Nils Andresen1d ago
Keep Android Open
How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
Good, it is necessary for our safety and security
OK, I trust Google to prioritize user interests
Bad, it is an attempt to take complete control
Terrible, this is the end of software freedom
Poll ends at .
Mar 18 at 7:45pmWeb
Show threadTerminal Tilt3d ago

@keepandroidopen

It is bad but it is not the end unless we decide to not fight.

Show threadTravis F W2d ago
@terminaltilt @keepandroidopen I highly doubt google is doing this absent pressure.
Giving the right person inside Google the right reasons and numbers to write the right letter to the right person is what could turn it around.
Is that what you mean by "fight"?
Show threadTerminal Tilt2d ago

@travisfw @keepandroidopen

That is part of it, but fighting is also about creating social pushback. When we’re loud, bring attention to these changes, and refuse to accept them as the new normal, we change the math for them. Google needs to know that locking down Android is a PR disaster that drives their loyal users and developers away.

Show threadspaceKite7h ago
@terminaltilt
"Away" where would we go?
Show threadMoses Izumi2d ago
@terminaltilt @keepandroidopen
It's kinda spooky that Google announced the new rules right around the same time that they started pushing Android's Desktop Mode into the limelight.

The main reason I didn't vote for option 4 is because I expect Windows to abstain from similar actions*: many of their users still expect the ability to install software that isn't part of the Microsoft Store mothership.
(I recall the MacOS people also announced a new policy regarding 3rd party apps, but it didn't involve pestering devs for their government ID:s)

* for the better part of a decade, at least
Show threadyoasif3d ago

@keepandroidopen Missing "Good, it may propel interest in real open devices".

EDIT: Thanks for the boosts! Obviously Android should remain open -- but I think we should also try to break free from Google entirely with projects like @postmarketOS

I'm thinking about trying to blog/make videos about #Linuxphones -- follow me and my blog (linked from profile) and add a like if you have interest (trying to keep the spam low here, folks)!

Show threadVoxel3d ago
@yoasif @keepandroidopen Sadly this is not the reality.
Show threadyoasif3d ago
@voxel @keepandroidopen Thinking about trying to create content about it... any interest?
Show threadDiegovsky1d ago
@yoasif @voxel @keepandroidopen I'm interested
Show threadstony kark3d ago
@keepandroidopen @Em0nM4stodon don't care. I'll write my own OS before I build an android app.
Show threadDjoerd Hiemstra 🍉3d ago
@keepandroidopen
Show threadgrob (teeth era) 🇺🇦🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️3d ago
@keepandroidopen I'd be interested how many people vote for the option with "Google prioritising user interests" and I salute your humour. 🫡
Show threadcmars 🅅3d ago
@keepandroidopen Good if we see more diversity in Linux phone alternatives as a result.
Show threadClyde Davidson3d ago

@keepandroidopen

The question isn't right. Android is going to be there bigger and better AND blended with a lot of what is in ChromeOS today. They needed to be blended to the betterment of both of them.

Show threadChookMother 🇦🇺🦘2d ago
@keepandroidopen What impending lockdown of Android?
Show threadsodiboo 1d ago

@anne_twain @keepandroidopen See https://keepandroidopen.org/

Google announced that as of September 2026*, it will no longer be possible to develop apps for the Android platform without first registering centrally with Google* five months from now

You're replying to the social media presence of a website dedicated to pushing back against this decision by Google.

Keep Android Open

Advocating for Android as a free, open platform for everyone to build apps on.

Show threadiguana098631d ago

@keepandroidopen Google has finally rolled out a “solution” for downloading APK files outside of Google, which, in my opinion, is absolute garbage.👇

https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/19/google-introduces-a-new-way-for-users-to-sideload-android-apps-that-still-protects-against-scams/

Google introduces a new way for users to sideload Android apps that still protects against scams | TechCrunch

Google is making Android sideloading easier with a new advanced setting that lets users disable app verification after a multi-step security process.

TechCrunch
Show threadnoodle1d ago
@keepandroidopen It's a good feature for a certain threat model, but it should be opt-in.
Show threadSibrosan1d ago

@keepandroidopen

I never felt the desire to sideload an app, so why should I care either way?

Show threadNordnick 🌐1d ago

@sibrosan @keepandroidopen

It's about installing apps.

Sideloading is a propaganda term.

I use #Android without a #Google account. Almost all my apps are being installed using the F-Droid repository.

Why should i create a contract with this weird US company, give them a lot of personal data and let them decide, what i'm allowed to install and use?

I don't want to be a digital slave.

Think about digital sovereignty.

