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Seems that google's announced plans to restrict sideloading on Android are now in direct conflict with the Supreme Court's order to open the Play Store to alternative app stores and reduce its control over app distribution.
How will this play out in the end... π€
Google's announced plans aren't actually about restricting "sideloading" (aka installing). They're about restricting actually running the code, and developing/distributing the code.
Content distributed through these "other app stores" and elsewhere will remain installable, but your phone will refuse to run the software if that content isn't signed with the special Google's Favorite Boy token that the developer got by providing personally identifiable information to Google. Get that "certification"? Your app can be run on Android no matter how you distribute it, including "side loading" (download APK file, install app).
Don't have the ~~Official Nintendo Seal of Quality~~ Verified Developer token to sign your app with? The only way a user can run your code is by connecting to a PC and installing your app with adb (a development tool).
Don't call it "sideloading" it's a negative term attempting to rebrand installing any app you want: taboo and illegal by effect. Call it what it is, installing apps. Thats it.
I like this way of thinking right here.
with a $500m check made out directly to the commander in sleep
Not at all, they can still require apps to be signed, so long as you're free to allow app installations. They'll weasel out by saying the signing is for safety/security reasons, to avoid malware and shit.
So this means they'll take responsibility for malware and offer support, right? Right?
So one dev can sign off on f-droid and then we're fine as long as we use that in stead of the play store?
Nope. No apk you can get a hold of will be installable without googles over the internet check. At current it looks like you'll be able to force an install using adb shell commands, but that will effectively gut almost anyone from installing an unsigned apk. Also, Google would be able to remove even that option if they so choose.
The OS will probably check the signature of any app you're trying to install regardless of if it's from F-Droid or the Play Store
No, as it stands this is the end of F-Droid. Each developer registration must include the manifest IDs of all apps they publish. No way F-droid can include all the apps they publish in their registration.
Or of course, each developer themselves becomes responsible for "registering as a developer" and thus loses all anonymity as a dev.
That won't work either, because F-Droid produces the builds themselves.
Right and then they might well lose the next antitrust suit for weaseling around. Judges know what this kind of behavior means, though who can say how they'll react.
The timing is too perfect, the effects are too apparent.
To be clear, it's not the Supreme Court's order, they only declined the appeal or to issue a stay, so technically it is a "regular" court order, which is just as binding.
I was wondering if these 2 things will be somehow connected π€
Google warns of security risks
lol. if they actually kept all the bad shit out of the play store, they might have a valid argument.
They are the security risks
To be fair, more stuff gets through the apple app store.
This said, fuck Google.
The Apple App Store is a cesspool. Has been for years. Itβs just pushing short-term games with gobs of micro transactions by the hundreds. Thatβs almost all you see. Tons and tons of it.
Fuck Google. It is turning Android into dumb platform, which is tightly controlled by them piece by piece. From restricting different APIs (accessibility for example) to Play Integrity checks and recently developer identification even for stupid APKs. Fuck Google, I hope they keep being put in place.
I hope an alternative open platform emerges and google android goes poof. It would serve as a warning to others.
I don't understand why it appears to be so hard for Linux to go mobile. Can anyone explain what the main hurdles are?
Presumably, it shouldn't be too hard to get apks working, right?
Similarly to what valve is doing for Linux gaming could happen for mobile Linux no? Not sure which incentives exist for a company to go that course though..
The main mobile OSs country (USA) and the main mobile builders country (China) don't like "free range mobiles".
the main hurdles from my understanding are processor/chip specs. They are generally super locked down in terms of who they run with/allow usage. From what I understand the liberux project ran into that issue because their goal was a fully open sourced Linux phone, and they had to make compromises and are still fighting issues.
I really hope this project succeeds. Having an upgradable, mostly opes source phone would be amazing.
my guess it's hardware support; drivers and firmware for existing hardware and smartphone components for linux are probably close to nonexistent. The apk support is the smallest issue.
So they should aim for older phones & the refurbished market?
I'm running lineageos on a phone from 2018 and it's running like a charm. I suppose that means that a Linux mobile os could perform well on old hardware too
It's also the old hardware where no open source drivers exist. To clarify: open source drivers and firmware for phone modules are about as common as unicorns.
With PC people can get pick up whatever cpu, gpu, motherboard, and ram they want and put together a machine. But, phones are so much more reliant on prebuilts with little to no options when it comes to making your own phone hardware, so that is likely the largest barrier to becoming as open and flexible as PCs.
Honestly, that is quite unrealistic, is it?
It is. But dreams are what future realities are made of.
Not really, given there are already multiple flavours of android in the Chinese market, that are Google free. Samsung has kept up pace on their alternative to keep Google at bay. Linux phone and other alternatives like e/os exist. The main problem seems to be adoption and Google apps. It just seems crazy to me that the hardware makers want to lock themselves in to one supplier that could turn on them in an instant. Open sourcing their drivers would give free community improvements and make tech enthusiasts favour them. The public often follows enthusiasts, provided it's easy to do so.
Does this undermine Googles plans to block side loading?
Well, if i can download a F-droid app via Playstore... then i'm basically not "sideloading" anything. This could be interesting!
But the whole (paid) 'verification' thing still is troubling tho. And we know Google; they are good at breaking things one way or another.
A lot of apk devs of nice little unique and often free apks are made by people who aren't going to want to hand over there identification and private info to Google in order to be verified.
I mean, they can still send the code to F-Droid and F-Droid can sign it under their banner. F-Droid doesn't have to do ID verification.
There is no "under f-droids banner". Any apk under any store or no store at all gets its check through google.
My thoughts exactly. That could be very comfy for us users, but many devs will be (and justifiably so) wary of verifying themselves.
If I understand well, even if you were able to install F-droid through the store (which you can't because Google doesn't like it), you won't be able to install apps with F-droid anyway if they implement this.
that's why they're pushing to lock down the devices themselves.. that's outside the scope of the ruling.
Google has to allow other app stores in Google Play Store in 2026, if Google likes it or not is not relevant.
And yes, the question remains if you can download from F-droid after installing through PlayStore, i agree with you there (because of the verification thing). It depents on what the court thinks 'sideloading' is, since we already know what Google think it means...
What does this mean for Apple then? Will someone open a case against Apple arguing unlawful practices? Man I hope so.