Google will require developer verification to install Android apps, including sideloading

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This is a suggestion. An idea. How much is feasible, or if feasible at all is a different point altogether, under the sun.

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104

Ehh. Webapps really blow. I want to use newpipe not invidious. If I was going to use a web app for YouTube I’d just use their actual mobile site with an adblocker.

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105

Again, these are just suggestion. At least someone is trying to give those.

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106

Make a shizuku clone and add support for it in F-Droid. Seriously.

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107

Does anyone here have contact with Google, either directly or through friends or acquaintances? I don’t know if Google is even aware of our concerns. I have no idea how to go about it. I was also thinking of a bigger shitstorm. Maybe talk to Apple and if they incorporate it into their advertising message, something like “look at what Google is doing, then you can come straight to us. We may not do it better, but we have bitten fruit as our logo.”

I don’t know, it’s not very helpful, but Google has become so big through free development, and now they’re so big that they no longer need or want us.

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108

The whole web already did.

Have you read EC DMA compliance workshops | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository ? They were planning this since 2018…

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109

The big Player (Google and Apple) have the same dream. Complete control. Amazon allegedly closed the App Store because of the dma. I think they only play the role of the opposition but they are not so angry about the law. I wouldn’t wondering if the took or take a great impact of this law. Now they don’t really need free software to became bigger and bigger and earn money.

Keyword: organized opposition

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I doubt it, they were too small, serving mostly their (custom) devices. Devs would be on Play too, afaik.

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111

Have we gotten anything in terms of plans for the future? Any announcements, tentative plans of action? I know we have very little information at this point, and almost no communication with google.

At the very least, we need to draft a tentative plan and prepare the existing infrastructure to accomodate new verification requirements. Starting with the very basics, like recommending or ensuring that all new packages have unique IDs (as pointed out by SkewedZeppelin). In the form of a warning message or otherwise.

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and more soon

Starting with the very basics, like recommending or ensuring that all new packages have unique IDs

complicated

some devs can’t be contacted, eg. old apps

users can’t be contacted to backup & uninstall & reinstall

we need to touch and modify how many apps? 4000?

Ah, >700 are reproducible, but if the dev does not want to cave in we do what? fork it and sign it ourselves?

…

so on

while there’s only on solution, STOP GOOGLE from doing this

113

Don’t know if it was already said but this verification won’t apply to apps from usb debugging / adb. Which means installation would be possible using shizuko. For example, droid-ify supports this as an installation method.

As a developer, you are free to install apps without verification by using ADB, so you can continue to test apps that are not intended or not yet ready to distribute to the wider consumer population.

Also found some slides with a preview of the android developer console

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ADB is limited to developers testing, and may get blocked or restricted if it is not a debug build and if say is instead a prod build.

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which normal user has shizuko? how do you even install that? with adb? really? that’s “the solution”?

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[insert rant here about how f-droid isn’t that well known or used in the average-people non-techsavy population - troll, troll…]

i know shizuku isn’t that great to setup, but it’s the best i could think of - other than doing the verification process for each and every app in every random f-droid repo so it works seamlessly. or adb directly. at least it doesn’t require a PC to do “the adb thing”.

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117

and I agree :+1:

but compare tap once to save a file, tap again to install F-Droid vs the steps needed for Shizuku… :crying_cat:

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118

Thank you for the response. I’m sorry things are so complicated, and I truly hope I didn’t come off as naiive or condescending. Truth is, I have very little technical understanding of the logistics involved on fdroid’s part distributing FOSS software. I just hate feeling so helpless watching this happen.

Instead let me ask a better question. Where can I as a casual user take immediate action? Where should I pour donation money? How can I be a thorn in Alphabet’s side?

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Is developing a whole new OS, that is FOSS and capable of running existing android apks as well as its own native apps, possible?

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Huawei’s Harmony Next? (featuring hap natively and apk with vm)

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Technically speaking yes. A better question would be if it were feasible to do. Which would honestly be a no. I mean no doubt someone could absolutely make it happen but the sheer absolute maintenance burden that would have to come after would be absolutely massive.

Currently the best option is seeming to be Linux phones since they have… Decent. Android compatibility while being able to run their own native apps aswell. Not a new OS so doesn’t apply to what you said but still it’s probably the best bet currently unless something else comes up.

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The most annoying problem would be device compatibilty.

I beleive that GNU/Linux can’t just be installed on every existing android device.

I could barely unlock the bootloader of my Realme 11 4G through a loophole in the system update app and I can’t find a single custom ROM made for it. Not even TWRP.

I tried GSI but they’re so bad. My device just turns off for no reason at all.

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