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🚨 Google is killing Android freedom.

Starting 2027, unverified apps can’t be side-loaded.

➡️ F-Droid harder to install
➡️ Custom APKs blocked
➡️ Google decides what runs on YOUR phone

Google’s Android is becoming Apple: Your device, their rules.

It’s time to switch to open alternatives: Graphene, Calyx, Lineage. ✊

tuta.com/blog/android-side-loa…

Sign the petition to stop Google from limiting APK file usage: change.org/p/stop-google-from-…

Google: Don't be evil.

Stop Google from limiting APK file usage

Brian Wahl (Change.org)
This entry was edited (1 month ago)

Tuta reshared this.

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klarnebel

„can’t be side loaded“ <— you mean „can’t be installed“, right? Who came up with this „side loaded“ bs?
Sounds like doing something additional, when all you really do, is installing a program on your device, no?

(No hate to you, I just wonder about the language)

Edit: Thank you for the explanations of what sideloading is and means!

This entry was edited (1 month ago)
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Liam Proven

I have tried several alternative phone OSes and de-Googled Androids, and written about some.

I do not know of anywhere that I can go and see a list of all of them.

Here is a nice easy non-coding project for anyone who is interested in this area.

* A list of FOSS phone OSes

* Better still, with strengths/weaknesses comparisons: what each one is good for

* Better still, some tool where you can enter your phone model and it tells you you could run.

in reply to Daniel Jonsson

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TheGoodWalker

@DanOpcode It took me almost a year to fully uproot Google from my life. But, it was sooooo worth it!

My advice - be prepared for a long battle. It takes time to backup important emails, photos, and documents. And it takes time to update accounts with new email addresses. Leave some buffer time after switching to see if you still get emails from accounts you forgot about.

But when it's done, you'll feel lighter on your feet.

@Daniel Jonsson
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Alonely0 🦀 🇪🇺

I mean, they've confirmed it can be bypassed via ADB, tho it's kinda funny we'll have to rely on Shizuku or custom ROMs for sideloading. What disappoints me is that this is actually *not that bad* of an idea, considering what's going on w/ scams in many countries to old ppl; I really wish Google had instead tried to do this as a framework or open solution, such that alt stores could also provide dev verification (F-Droid is notorious for replacing dev signatures w/ their own).
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DrYak

going further away from the android/AOSP-derivatives: another solution is Linux distributions on smartphones:

- I personally daily drive #SailfishOS for more than a decade (commercially supported versions of SFOS even have "Android App Support" running inside a container for "that one app" with no native linux port you can't get without)

- I've heard positive things about #postmarketOS and #UbuntuTouch (but don't have personal experience)

#postmarketos #UbuntuTouch #sailfishos
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Micdan Latinoamérica

This is pretty much concerning for me, personally (and for other people as well who's in the same boat as me)

There's some people who can't afford Pixels like me to install GOS on them, or another third-party OS. I'm personally not a big fan of custom ROMs because I'm pretty sure they'll die over time just by looking what Google is doing with AOSP, trying to make it almost close-source literally

And probably this will affect business that rely on 3rd party software as well...

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Dаn̈ıel Раršlow 🥧

Still, y'know, best of all worlds:

Google provides the justification for many leading manufacturers to produce a variety of devices.

Then the best of those devices get support from third party OS's.

I mean yes, of course Google sucks the big sausage. But Asus and Lenovo and Samsung etc. wouldn't be making all this great hardware for reasonable prices if Google weren't out there pushing Android. And we all benefit when we install LineageOS and similar on those devices.

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Drew Crecente (they/them)

@gamingagainstv

Google #Play removed #nonprofit apps from their store, claiming that these topics are not #educational:

👉🏼#consent #healthyrelationships

These same apps are on #Appstore for #Apple users - but #Google removed them for #Android users.

⭐⭐⭐This is why we need sideloading!

#android #apple #google #nonprofit #AppStore #consent #play #educational #healthyrelationships @Gaming Against Violence
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🍐 Perivi Yohanesburgo 🍐

CalyxOS is gone for a while, and LineageOS is focused on giving phones without official updates a second chance, and it lacks verified boot which can be considered a security risk: DivestOS enabled verified boot on some devices, but the dev also ended the project and moved on.

For the time being, the only viable, secure, open alternative based on AOSP is GrapheneOS, and only Google Pixel phones are supported (though at least one OEM will release a GOS-compatible device in a few years). And this assuming the Android Open Source Project will stay open.

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Mat

as someone who runs LineageOS and maintains an app, this will still be a huge hit for the Android foss ecosystem since we will lose 95% of our users. I'm personally looking at Linux Mobile as the only possible escape hatch, not Android-based OSes as they have the same Google problem as Chromium.

I feel it's important now more than ever to support independent efforts like #postmarketOS and help them become viable as a full Android replacement.

#postmarketos
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