Okay but, installing an apk is not the kind of thing a scammer does. They’ll just install some standard off the shelf remote access software from the play store
This very much feels like they just needed to come up with a new justification for this process and opted for scammers for some reason. Even though they’re completely disconnected
This very much feels like they just needed to come up with a new justification for this process
It feels that way because that’s exactly what happened.
I was hoping for at least something slightly believable, someone let Gemini write the justification I guess
They don’t even respect us enough to bother with trying to make their lies convincing anymore.
A man can dream
- enable developer options
- confirm that you are not tricked
- restart phone and re-authenticate
- wait one day
- confirm with biometrics that you know what you are doing
- decide if you only want unrestricted installs for 1 week or forever
- confirm that you accept the risks
- enjoy the few apps that still have developers motivated to develop for a user-base willing to put up with this
Combined with the news that they’re going to start requiring developer age verification even in the alternate app repositories…
The biometrics part makes no sense, you can disable biometrics. You mean that you have to do a security confirmation however you’ve set it up.
And again, confirming that my current phone will be the last android device I own.
What will you use instead though?
At this stage, I’m thinking one of the Motorola phones that will run Graphene out of the box.
Isn’t that Android?
I believe it’s a fork of android that is not managed by Google
It’s an Android fork that has been degoogled
…so it’s android.
Is that meant to be a “gotcha” or something?
My point is, this is the last time I let google control my phone.
I imagine since it’s not an official product of Google’s, it can’t legally be called “Android.” As such it’s something that is not Android, but is highly compatible with it since both are rooted in the AOSP.
Legally? Maybe not.
But Col Sanders left KFC after selling a business he created with his own secret reciepe. Then after he sold it, he watched the new owners use his image to sell an inferior chicken product.
So he started up another new chicken resteraunt using the original reciepe. Legally he couldn’t call it KFC, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was the original KFC reciepe.
Hows that phrase go? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.
Call things whatever word you want, it’s still the same thing in the end.
yes but also no.
google influenced, but not google controlled anymore.
I use graphene on a pixel. Graphene is Android, albeit a much better version of Android.
I don’t care whether it’s technically android or not, I care that it’s not a tool to let google in to my life.
I’m hoping it’s smaller than any of their current offerings. I really want to support a “factory” GrapheneOS phone, but can’t stand the size of current generation phones.
I want the opposite! I currently use a fold phone because phones are too small :P
any links for more info?
March 2, 2026 https://motorolanews.com/motorola-three-new-b2b-solutions-at-mwc-2026/
That’s some good news indeed.
Even sidegrading to an older mid-high range phone seems like a good idea at this point. I hate android 12 and everything after it with a passion. Moto have been decent in my experience though, hopefully HMD will follow suit with Graphene
Linux phone, landline, or tin can and string.
Another option, an ESP32 radio. Surprisingly large mesh network in the greater Seattle area.
Yeah, but you guys don’t have any ghosts in your city! So…Who ya gonna call???
In addition to the advanced flow we’re building free, limited distribution accounts for students and hobbyists. This allows you to share apps with a small group (up to 20 devices) without needing to provide a government-issued ID or pay a registration fee.
Fuck you sideways, Google.
What? ID?
They want developers to share their IDs to have their apps on the play store. The limited groups is so hobbyist developers can still share apps without having to jump through those hoops and so the users don’t need to go and enable sideloading, with the caveat that there’s a call on how many users you can send it to it looks like.
That’s already the case. The new thing is that they want developers to share their ID to have their apps be installable on Android in the first place, even if they don’t use the Play Store.
I wonder if this is a direct result of apps like ICE watch or ones that track billionaire planes and stuff
Google did just say they’re “…leaning more into military contracts…” or something…
But the sideloading flow via dev options that they have revealed doesn’t require that and it’s easy to do…
From what angle is it easy to do?
- Enable developer mode (using a hidden process where you have to know where to find it)
- Go through a scary form
- Restart the device
- Wait 24 hours?!
- Go to the settings again
- Do some more scary confirmations
- Check another scary checkbox
- And then… confirm again every single time you install an app
And you are telling me it’s easy to do? I can go publish a diet tracking app and Aunt Flo will happily go through this and I won’t lose customers?
I feel like if someone knows what an .apk is and where to download them, they’ll also know how to search for how to install them
Yeah, and currently you don’t need to know what an apk is to install them.
Just think of all the other things that could benefit from a “protective waiting period” to enhance your safety.
Turning off location tracking, using a web browser other than Chrome, using a mail server other than Gmail, visiting duckduckgo.com — if Google really cared about your privacy and security they’d add a 24-hour delay to all these dangerous activities.
Downloading Linux? Mandatory psych evaluation. For your protection.
They think this will take some of the heat off of them. Hopefully no one actually thinks this is a reasonable compromise. If I want to help an elderly family member install something on their phone during Thanksgiving dinner or a family reunion, I’m not gonna want to wait a day. Uncle Paul’s flying back to Florida tomorrow morning!
Thanksgiving was four months ago. Uncle Paul lives with you now.
I imagine that the demand for linux phones will only grow.
THE PENGUINS MUST GROW
Who are these smooth-talking scammers that can guide a regular-ass user to jump through hoops in settings to install a malicious app?
Maybe I should ask them how they do it, because I cannot convince my family to download and use Signal. You know, the legit app from the official app store.
People who can’t operate a computer will somehow become gods at following instructions if someone calls “from Microsoft”
You mean from ‘The Microsoft’
Who are these smooth-talking scammers that can guide a regular-ass user to jump through hoops in settings to install a malicious app?
you would be extremely surprised. I think lemmy users fail to realize that not everyone has an IT job and is a sys admin.
Exactly… there are a ton of older people falling for scams everyday. It’s all over the news. They manipulate people by pretending to be a love interest or a family member.
Rental devices tend to be bad investments for the individuals.
They will just redefine what 24h means!
Don’t think for a second that these companies are working in good faith, and would change their evil plans due to some pushback from the rabble. They will just find ways to circumvent things. They have everyone by the nads, there are no competitors.
This would not have affected me since I use Lineage OS without Google Play Services, but I am now more seriously than ever looking into using a Linux phone like Postmarket OS.
It would affect a lot of users, then it will indirectly affect you too, as a lot of devs won’t be as interested in maintaining their apps for so few users. But I hope it will at least give a bit of a push to developing postmarket os. I personally am sure going to get a second hand phone to install postmarketos too and hope I can contribute at least a little bit. I am prepared to suffer, at least a little bit for the right cause.
Hot Take: Honestly, this is not as bad as I thought it’d be… IMO
(But still, it’s kinda a slipperly slope…)
Their strategy:
- announce they will make extreme restrictions
- people get crazy over it and backlash
- announce that they’re listening to people and will soften the proposed restrictions
- people relax and accept the restrictions, while the media portray them as the good guys
I feel if everything they said is true, then this is a reasonable solution. But from my many Youtube scammer video experience, like people have already mentioned, most scammers use standard remote access software, not some bespoke APK.
I’m just going to eradicate Google once SteamOS supports mobile devices. Fucking control freak douchebags.
Bruh what? You’re gonna be waiting a long time for that. Better to use one of the pre-existing alternatives than wait for an OS that probably won’t ever exist, and probably won’t support your hardware if it ever does.
Why is it called developer mode if it’s supposedly an advanced flow? That has a bad implication.
