this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2026
23 points (96.0% liked)

Android

21954 readers
185 users here now

The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!

Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.

🔗Universal Link: !android@lemdro.id


💡Content Philosophy:

Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.


Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: !askandroid@lemdro.id

For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: !lemdroid@lemdro.id

💬Matrix Chat

💬Telegram channels / chats

📰Our communities below


Rules

  1. Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.

  2. No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to !askandroid@lemdro.id.

  3. Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to !androidmemes@lemdro.id.

  4. No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.

  5. No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.

  6. No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.

  7. No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.

  8. No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.

  9. No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!

  10. No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.

Quick Links

Our Communities

Lemmy App List

Chat and More


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I've been about, and so far, almost everyone's advice has been, "Buy a Pixel and install Graphene," which I think is frankly quite unrealistic. Even the cheapest device that's still supported (Pixel 6) is still about $200 refurbished, and that apparently loses support one month later (October 2026).

So basically, are there any options for people who aren't wealthy?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yeah, except for developers who don't want to give their ID to Google. Those apps won't be able to be installed on standard android devices at all as far as I can tell.

[–] Xylight 8 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

The situation is pretty confusing, but you're still gonna be able to side load unverified apps. The "advanced flow" that makes sideloading obnoxious to do is specifically for unverified apps, whereas verified apps (where devs have to fork up their ID to google) can be installed without any hassle.

[–] Ganbat@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

I see. Safe to assume the confusion is part of the design.

[–] volore@scribe.disroot.org 2 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

The other problem with this is that this is all controlled through the Play store API, not your device, so they can yank your access to all of those unverified apps any time they want and say "actually, no verification = no run, fuck you, pay me"

If you don't think they will, that they're not just dying to do exactly that and squeeze people just that little extra bit more for YT Premium subscriptions or whathaveyou, ask the people who had their movies yoinked from their library with no warning by Sony (over fucking licensing costs, at that, not even hurting their profits directly) if they thought that would ever happen and how it worked out for them.

[–] volore@scribe.disroot.org 5 points 23 hours ago* (last edited 23 hours ago)

And apps that google simply won't approve, like ReVanced.

I'm lucky I bought a Pixel some years ago, I have been using it stock but I've been backing up all my shit this last month in preparation to put graphene on it. It'll be a cold day in hell before they force me to watch YouTube with ads and no sponsorblock, I'd sooner read a book.