Technology

Fuck Google

Two things especially worth noting from the article.

If you have a non-Google build of Android on your phone, none of this applies.

This means that at least GrapheneOS will be unaffected for now. Other ROMs without gapps will be unaffected only as long as you don't install gapps. Since Graphene has a sandbox for them, I'm assuming it'll be fine. That is, unless Google decides to lock the bootloader entirely.

In September 2026, Google plans to launch this feature in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. The next step is still hazy, but Google is targeting 2027 to expand the verification requirements globally.

So most users worldwide still have at least 1.5 years until it's implemented. Plenty of time to get a Pixel and install Graphene on it. Or to figure out some other plan.

Don't get me wrong - this is insane, unreasonable and horrible news for everyone. We should push back as hard as physically possible against it. However, at the very least we still have some time to figure things out before the policy rolls out.

Well. They will try anyway.

I think Android on my Samsung 25 Ultra is already blocking Kolab Now for being private. EPSTEIN FILES.

The phone I have now is half way paid off... I will say it. It is a Samsung S23. I didn't want it. It is just my other phone literally died from a single drop of water! I won't get into the details. But I want grapheneOS or the most private OS I can.

Right now I have been carrying my phone less than before. I used to take it even to grocery store trips, but I am just getting sick of the endless monitoring, even if I am a terminally online person. I literally cannot leave my apartment without being on camera since my landlord has all the corridors and exits/entrances on 24/7 surveillance.

I know that a phone can be tracked even when on a private OS. And the EU's rules on wanting a copy of every single message sent out from all messaging apps (including signal) will still affect non-EU people, too. It fucking sucks.

Google getting rid of all the things that made people want an android phone over an iPhone.

Wtf is this

EU: How often do I have to teach you, old man?

FYI: Apple got sued for blocking other app stores. This would prevent f-droid from being installable

Remember that brief period in the US where, for a fleeting moment, Lina Khan went after a few companies for monopolistic practices?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch

Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads

https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/26/apps_android_malware/

I will pay hard cash money for some devs to bring postmarketos to quality hardware vendors.

I'm all for buying a pinephone, but man are we missing out on the full potential from some genuinely good OEM hardware stuff like razr flip.

Aside from google doing google things, android has been a bloated java pos toy OS for nearly a decade now. It completely wastes the full potential of superior hardware by running everything on a shitty JVM known as the ART that was designed for when devices had <512mb of RAM. A Nintendo 3DS can do better multi process tasking than modern android which regularly kills app threads for no reason other than to screw with you because you dared to switch to a different app for 5 seconds.

Android was supposed to be the big apple killer because of its closeness to a desktop OS with heavy emphasis on widespread features and functionality. Even technically speaking, rooting got you there if you wanted to run whatever straight on the linux environment or swap kernels.

Its nothing but a ripoff iOS clone now. Android 7/8 was probably the peak of development and usability, and even back then people were complaining it didn't have groundbreaking improvements like 6 or lollipop.

so no modded apps, no emulation, no unauthorised chat apps. hopefully some root mod will make this irrelevant.

Lets build a Raspi phone

I am toying with the idea of creating a PDA of sort from a raspberry pie, touchscreen and a powerbank. Case can be 3d printed, it would be bulky af and equipped with Tails or some other secure OS.

How about letting the users decide what to sideload? What the hell?

I hope the EU is ready to also sue Google.