It seems that Google just gave them back the permission, 2 days after they publicly complained about it and after 6 months of ignoring it. What scumbags.
this post was submitted on 14 May 2025
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I had no idea this was going on. Is it because I'm running Lineage?
When I switched to iOS, the biggest pain point for me was Apples stranglehold on background processes meant file syncing didn’t work very well. Now it looks like Android has completely killed it?
Tl;dr: Google being anticompetitive by hampering third-party cloud sync via permissions (while themselves are not affected).
So, all the family phones that are using this feature for handset backups. They're just gonna stop backing up?
Thanks, Google. Thanks for protecting me from free software that scans files on my own phone and transmits it across my own network to my own server. Such a privacy nightmare. /s
Guessing they want you to use Google One, eh.
F-droid bitches
I check for all apps on f-droid first, play store second.
does that issue not exist in the f-droid version? if so, i’m glad there’s a workaround when i try graphene😅
The issue does not exist with the version installed from F-Droid. I think the Play Store version is a different build with the feature disabled as a condition of hosting it on the Play Sore.
The Android app itself still works with the permission, and we released new versions on the external F-Droid store. So the limit is a “purely” Google Play Store-related problem.
This is my question. I didn't read into it much, but isn't the problem a permissions level thing in android, or is this specific to the play store?
I'm assuming that Nextcloud handles all it's moneymaking outside of the app (indeed it appears to be free if you host the server yourself).
If Google were making 30% on a ton of in-app purchases, they'd let it harvest your fucking organs.
I never use a Play Store version of anything I can find on F-droid or other repos I trust. Then I try it using Aurora Store. Only as a last-resort I try Google. Play Store is only for things I cannot obtian or replace another way.
Learned the hard way that android auto compatibility (on GrapheneOS) works only with the playstore Version of an app because andoid auto checks the install source. Thats the same gatekeeping at play...
Thanks I hate it.
AA is also EXTREMELY vpn-unfriendly. It fails to work period of I've got a wireguard VPN without app restrictions, even if there are only a handful of routes using the tunnel. Then, if I restrict the VPN to just certain apps, it'll still give me the big ol' middle finger running those apps via AA, which means I can't stream from my home media host over VPN while using AA because Papa Google apps no.
Really? I'm set up for always on wireguard when not on my home network. And android auto works fine. And yeah, I'm doing full tunnel.
It seems likely you are using it tethered, vs wireless.
You can fake the install source
Link to how to?
Obtainium has a toggle to set the install source to Google Play. It uses shizuku
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Google works on making Android shit for the past few years. For example idiotic green dot showing me "something is using gps". Why don't I have a choice to remove it? Or not allowing apps to get a process list? It will end up dumb as iOS to within couple years.
To be fair, not allowing the user to remove an indicator that something could be tracking them is probably not the worst idea. Otherwise it'd be too easy for someone to install an app like that and hide it.
It's been in the corner of my amoled screen practically nonstop for 3 years now. I'm really surprised that i don't have burn-in in that corner.
Thankfully the full feature will still work if you get the app from F-Droid
Hopefully this will motivate more people use F-Droid
I noticed that in their info text shown to their users, they don't mention F-Droid. I wonder if google doesn't allow them to mention other stores as part of their "security" policies.
Upvote the comments in the Google play reviews that mention full features in fdroids version so they climb to the top of most helpful reviews.
Interesting, Yes I think users should be made aware that if they get the app from F-Droid it will work as intended.
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As the article mentions, this isn't a security "feature," it's anti-competetive. The worst part is that Nextcloud isn't even really in competition with Google. Setting up a Nextcloud server isn't hard, but it's not a trivial task. Sharing it outside your local network also requires a bit of skill, especially if done securely. That is to say, Nextcloud users probably tend to be more tech-savvy.
The people using Nextcloud aren't going to suddenly decide to switch over to Google Drive. I'll get it from FDroid before I downgrade to Google Drive. If that wasn't an option, I'd set up an FTP server or even WebDAV.
The worst part is that Nextcloud isn’t even really in competition with Google. Setting up a Nextcloud server isn’t hard, but it’s not a trivial task. Sharing it outside your local network also requires a bit of skill, especially if done securely. That is to say, Nextcloud users probably tend to be more tech-savvy.
That's only true for those who self-host this. There are lots of companies offering Nextcloud hosting. That's probably why Google doesn't like Nextcloud. I'm not saying Google is right. Actually what Google is doing here is quite pathetic.
Actually what Google is doing here is quite pathetic.
So business as usual then?
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Unfettered capitalism is just fucking exhausting. What a bunch of assholes. I really need to degoogle my life. Idk how to strip android off my phone and replace it with whatever, but I guess I'm about to find out.
Edit: ty all. I'm gonna check out f droid and go from there!
It's definitely exhausting.
The silver-lining is that we really don't have to go along with it. We have the choice to use alternatives, we just choose not to.
Ughghghg. I'm soooo lazy tho!
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I use FreeFileSync and it syncs whatever files I point at it, not just videos and music. I installed it from the Play store.
Yeah this is Google cockblocking
oh so thats why it stopped working.
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