How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
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It is bad but it is not the end unless we decide to not fight.
@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 -
@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"?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.
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@keepandroidopen Google has finally rolled out a “solution” for downloading APK files outside of Google, which, in my opinion, is absolute garbage.
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
Motorola has announced on their official site that they will be using grapheneOS for newer models.
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
I never felt the desire to sideload an app, so why should I care either way?
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@keepandroidopen I'm happy to have preordered the next gen jolla phone!
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@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.
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
Other:
No problem, I'll move to /e/os, bye bye Google -
How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@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.
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@anne_twain@theblower.au @keepandroidopen@techhub.social 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. -
How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
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.
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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.
@rusty__shackleford @keepandroidopen
They're the kind of people who would water plants with Brawndo the Thirst Mutilator. -
How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@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.
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@voxel @keepandroidopen Thinking about trying to create content about it... any interest?
@yoasif @voxel @keepandroidopen I'm interested
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@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?
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@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.
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
Not "terrible" because we need a push to have googleless devices. Other than this, yes, it is really bad.
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@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.
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How do you feel about the impending lockdown of Android?
@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. -
@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.@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.
