⚠️ Remember when downloading and installing an app from the internet was just a checkbox away?
For years, Android stood out from iOS because you could install apps from anywhere. Developers, FOSS communities, and users in restrictive regimes depended on it. It wasn’t a bug, but a force.
Now Google is extending its gatekeeping from the Play Store to every alternative distribution channel on Android.
The framing is “security,” while many voices from the open-source community are warning that it’s about the one thing that interests Big Tech the most: 🔒Lock-in, which increases their power and decreases our diversity. 🔑
This isn’t about convenience. It’s about who decides what runs on a device you own.
💡 The good news: So-called “sideloading” on Murena smartphones and any other devices running /e/OS remains possible.