Post B5MV0um5I6c3Xpxl1E by steppl@mastodon.social
(DIR) More posts by steppl@mastodon.social
(DIR) Post #B5MLiEtdM6FarUVvt2 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
3 likes, 4 repeats
Remember? "Sideloading" is here to stay, and won't go away, they said? Don't be afraid, they said? Something something "we heard you"? Suuuure! Who would ever doubt it!Attached the copy of a mail developers with apps in the PlayStore CURRENTLY receive. Please, read the text in the red box carefully:"Apps not registered by September 2026 WILL NO LONGER BE INSTALLABLE ON CERTIFIED ANDROID DEVICES in select countries."See an exception there? I don't.#Google #Android #DeveloperCertfication
(DIR) Post #B5MMUBHU6HEtY6WwgC by hiddenalpha@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid https://keepandroidopen.org/
(DIR) Post #B5MMawxTkYnF9gOto8 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@hiddenalpha Tell me 🤣 We were one of the first signatories there.
(DIR) Post #B5MN433u8Tq2U1HVHU by hiddenalpha@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid 😂👍
(DIR) Post #B5MOB5ekzKPyVjRMw4 by WeirdWriter@caneandable.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
Can Google just call themselves Apple now? @IzzyOnDroid
(DIR) Post #B5MQcVuHhJ1XeUuKWG by julian@digitalcourage.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid go @GrapheneOS !
(DIR) Post #B5MTFq1r19lrGIKM9w by synnef@woof.tech
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid it's very disturbing that so many people took google announcing the "advanced flow" for "sideloading" apps as a victoryannounce something extremely bad, then make the conditions a little better while not addressing your proposal's root problem, and the general sentiment becomes "welp, this is fine, it could be worse" instead of "we need to keep fighting because our activism is working"so yeah, keep fighting, you do an amazing job :blobcatsurprised:
(DIR) Post #B5MUHCCeA0LwHFaRKC by ki@chaos.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid what I don't get is, there was an EU court ruling that apple had to allow alternative app shops... why does that not apply to Google?
(DIR) Post #B5MV0um5I6c3Xpxl1E by steppl@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroidThe option of "sideloading" without hassle, was years ago (and sofar) the argument for me to go to Android. But looks like FDroid and alike stores do something right 😉 so google wants to protect their market positions. 🤬
(DIR) Post #B5MVvCBZkB6dlFise8 by zebidijah@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid so if I'm locked into a walled garden that won't let me load and run the code I want... Why would I not just opt for the better build quality of an iPhone?? What benefit is left in androids favor if it's just going to act like Apple, which is what drove me to android in the first place?? I foresee a zero-app future and a return/rise of web apps (self hosted or otherwise) instead...
(DIR) Post #B5MWYlqr4aehfctz3A by jwz@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid They pioneered this with me a year and a half ago. They locked me out of the "Play" [sic] store and made me unable to update my decade+-old app because I wouldn't give them a lock of my hair. https://jwz.org/b/ykcj
(DIR) Post #B5MXESBmZGlMqoZBQ0 by webkitten@tech.lgbt
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid And this is why I've turned off system updates on my Samsung and sticking with Android 15.
(DIR) Post #B5MXESUDSjVZlzBu9Q by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@webkitten TBH, and this is my personal voice here (though shared by some of our team for sure): this is one of the reasons I enjoy my SHIFT phone for. Android 15 (currently), no Google (by choice; they support two variants of their ShiftOS: with, or without Google – I've chosen the latter). And the libre ROM with full sopport from the device vendor 🤗 They support their community, at SHIFT 😍
(DIR) Post #B5MXHxXaSY8sxHRA24 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@synnef the thing is: that mail does not even mention the possibility of an "advanced flow" – it simply says "sign or die". As if it has been dropped again.
