Mastodawn

anonymous1 Apr 6

🅰🅻🅸🅲🅴 (🌈🦄)

148 days to go...

"""
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.

This registration will involve:

- Paying a fee to Google
- Agreeing to Google’s Terms and Conditions
- Providing government identification
- Uploading evidence of the developer’s private signing key
- Listing all current and future application identifiers
"""

https://keepandroidopen.org/

#FuckGoogle #KeepAndroidOpen

Keep Android Open

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

AI6YR Ben Apr 6

@alice So much for "don't be Evil!" (yes, yes, long gone).

The Great Llama

@ai6yr @alice
"Look, we did the math and evil paid better." - Google, probably

@TheGreatLlama @ai6yr @alice not even evil in the "I'm gonna kill a lot of people and steal stuff to establish my view of a perfect world" sense but rather the "I don't care about losses as long as I get even more money" way that absolutely deserves no respect

The Great Llama

@alchemicacht @ai6yr @alice
Less "the banality of evil," and more "the VENALITY of evil."

teledyn 𓂀 Apr 6

Is it possible to disable #android auto-updates? I'm guessing 'no'.

Burger B Burger :bkfls:Apr 6

@alice I wrote a blog post about the current state of Android and how (I believe) Android was never destined to be open whatsoever - https://burgeronthe.net/googles-android.html

burger's site

Khleedril Apr 6

@burger @alice Android was always Google's iOS.

Li ~ Crystal System Apr 6

@burger @alice i mean .. it has always had internal data folders with apps that you cannot modify .. it has always had to jump through a thousand hoops for root access .. and it has always been trying to close that off and restrict that more and more ..

@alice
Honestly, I think it's dead anyway. The best thing that will happen is that Google postpones this for next year. Again. It is what they want, so it is what they will do.

I know the alternatives are bad, but I believe this is the time to leave the sinking ship and throw all that energy into making Linux Mobile better.

@momo @alice linux on phone would be very nice. so far I'm having good experiences with Lineage

@alchemicacht
Which is based on AOSP, the Open Source release of Android, which is dying since Google closed-source Android.

I had more stuff like Ubuntu Touch or postmarketOS in mind. None of these are drop-in replacements or can cover all hardware features. None of these ever will for all devices available on the market. That is why I think we should put our energy on these instead and let Googles Android die.
@alice

@alice the requirement to upload the private key is particularly sketchy because what other reason is there than to distribute tampered APKs, probably for the purpose of "law enforcement" that will 1000% be done only with a warrant

Martin Rust Apr 6

@reiddragon @alice
The web page and the toot say "evidence of the developer’s private signing key" - what does "evidence" mean?

@martinrust @alice quite frankly I don't know where that's even from considering the android.com page makes no mention of the word "evidence", though that's not to say it provides any clarity on the matter.

Android | Mehr Möglichkeiten mit Google für Android-Smartphones und -Geräte

Finde mehr über Android heraus und entdecke, wie du mit Android-Geräten das Beste von Google noch besser nutzen kannst – dank hervorragender Konnektivität, leistungsstarkem Schutz, vielseitigen Google-Apps und Quick Share.

Android

Khleedril Apr 6

@martinrust @reiddragon @alice I would have thought that it meant you can prove you have the private key by signing a message back to Google with it, and then they verify by using the public key to decrypt.

@khleedril @martinrust @alice quite frankly I don't even know how it works anymore. Google has never been clear about it, and an earlier version of it made it sound like Google would hand out keys like a CA hands SSL certs for "verified" developers.

@martinrust @reiddragon @alice i had been under the impression that "evidence" just meant "proof that you have access to that key" i.e. a very basic test where they send you random data, you encrypt it with your Private Key, and they verify with your Public Key. I've done no reading on this topic tho. Is that not the case then?

@riverpunk @martinrust @alice I have absolutely no idea because the proof of private keys is brought up on keepandroidopen but there's not a mention of proof anywhere on Google's own pages about it, and the phrasing that is there is so ambiguous it might as well be a confused shrug emote

Li ~ Crystal System Apr 6

@reiddragon @alice thats not typically what evidence of the private key means .. however uploading private keys to google has been a thing on google play for awhile .. they have this whole 'google enchanced security' thing where you just give them your keys and that improves security somehow iirc..

@Li @alice again, though, read Google's own site and that one never mentions proof of anything. The vague concept of proof of private keys is NOT what Google is saying, it's an interpretation of what google said because they made everything so vague there's no functional difference between Google's posts on the topic and a David Lynch movie: everyone kinda just understands something different and none of it is wrong because the original text technically didn't actually say anything concrete.

@alice @jrdepriest Linux phones are going to be taking off quite soon it seems.

@GuyDudeman @alice @jrdepriest My thoughts exactly, when Android was first released 😛

@GuyDudeman @alice @jrdepriest well we have Jolla and Sailfish OS

@N0dex014 @alice @jrdepriest Yes. My next phone will be Linux.

:EA DATA. SF:Apr 6

@GuyDudeman @N0dex014 @alice

As soon as I pay off my Pixel 7 Pro from the carrier, I am going to go to a store to ask them to unlock it so I can put GrapheneOS on it.

