“side” loading is just normal loading for me. I have one single app from the google app store. (It’s cookie clicker 😂)
Even calling it side loading is an attempt to delegitimise the practice. To make it sound like you’re doing something dodgy by the side.
It’s just installing an app.
Nobody calls installing an app from outside the Microsoft store on their Windows PC “side loading”.
Likewise for Macs regarding their app store, or installing an app from outside your distro’s repository on Linux.
Do you use Fdroid or simply get apks online, like we all used to before these walled gardens?
Neither ! I use Obtainium, which allows you to get apps directly from the source, with the convenience of a normal app store for updating !
I usually look for apps on droid-ify, which is an alternative front end to f-droid, then whenever possible I copy the link of the source repo and install via Obtainium ; when I can’t I install the f-droid version via Obtainium as well (as a result, I have 0 apps installed by droid-ify, I only use it for search)
When I need an App Store exclusive app, I install it via Aurora Store (which downloads apps via shared anonymous accounts)
The only thing this system can’t get around is paid apps from the App Store. I have exactly one : Cookie Clicker. (I like the game in general so I paid to support the dev)
I use fdroid whenever possible, but I do use Google Play for most everything else. I do have a few apps that I install via APK, but built-in updaters are so uncommon on Android apps that it’s kind of a pain to maintain.
Obtainium can solve that. It will check websites for updates and then download the new apk and install it. I use it more than fdroid now, can get apk straight from the developers github repo usually.
Interesting, I’ll have to play around with that.
Meanwhile the Play Store is full of scams. This isn’t about safety, it making sure they get a cut from the scam apps.
It’s a trashpile. If I need an app, I search ‘site:reddit android app x’ or look in f-droid
Billionaires doing what a billionaire does: feign a reason to kneecap a service, force complaints about its ineffectiveness, then use that as an excuse to dismantle it entirely. I am so tired of this.
I’m not worried about sideloading because I use GrapheneOS, but I’m worried that development for various apps might stop…
The company has confirmed that it is developing an “advanced flow” to let experienced users install apps from unverified developers
How about don’t change it at all, Google
So about those linux phones…
Aaaaaaany day now… guys…?
(I have a pinephone and no, it is absolutely nowhere near ready)
The Pinephone used way underpowered hardware when it came out.
Regardless, there’s been a lot of progress from postmarketOS and others the past years and especially accelerated once again with the original announcement to kill installing apps outside of the PlayStore.
I’ve also gone ahead and put in a reservation for the new Jolla phone to support another alternative.
My guess is that any good Linux phone experience would need greater funding from some company or foundation…(Valve please?)
That’s kind of a double edged sword though. Android got a foothold because a small scrappy unknown company in silicon valley brought them into the fold…
It’s not if it’s done right, android is problematic because it’s not a community project, it’s just a code dump.
case in point, the linux kernel itself
It’s all about herding people by dictating the path of least resistance.
Cool story, goog.
I’m just going to keep waiting for a linux/foss phone so that its features and capabilities are actually predictable year to year.
But maybe I’m just too picky about what features and capabilities I want. I admit I’ve gotten used to some pretty outlandish stuff like… lemme check my notes here… “the device does the things I tell it to do.” Real galaxy-brain shit!
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Not trying to be pessimistic: But Good luck with the linux phone when carriers start doing whitelisting like ATT already does
(Unless you wanna dual-phone?)
For carriers like AT&T, texting & other data are important. Dumb phones won’t provide them the data needed. They will absolutely support Linux phones.
The company says it is now developing an “advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn’t verified.” This installation flow will include safeguards to protect people who are being coerced into installing a dangerous app, or tricked by a scammer, along with “clear warnings to ensure users fully understand the risks involved.”
IIRC we already had to enable a setting and confirm a warning popup. What are they gonna do? Add more popups? A captcha-“puzzle”? Less easy to accept dialogs?
My guess is they’ll enforce a xiaomi-style thing where you have to login, wait, go through hoops, wait again,…
that would be fine, without the login and sim card requirement
Probably a captcha puzzle, or some other thing that requires you to connect to them and surrender your data for free for their commercial purposes.
how about a $20 development license!
Honestly a less easy to accept dialog would go a long way.
Just make it require ADB. Iv had my grandfather fall victim to a crypto scam that got him to install a app on his phone.
As much as we hate it, google is the only one who has any power to prevent abuse of the stupid, elderly and gullible. Someone has too.
