard was more what the ministry was asking the judge.

            In the end, there will be no dismantling of Android or Chrome, no loss of revenue for “partners” such as Firefox.

            There is an end to exclusive contracts, in particular to prevent it from imposing Gemini or Chrome, but ONLY for one year. There will also be data sharing, particularly related to parts of its index, but no total obligation and nothing on advertising data, only interactions.

            Here are my sources in French:

            1. https://digitalmag.ci/comment-google-a-evite-la-separation-entre-android-et-chrome-suite-a-une-decision-antitrust/
            2. https://www.frandroid.com/marques/google/2732671_google-fusionne-enfin-android-et-chromeos-pour-en-faire-une-mega-plateforme
      • LedgeDrop@lemmy.zip
        2·
        2 个月前

        … except for the binary os blobs, that’ll need to be reverse engineered to run it on… well… any real hardware /s

          • LedgeDrop@lemmy.zip
            2·
            2 个月前

            As far as I understood from Graphene, when Google released the source code for Android 16, they also stripped all the reference code for Pixel devices.

            Historically, Google would ship the code for Pixel and a software emulator as “reference designs”. Now, it’s only shipped with the emulator.

            The Graphene Team needed to reconstruct the pixel code from the Android 15 release. Fortunately, the divergence between Android 15 and 16 was minimal, but I’m certain the division will widen as time goes by.

  • NeedyPlatter@lemmy.caEnglish
    14·
    2 个月前

    sigh and here I was looking forward to switching back to Android since I missed being able to install APKS…