(DIR) Post #B5MXrRFvyFDtFc67xA by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@kasiandra There are more candidates even: Murena with /e/OS, @shiftphones with ShiftOS-L, and if I remember correctly, Fairphone also has several options. The Linux ones might catch up soon as well with mainstream readiness (thinking of postmarketOS here). Hopefully I forgot some more here, as there cannot be enough 😉
(DIR) Post #B5MYD8hPe3NY4KIZ16 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@steppl by "alike stores" you mean @IzzyOnDroidOrg and others I guess? 🥰 Yes, I hope we're doing something right. We give our best!
(DIR) Post #B5MZB1JMF5KwWwbHW4 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@jwz luckily you know at least two places accepting you and your apps without doxxing you. We don't want your personal data – and I mean that: what we don't have, we cannot loose. We need to know it's really you? OK, there's always GPG & friends ("sign your commits"). But of what interest to us is your private data? 🤷♂️ But then, we make no money with our "store". We do not sell ads (or data). We runs things because we love to do stuff with and for the community. Support is of course welcome 😉
(DIR) Post #B5MZYeCxn5hPpLsMRU by niedlichenacktschnecke@kolektiva.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroidWhat does certified android device mean in this context?
(DIR) Post #B5MZYeRqtjboZWqFeK by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@niedlichenacktschnecke Google certified (i.e. "ships with GApps etc"). If you're running a libre ROM without GApps, you're liberated from that.
(DIR) Post #B5MZmJcn7GdE2jTRnE by Sir_Limpalot@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid I've been on Android since the beginning, but that ends next time I'm buying a new phone."Don't be evil" silently disappeared ...
(DIR) Post #B5MaPnu8TF43FQPrhA by synnef@woof.tech
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid yeah that's weird, my first assumption is that it's just clever writing to scare developers into signing up for the verification program, because the advanced flow has already been clearly announced and explained :blobcatDerpy:
(DIR) Post #B5MaUSX5MFLSPcr2OG by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Sir_Limpalot Just the first word disappeared, actually… 🙊 💨
(DIR) Post #B5MamLDFJPQKvF6Lw0 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@synnef If it has been clearly announced and explained, why isn't it even mentioned there in a footnote – but the opposite stated? I'd expect at least a small hint then. Instead, an absolute claim.Honestly: if I bought something, it should be mine – and my decision how I deal with it. I don't need a sugar daddy watching me, and telling me how I should behave. If I want security measures, I want to choose them by my own terms, sorry.
(DIR) Post #B5MapUxPXRDW0tCTSq by khleedril@cyberplace.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid @Sir_Limpalot ... and not silently: they made an announcement when they decided to change their bye-line.
(DIR) Post #B5MbgAtmqUuz9QchFY by Numerfolt@kirche.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid @synnef They maybe omitted it to push as many developers as possible to do as they're told?And I totally agree with you!
(DIR) Post #B5Mc9RajrT7fJwfc2q by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Numerfolt Maybe they don't reach the "critical mass" fast enough? 🤔
(DIR) Post #B5Mcxws1qEL2oFq8Bc by Numerfolt@kirche.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid True, if nobody did that, they couldnt implement it without loosing lots of money. I like the way you think :)
(DIR) Post #B5Mh5JvKvZfy9U9q0u by andymouse@todon.eu
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid Hmm. So I'm on a custom rom, downloading my apps though Fdroid and if not OSS, Aurora store. Does this impact me?I'll do keepandroidopen anyway, but just wondering.
(DIR) Post #B5MhtjdLc4hWMvmbyK by luc0x61@mastodon.gamedev.place
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid At some point, as it's happening with operating systems, someone at a national or European level, should say stop it. Should say fine, any phone not open to users' will has to cease to exist on our territory. Any public administration has to be forbidden developing applications that don't run at least on a tertiary open system.Note that in the large numbers Europe relies for _any_ comms on two (2) US oligarchs.I fear I will not witness anything changing for the rest of my life.