Amorpheus Apr 6

@GuyDudeman @alice @jrdepriest Year of the penguin.

CosmicCactus Apr 6

@alice Isn't this what essentially killed Nokia? I still remember how back in the days their apps were crap, I actually wrote my own stopwatch app but never managed to publish because the whole process was too complicated (at least for me).

Edit: Of course the resistive screen was also very bad.

Nömenlōony Apr 6

@alice side loading a fork in 147 days.

@nomenloony @alice you don't HAVE to wait until the deadline 😃

xXcyberGRIMESxCYBERcrimesXx Apr 6

#FuckGoogle #KeepAndroidOpen

We've got until September to develope an answer to this. They don't typically backpeddle on these kinds of things, so it's likely to happen no matter what we do, so finding a solution that circumvents whatever it is they are doing is our best bet.

I use these tools, and have a *very* basic understaning of how they work, so these may be useless in this situation, but here are some tools that come to mind that maybe useful:

## Definitely Useful
- Magisk: If your phone has the abilitly to be rooted, this is ideal. Root it, remove android and install a custom ROM. (Visit xdaforums.com and search for your device with the keyword root to see if your phone can be rooted)

## Maybe useful
let me know what y'all think. Again, I know what they do, but I don't have a full grasp so may be not helpful
- Shizuku
- Opens up some filepaths and gives some extra permissions by taking advantage of wireless ADB (Android Debug Bridge). If you aren't able to root your phone, this is the next best thing.
- Debloater
- Can we use this to get rid of whatever system app Android will enforce this with?
- MicroG
- Application for spoofing Play Services, which admittedly can be a pain to set up because Google is trying real hard to keep you from using this. Honestly, probably one of the big reasons for what they're doing.

That's all i can think of for now. What do y'all think, can we use any of this to avoid this bullshit.

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.

@EU Commission, still waiting for legislation to prevent yet another google/usa monopoly and controll over user devices as well at their data.

it is about META, once/ still silently a subsidiary of us intelligence agency's.

@alice this shit, coupled with Apples age verification demand to even use their phones properly is why I’m moving to grapheneOS

He looks like he's [REDACTED]™Apr 6

@alice Last i heard this changed to allowing unverified developers to keep making apps and allowing them to be installed but putting in a one-time Brady Bill "wait period" for installing them

edit: yeah it's right there on the page and as stupid as it is (i get it, middle ground and such), i actually don't like this group's final line here:

"Until Google provides a shipping implementation that can be independently verified, our position remains unchanged: all apps from non-
registered developers will be blocked once their lockdown goes into effect in September 2026."

i mean they've specifically said they won't block apps so it's a little facetious of this group to scream "our position remains unchanged: *ALL APPS WILL BE BLOCKED*".

ruins credibility, moves goalposts.

https://www.theverge.com/tech/897420/android-sideloading-unverified-developers-process

Li ~ Crystal System Apr 6

@quasirealsmiths @alice android apps targeting less than android 6 now cannot be installed on android 14+, however they can with the adb flag --bypass-low-target-sdk-block this is also a hard block on all old apps even if technically you can bypass it its the same here, their still blocking access even if you can jump through a thousand hoops ..

@alice
🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺
@EUCommission ACT & do it quickly!!
🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺

@alice no way

@alice years of Android development knowledge now worthless.
Time to find a new platform that has some notion of user experience and quality rather than just a bunch of money grabbing morons running the shop

Jonathan Lamothe Apr 6

@alice I need to figure out a 2FA solution before this happens. I refuse to go back to Google Authenticator.

Sadly, I can't ditch Android entirely.

Li ~ Crystal System Apr 6

@me @alice i use winauth on pc, but its windows only might be another alternative,

honestly i want to make a 2fa app for psvita some time xS theres one for pocketstation. ..

Li ~ Crystal System Apr 6

@alice iirc it still works with ADB and theres some bullshit 24hr wait period and a bunch of ' if anyone ever tells you to do this you will kill 20 puppies' type messages.

but yeah its still blocked if you have to jump through a thousand hoops its blocked lol ... and fuck this shit.

Don Hawkins - W7DAH Apr 6

@alice fook alphabet

Democracy Dies in Dumbass Apr 7

@alice GrapheneOS here I come?

Democracy Dies in Dumbass Apr 7

@alice I just bought a used Pixel9, apparently Graphene is ONLY runs on Google phones, which is a little ironic actually....

@alice
Everyone says this will be the year of the Linux every time big tech pulls something like EEE on everyone. But to be realistic with you, it's probably just going to lead into an indie Android distro and that'll be where the techies go. ADB is too relied on for everyone to realistically move.

Thomas Cloer Apr 8

@alice "Developers can still choose where to distribute their apps. Most users’ download experience will not change"

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/android-developer-verification-rolling-out-to-all-developers.html

Android developer verification: Rolling out to all developers on Play Console and Android Developer Console

News and insights on the Android platform, developer tools, and events.

Android Developers Blog