Google has news on what you will need to do for still being able to sideload apps:

[orsinium@fosstodon.org]

@grote

calling it "sideloading" is already an insult. it's not a sideloading, it's installing an app like we used to (and still do) install apps on PC forever. inventing scary slurs is a psychological trick that we should not accept.

[1hommeazerty@mamot.fr]

@grote So they decided to make it more complicated than installing a free Android distribution.

[7heo@ieji.de]

@ziclaud

You need to make a xiaomi account and bind it to your device. It has a 24+h wait, allegedly. I have no idea how it works, though, I have never done it.

I'd recommend using something else than a phone. 🫠

[synnef@woof.tech]

@grote they're stepping back a lot so the pushback is clearly working, keep it up until we get rid of this entirely

i must admit, this is a lot better than what i thought their "advanced flow" would be. don't give them a single inch though, if this is implemented it'll be the first step towards fully killing off installing the apps you want to use on your device that you paid for

[tehstu@hachyderm.io]

@tedmielczarek @grote You put more thought into the joke than I did, to be fair.

[dusk@nou.fai.st]

@grote I mean, at that point using adb is kinda easier

[grote@chaos.social]

@dusk https://chaos.social/@grote/116257742125864690

[paradox@social.tchncs.de]

@grote
Not watching it. Thank you

[eldaking@weirder.earth]

@grote I'm very thankful to google for covering the incredibly common case where I'm forced at gunpoint to install a malicious apk. Now such attacks will require attackers to kidnap me for a couple of days, which severely limits their options.

We can finally break the cycle of coercion where after being scammed into installing an apk, I started scamming people into installing apks.

[jake4480@c.im]

@grote it will REQUIRE biometrics? See, @fistfulofdave @wendigo @gavin57 this is what I mean. Whole world wants to put biometrics in everything. It's nonsense

[raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie]

@kevinrns @utf_7 @grote
That won't work.

[judeswae@toot.thoughtworks.com]

@grote I guess I'd be fine with the rest, but wait one day... geez, are you kidding me?

[reiddragon@fedi.catto.garden]

@grote I think this is what people in the industry would call "a steaming pile of horseshit"

[alextecplayz@techhub.social]

@ziclaud depends on the device. My Redmi Note 11 took two attempts before I could finally unlock the bootloader, I had to wait 2 weeks because I clicked twice on the Mi Unlock tool.

You need a Xiaomi account, insert a SIM card into your phone, use that phone number for the Xiaomi account, then you can start the verification process. It's horrible, but it can be done.

[frxe@friendsocial.inet.place]

I thought this was a joke

[eldaking@weirder.earth]

@grote "In these scenarios, scammers exploit fear – using threats of financial ruin, legal trouble, or harm to a loved one – to create a sense of extreme urgency."

In these scenarios, Google exploits fear – using threats of financial ruin, legal trouble, or harm to a loved one – to justify taking control over your phone.

"According to a 2025 report from the Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), 57% of surveyed adults experienced a scam in the past year, resulting in a global consumer loss of $442 billion."

We don't have any data on harm being caused specifically by sideloading apps, so here is some completely unrelated data that is very worrying.

[luatic@mastodon.social]

@grote wow. for a second i thought this was satire, but then i clicked on the link and it's literally as you say.

why do i have a feeling this is not really about security?

[alexmorse@mastodon.social]

@grote this really amps up linux phones. android was already a pain in the ass, what's the point of using it with all that? Might as well get the cheap apple phones

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@confusomu @FifiSch @grote Honestly just feels like a whole lot of "I don't want to, it sounds hard." Which is just what all these posts feel like.

If you don't divest from Google, it stores backups in your account — the "cloud" if you will. If you do want to divest from Google, you can set it up to use the internal backup function that's in like 9 or so on up to backup to a flash drive or whatever, which it can import during initial configuration when you first boot up.

But really there is a lot less to lose in most apps than one might think. It's usually so little trouble to redo things I typically don't bother even though I have root and backups. There are benefits even to starting clean.

People want to be scared of the process.

As always, one can ask someone to help!

[kevinrns@mstdn.social]

@raymaccarthy @utf_7 @grote

I found a credit union in one quick search that allows at least some browser access ...

This is a fight, find allies. Credit unions are better than banks, many much better.