(DIR) Post #B5MimQCfYXEY2ANgg4 by zayn@toot.community
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid @Gauss :blobcatgooglyholdingitsheadinitshands:
(DIR) Post #B5MjQ4lkfPnT8lhPcG by danvolchek@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid sideloading aka NORMALLY INSTALLING APPS ON MY PHONE AHHHHHHHHHHHHH
(DIR) Post #B5MmNVc4hmh5OBdm08 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@landelare Depends on your interpretation of "fast enough". We're talking Billionaires there, they can never get enough, especially not fast enough… 🤷♂️ And I'm with you there: my hopes for "enough people might refuse", you need a microscope to find. Only my hope of "enough noise to force action", is a little bit higher… @Numerfolt
(DIR) Post #B5MmqdZiBLtgTqQO3M by seanking@woem.men
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid@floss.social And because what? They want to have more control over Android akin to how Apple does with iOS? Google's pathetic.
(DIR) Post #B5MmqeAZyHO6KBfpWC by ItsePerkele@expressional.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@seanking @IzzyOnDroid Because google thinks we are morons. They think that we are not smart enough to use our devices responsibly. They also think we are stupid enough to buy their bullshit excuses.
(DIR) Post #B5MmqeREyKiP9rT8UK by landelare@mastodon.gamedev.place
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ItsePerkele @seanking @IzzyOnDroid Statistically, that's most users. I had to deal with this, a phone had at least a dozen basic-utility-looking apps that were ad/ notification spam delivery fronts. All from the Play Store, of course, because that's very safe and secure. The user in this instance was about to discard the "broken" phone and buy a new one before I stepped in.1/2 because mastodon is dumb
(DIR) Post #B5MmqestJWpiXcPDaS by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@landelare please don't get me started on that topic, or we won't get much sleep tonight… They want to control safety for the world, but cannot even keep their own house clean. And having their "Safe" browsing block innocent sites because of false positives, while keeping their own sites out of their scanners reach (or storage.googleapis.com would have long been gone)… 🤐
(DIR) Post #B5Mmqf9uIGRbOOMo6q by landelare@mastodon.gamedev.place
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ItsePerkele @seanking @IzzyOnDroid This is a real problem, but Google is twisting it to harvest even more data while not addressing it at all, and no one in (political) power is doing anything to call out this bullshit.2/2 why are we doing this crap in 2026
(DIR) Post #B5MnUEGRhqCjZ1IAMa by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@landelare Windows defender? (looks at the windows) hm, I don't have curtains there, but some gaze to keep the flies out, cannot hurt, right? Wait… you don't mean to put something MS on your computer? 😱 I've kicked that out of my windows back in 1995, and never regretted it…
(DIR) Post #B5MpHGfzcuzZBkBlvE by cesarb@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid @kasiandra How many of these candidates are available here in Brazil (one of the first "select countries" where these apps will no longer be installable)? I can only find official Android, Apple, and feature phones for sale. Importing is not an alternative since phone models not certified by ANATEL will be rejected by customs.I'd love to have alternatives, but I haven't seen one sold in my country since the old Nokia days.
(DIR) Post #B5MsBE9sNLBpVIyfyq by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@landelare By reading tech news reports on those companies 🙊 💨
(DIR) Post #B5MwBFhZ2Lsi6i0Cqu by skedarwarrior@techhub.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid That's google for you.
(DIR) Post #B5NGaQkb5nZqhJhjQ8 by momo@social.linux.pizza
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroidI'm sorry to say but Android is dead in the water. We can petition and we probably should but all we will get for it is "Okay, then we postpone this again until the public calms down again". It's what they want and it's what they will do. And that is why it sooner or later will happen. This is just another proof for it.
(DIR) Post #B5NNwmWNWu0GGgetRw by Bebef@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid Is there a word somewhere which contries are in that selection?
(DIR) Post #B5NOtqolCObSg9QHVw by Haikyoneko@famichiki.jp
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid @niedlichenacktschnecke so my phone running Graphene will be fine?