Show threadTruls1d ago
@nick @sibrosan @keepandroidopen If all journalists reporting about this used the correct term "install software", I think the outrage would be a lot bigger.
Show threadThanatos1d ago
@sibrosan @keepandroidopen You sound like a MAGAt when someone is discussing someone's rights and they say "Doesn't affect me, why should I care?". Makes you sound like a shitty human.... Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Show threadIvan G.1d ago
@keepandroidopen I'm happy to have preordered the next gen jolla phone!
Show threadRez1d ago

@keepandroidopen I feel that at best, it is an attempt to solve a "people problem" with a software fix. I have worked in IT support long enough to know that that never works. It only compounds the problem by creating even more new ones (while not actually solving the original problem).

The illusion of security will be quickly shattered as soon as scammers figure out how to work around it anyway.

Show thread🇪🇺 Paul Schoonhoven 🍋🍉1d ago

@keepandroidopen @fdroidorg

Other:
No problem, I'll move to /e/os, bye bye Google

Show thread🇩🇪 🇺🇦 🇨🇦1d ago
@keepandroidopen I did not know Android was open.... always has seemed crummy and hard to access when I use it. In this world of information sequestration and closure what else should we expect... I guess.
Show threadRusty Shackleford1d ago

@keepandroidopen
@draken

Whoever voted "Good, it's necessary for our safety and security.", should have their drivers license taken away. For safety and security. Stupid is as stupid does.

Show threadDraken BlackKnight1d ago
@rusty__shackleford @keepandroidopen
They're the kind of people who would water plants with Brawndo the Thirst Mutilator.
Show threadLeander Lindahl 🇪🇺1d ago

@keepandroidopen maybe it will finally focus peoples minds on directing adequate resorces to refining (to consumer ready level) a linux mobile os. And focus the minds of lawmakers to break the duopoly by legislating that apps must be available to download and run outside the US duopoly (banking and id apps).

I was hoping a tech conglomerate would emerge to fork android and maintain a free version, but that's unrealistic. I think Android is a gonner at this point.

Show threadEldeberen1d ago
@keepandroidopen I would vote something in between "OK" and "Bad".

It's obvious that is an attempt to take complete control, **but** from my perspective [free software/independent developers] communities has not build the appropriate infrastructure nor tools to propose a decent security level. Which Google has.
Show threadAlex1d ago
@keepandroidopen my feelings aren't one of the options: "A hassle for me, might deter low effort scams, doesn't address the scams and malware present in the official store, but not the worst solution". is that too-nuanced an opinion?
Show threadJuan Games1d ago
@keepandroidopen more than a solution, this is more of a "ok, we'll allow you to do it but in our own terms" kind of thing. Combined with propaganda to scare people from doing it and a ton of handicaps to actually do it.
Show threadOpticalNail 🇵🇸1d ago

@keepandroidopen

Not "terrible" because we need a push to have googleless devices. Other than this, yes, it is really bad.

Show threadShawn Webb1d ago
@keepandroidopen as a contributor to non-Android open source projects, there will never be an end to software freedom. It's just that freedoms will be removed from specific projects, like Android, while the rest of the open source world continues on as if nothing ever happened.
Show threadAlex, the Hearth Fire1d ago

@keepandroidopen I'm a contractor at Google, currently (reluctantly) writing documentation to support the verification rollout. Was full time with Android before the mass layoffs started.

I stopped trusting Android to be better than iPhones when they stopped selling Pixel phones with headphone jacks.
I stopped trusting Google to care about its users when they added genAI to their codebase.
And I still have to get up and go to work and pretend I'm happy to be there.

Show threadAlex, the Hearth Fire1d ago

@keepandroidopen honestly I feel like the harbinger at this point. I was also required to document Manifest v3, which killed adblockers on Chrome.

I really hope y'all can at least pressure them to provide a real opt-out process, because it's hard for me to imagine them walking this back entirely. There's folks in there who really believe it'll be good for protecting users with no downside.

Show threadDrippyDaDrippiest 1d ago
@keepandroidopen No one trusts Google? Weird, I thought there will be at least one Google maniac lol
Show threadTheTearMiser1d ago
I feeling I was lied to and cheated on in a relationship I spent YEARS defending #degoogle
Show threadliberteouvriere1d ago
@keepandroidopen
Let's hope it will just pish people to buy an degoogled phone...
Show threadbananamangodog22h ago
@keepandroidopen With Samsung recently sneakily making it impossible to root their phones thus impossible to run an alternative operating system; and now the Google antics I can safely say if I bother with one at all, my next phone will be a Linux phone.
Show threadArtur21h ago

@keepandroidopen Well, from what Ive saw on SOG at least the Advanced Workflow or whatever name is decent enough after we pushed.

I dont think google would do anything like that without pressure. Now we have to keep pressure to make sure they keep their promisse.