There is a line of going to far to protect people that just makes things worse for everyone. But the reality is, our freedom comes at the expense of others freedom.
Finding the balance is hard.
Hot take: We shouldn’t lock down devices by default to a point where they protect even the most vulnerable.
Child safety locks exist for a reason and can also be used for the elderly.
Prescription pill bottles are a perfect balance.
You can put the cap on one way to lock them in place to keep kids out, requiring the lid to be pressed down and twisted to open, or you can flip the lid over over to make the pills easily accessible by simply unscrewing it. I’d be 100% okay with a step on phone setup (that can also be run at any other time) that allows the phone to be set up similarly.
In today’s society everything needs to be baby proofed. Protect this protect that. People need to take responsibility for their actions.
Your grandpa got greedy and wanted to invest money to make more money. Now he got scammed and he learned his lesson. Next time guided by prior experience he should/will be more careful. If not he will loose more money until he realises he shouldn’t be clicking and installing everything he sees.
And that applies to everyone. You alone are responsible for your actions, not anybody else
Until he has early dementia and forgets the lessons learned, but of course he’ll forget he invested anything tomorrow and do it again!
I’m all for holding people personally responsible, but sometimes we gotta help each other out. Also blaming the victim for being scammed is not helpful. Scammers do so many underhand tactics its impossible for any us to keep track of it all alone.
I’m okay with more tools to help us protect people. Maybe instead of needing ADB, you have to boot into save mode, and can enable 3rd party sources from there? This way you can still enable it on the phone while preventing a script or app can’t automate enabling it. Oh and because there’s more scam shit on google play than Fdroid, we’ll need google play to be enabled via the same method too.
Your grandpa got greedy and wanted to invest money to make more money.
What makes you think they got scammed with supposed investment, and not other types of scams?
I have some close people with similar situation that happened to them.
When crypto is involved usually is as investment of sorts. They sell you the idea of how much crypto is going up in price and right time to invest is now.
They use some charts fake one or usually from bitcoin or some other meme coin (that started the pump) and present the growth of 200%. And estimate of growth for another 200% but the time to invest is now. And people go with it, not just elderly but everyone that wants to make quick money.
But quick money doesn’t exist. When it sound too good usual it is
As much as we hate it, google is the only one who has any power to prevent abuse of the stupid, elderly and gullible. Someone has too.
Not far enough. We should require a government agent to be with people to verify there isn’t any fraud before allowing any money transactions to happen.
Wanna buy food at the grocery store? Please wait for your assigned NSA agent to verify that you’re not being scammed.
(Is /s even needed?)
Nah screw needing adb, that absolutely kills free and open source software stores like fdroid, and fdroid have said as much that Google’s then planned signing requirements would lead fdroid to stop.
The only way I’d even be remotely OK with another adb requirement is if
- it’s a requirement to unlock the ability to install unsigned apps, ie it’s not to an install an app but set a flag
- #1 becomes a requirement for Google certification so all manufacturers have to allow it
- It doesn’t cause other types of attestation to fail that we see with unlocked, rooted and third party roms failing certain checks preventing some apps, most commonly banking ones from working
At least with something like shizuku one can effectively adb to your own phone, so even if adb became required to install non-google-approved apps on one’s own phone… It will not block FOSS for long.
and how do you enable shizuku? you need a PC for that too
You do not, it can connect with your own wireless debugging session. https://shizuku.rikka.app/guide/setup/#start-via-wireless-debugging Works since android 11
Couldn’t they just refuse to sign shizuku and you’d be stuck in a recursive loop of needing a pc anyways?
I think whatever is required for third party apps and stores should also be required for play store. No special treatment for their own files.
Eg: “Warning: Are you sure you trust GooglePlayStore.apk? This software might be harmful.”
I reckon that Google would magically get the messaging exactly right with that requirement.
“Starting in Brazil”
Not as much of a proactive people, from what I can see in person, but the “jeitinho brasileiro” hopefully will show ways to make Android programs without Google’s tools.
Boiling the frog
Fuck all of this tech bros enshittification surveillance bullshit. I’m going to Radio Shack and buy a Heath Kit! /s
They’re not killing sideloading, they’re just building the gallows and sharpening the axe.
The outrage doesn’t stop anything, it just makes them slow their plans and wait out the public outrage.
If Google continues to round the corners of their Google Play triangle icon, it’ll become a circle in a few years
They must really hate ReVanced.
Oh, I bet. They probably hate GrayJay more though.
GrapheneOS is luckily out of their jurisdiction :)