(DIR) Post #B5NQyk186tbswZfUiu by iode@mastodon.online
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid @kasiandra @shiftphones Don´t forget iodéOS, we officially support 60+ devices, plus a GSI:https://iode.tech/iodeos-official-supported-devices/#keepandroidopen
(DIR) Post #B5NSCRyc56gp04alUW by xabaras@androiddev.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid It was pretty clear that it would have gone this way!
(DIR) Post #B5NURvd0JttXDMzcS8 by unknownuniverse@noc.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid because I write my own apps that are just for me and no one else this is a real kick in the wotsits. Just more "It's for your own good" BS so that big tech can harvest even more of our data! https://the.unknown-universe.co.uk/privacy-security/google-sideloading-crackdown/
(DIR) Post #B5Nd8v7wrDRZkLTgcy by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@Haikyoneko As are others running "non-official" ROMs (i.e. not controlled by Google / GMS), yes. But how many are that? The majority runs what came installed with their device. "Nerds" might know their ways around – but most people won't. Or don't dare… @niedlichenacktschnecke
(DIR) Post #B5NdLJvSTzNa8IY4QK by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@iode Thanks! And indeed, you were nagging my mind but 🧠 didn't want to name you 🙈 And I'm pretty sure there's at least one more I didn't mention… @kasiandra @shiftphones
(DIR) Post #B5Ne0u5AxQxG8yvEUC by ItsePerkele@expressional.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@landelare @seanking @IzzyOnDroid I'd be willing to bet that most of the problems come not from non-Play Store sources but from apps that are registered "legitimately" on Play Store, downloaded from Play Store, maybe even stamped with the "ok" from Play Protect.This developer/app registration is going to do absolutely nothing to help with that. And thats rather obvious. Which makes it even more infuriating that the average user is so dumb these days, that they'll just take Googles word for it. I wonder if life is too easy these days. You just press a button and whatever you want appears/happens. And that has made everyone dumb as a boot.
(DIR) Post #B5Ne0uNFsDPt33NffM by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ItsePerkele Several years ago, there was a study on "malware coverage in stores". Guess which one had the highest coverage (5% of all their apps that time)? So naming "security" as reason, is so obviously a bogus reason, that even blind folks would see it (no offence to our blind friends here!) without a screen reader (and even our deaf friends cover their ears). Their "safe" browsing skipping scans for their own sites, is also screaming along. @landelare @seanking
(DIR) Post #B5O5iu3J81P5YRFlhY by landelare@mastodon.gamedev.place
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ItsePerkele @seanking @IzzyOnDroid Not even the average user, I think. The average user can't be expected to be able to see through all this, I'm similarly ignorant on many other topics, and rely on others to help me. But theoretically, the average user should have a government looking out for all the legitimate users' interests, average or not, with experts on hand, who absolutely should see through this, and prevent it before it even starts.Except, alas, corruption.
(DIR) Post #B5O5iuIuC1seKoYE0u by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@landelare I would not mind an "are you sure" popup – not even a follow-up "are you REALLY sure". On _first install_ of such an app, and even when updating _from a different source_ than the original install one. I could even half-close my second eye should it need some more hoops to disable that (for advanced users). But the default being something "only nerds would follow", is not in the interest of device owners.
(DIR) Post #B5OGqElJcwmHJ8XNom by Tuuktuuk@piipitin.fi
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid @kasiandra @shiftphones Fairphone has e/OS and stock Android as only options I've noticed.
(DIR) Post #B5OQZakhc9Sy7xx6OW by enigmatico@mk.absturztau.be
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid@floss.social The funniest part about this is that the official play store provided by Google is literally FULL of bad actors shipping malware. Mostly spyware but there is all sort of malware lurking there. But yeah, it's only the "unofficial" ones. Of course...
(DIR) Post #B5Ov4NaPc1egtbjgJs by theeclecticdyslexic@mstdn.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@andymouseBasically, it only doesn't effect you if you don't run stock android, and even then it does because it hampers people developing FOSS apps you would use. @IzzyOnDroid
(DIR) Post #B5Ov4Nr4c4yzjHWzI0 by andymouse@todon.eu
0 likes, 0 repeats
@theeclecticdyslexic Yes I thought so.. thanks for the info.Well, I wonder how many on stock Android go through the pains of donating to developers?I'd think most of them are "download and see if it works" and that's it. Then it will stop working, and they will use corpo spyware shit instead.It will be interesting to see what this move by Google does to donations to good open source projects. I'd guess Google is betting on that people will just give up on open source.I think people will double down on it, and donate more, because it because even more obvious that it's the only option to keep OSS alive. Maybe I'm naive.@IzzyOnDroid
(DIR) Post #B5Ov4O6JhPAyUYfA36 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@andymouse you're more optimistic than I am there (especially seeing how few donations arrive at our OpenCollective/Liberapay; we basically get much less than 1 Euro per hour work invested, and I bet most other projects are in a similar situation; though we do not do this for money, it helps us keep going, and we have bills to pay) – but I wish you are correct! 🤞 @theeclecticdyslexic
(DIR) Post #B5OwWhYb3TcotdxIxs by theeclecticdyslexic@mstdn.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroidI think the next front in FOSS is figuring out how to make it financially stable. We simply aren't going to get where we are trying to go unless we can start convincing people to fund FOSS over paying for SaaS.I honestly don't know the solution, but honestly Izzy, I think everyone that works with you being able to get paid to work full time on this stuff would be a perfectly reasonable ask.I think the tools need to get way more accessible for that to happen though.@andymouse
(DIR) Post #B5Q3DLlijVh4ekm1o0 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@theeclecticdyslexic that would be our dream: to do what we're doing, provide what we're providing, without having to worry how to get food on our tables. Seeing what we've achieved as a team just in the last year – think how much we could achieve then! @andymouse
(DIR) Post #B5Q7S0Lv2WJiOaws0u by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
1 likes, 0 repeats
Next update developers with apps on PlayStore will get, is attached below: all your listed apps have been auto-registered – and you are asked to register any other signing keys you might use for distribution outside of Play, as well as apps you distribute outside of it. Again, note the red box:"Apps not registered by September 2026 WILL NO LONGER BE INSTALLABLE ON CERTIFIED ANDROID DEVICES in select countries."Thank your govs to let them get away with that.#Google #DeveloperCertification
(DIR) Post #B8ECJCtIU3tbUIpxZI by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@nlupo definitely not! Quoting https://source.android.com/docs/setup/about/faqs?hl=en#why-did-we-open-the-android-source-code"… We also wanted to avoid any central point of failure, so no single industry player could restrict or control the innovations of any other."Aged like milk in this context, I'd say.#Google #GateKeepers #Control
(DIR) Post #B8EEEIHLDyyierruYy by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@nlupo ah c'mon, don't be evil 🙊 💨
(DIR) Post #B8EtA1G6et4SpmN5Ga by mrgrumpymonkey@mastodon.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid Time for me to upgrade to that flip phone. :sickmeme:
(DIR) Post #B8ExNgawgOAAcJtIZ6 by IzzyOnDroid@floss.social
0 likes, 0 repeats
@mrgrumpymonkey I should have taken my old Wileyfox Swift with me to FOSDEM in February. Our stand was next to postmarketOS – and that phone is reported to be well supported…Luckily, the vendor of my main drivers ships a google-free ROM first hand, so I won't be affected by _that_ GCrap (though of course by others, as they still have their hands on AOSP).
(DIR) Post #B8N2XVrpaiYvJq8pYO by azukuni@furry.engineer
0 likes, 0 repeats
@IzzyOnDroid Even iOS isn't this draconian. Oh the irony...