at best this is not losing at this very moment
this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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This is a premature April Fool's joke, right?
We will win when nobody can tell you what you can or can’t put in your own fucking device.
Counterpoint: my software allows you to access your banking needs. I’m financially on the hook if fraud occurs. Fraud occurs because your favorite “slap the monkey” game also installs a keylogger and network monitor. So I don’t allow my software to work if you have that installed.
I think you’re right that companies should not be able to tell you what software you can run, but users also can’t be trusted to keep their devices safe.
A lot of network, banking, and telephony protocols historically rely on trusting that there are no bad actors in the chain. Technology has added more links to the chain increasing the opportunities for bad actors to tap into it.
It’s a situation that needs better fixes. Maybe we just need to hand the current internet over to the bots and start a new one with security and privacy built in from the ground up.
So, we will have to enable developer mode for that? How long before banking and government apps refuse to run if you have "sideloaded" apps installed? This will be the same as not allowing the majority of people to sideload. No win in here, just an advanced strategy from google to make us conform
Yeah, if that process wouldn't need developer mode (or stayed active after disabling it again) that wouldn't be that bad (still annoying). But having to choose between the ability to install apps or use those apps that only work without developer mode certainly isn't a win.
This is already the case if the developer mode toggle is enabled for some. I have to turn it off any time I'm traveling for work because the app we have to use to file expense reports refuses to run with developer mode enabled.
Or if you're rooted, or run something other than your OEM image. I use grapheneos and I'm lucky that my bank doesn't enforce that like some do. I still can't use cards to tap with Google wallet because it's not certified by Google.
At that point you should tell your work to get a work only device for you... I always refuse to use my phone for work shit. I used to explain to them why, now I just lie and say my device is too old to have anything installed on it.
lmao, no arguments here. My boss's phone got bit by the construction site so I think we might finally be getting some movement on that front, at least for anyone who finds themselves in the field doing shit.
For what it's worth, I don't generally mind using my phone for work shit because it's convenient to do so. MDM on android works in a container, so I don't even care about that if they want to implement it.
Yeah I get the convenience of it.
My dad was complaining out loud to his boss, not requesting anything, just complaining about having to bring two phones with him when he was out and about. So his boss got him a dual-sim work phone lol. The convenience can work out that way as well :)
But what if they starting requiring that you remove the sideloaded apps? We're getting trapped
The square app will not run on a phone that has developer mode enabled. I turned developer mode on to disable annoying animations, so now I can't take card payments unless I carry around a second phone.
If Google goes through with this, my payment phone won't be able to run any third party apps.
- enable developer options
- confirm that you are not tricked
- restart phone and re-authenticate
- wait one day
- confirm with biometrics that you know what you are doing
- decide if you only want unrestricted installs for 1 week or forever
- confirm that you accept the risks
- enjoy the few apps that still have developers motivated to develop for a user-base willing to put up with this
A classic case of making a ridiculously restrictive change, then "walking it back" to a merely semi-ridiculous change and having everyone sigh in relief.
Making users wait 24 hours doesn't improve security; it's an anti-competitive change designed to make the Google Play store seem like less of a hassle in comparison.
I can actually see where it can improve security against scammers trying to scam elderly and non-tech savvy people.
- Scammer tries to get someone to install malware from their site
- Victim isn't familiar with sideloading, but scammer instructs them
- Victim hits the first time 24 hour block and has to restart and wait
- The restart alone breaks contact with the scammer, scam thwarted
For the rest of us that know our way around Android, it's just a one time annoyance, after completing all the steps to enable sideloading, you won't have to wait 24 hours anymore.
I'd believe that if most Pig Butchering scams weren't using apps from Google Play already.
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It’s going to be effective, but it’s a sad world where you have to create a total nanny state because there exist a subset of users who are INCREDIBLY stupid.
Is it still a subset when it's the majority?
And to be honest, the level of effort scammers are willing to go through is shocking, and AI's just making it easier for them.
Anything less than the whole is a subset, yes.
"side loading" == installing
No we didn't win. This is Google making it harder to install the programs you want, rather than the programs Google wants you to have.
I want an extra day added to the warranty of any device I purchase, as it will be useless during that time
Still worse than it was before. There's no win in that
This isn't a win, this is Google making things shitty for the benefit of no one but themselves.
Time for another OS. Android is over.
The year of the Linux phone is upon us brethren!
"Scammers" also exist on the Play Store. Google should start by cleaning it up.
I haven't read the article yet, but I'm about to. But no matter what, I'm still looking a lot more seriously into Linux on mobile, such as PostmarketOS than I was before.
If the process doesn't include any phone home stuff, and is just a one-time cool off period to prevent scammers, this is acceptable to me. That should be enough to get potential victims to self-question, ask more knowledgeable people of what's going on to avoid being unknowingly hacked, without being naggy everytime for users that want to do what they want.
Making a software "foolproof" will probanly invent a bigger better, fool hoping for some sort of free crypto app jumping through these hoops, but this should weed out most of the basic scams.
It still sets your phone in a state that marks it as security compromised. This could lead i.e. to banking apps not working. I'm not so sure about the "acceptable" state of things here.
Yeah, I take issue with that, but I don't think it would be used if people complain to banks that reading the flag bricks the app.
Sounds to me like you're willing to give up liberties in exchange for comforts, that's always a bad idea
I tend to favour privacy over big tech control, but I recognize we have to at least consider the cost-benefit of these tradeoffs, to live in a society. Of course I'd prefer a phone with no warnings, no nagging, if you get scammed that's my fault and I will keep my phone that way if it means I will stay off Android 15 and de-Google my next phone. But Google's plan is within the realm of an acceptable compromise to me because sideloading is still available to everyone without registration with Google. Each person will feel differently about it.
Taking your position to the extreme, if trading liberty for comfort is "always" a bad idea with no exceptions, you can turn off your phone and do without the comfort of it. (Only saying this because always is the word you chose to use.) To accept cellular and home internet services to communicate in the public realm requires you to give up some level of privacy, though of course it can be possible to stop a lot of the unnecessary surveillance that happens along with the necessary tradeoff.
I don't care if it's android or anything else, the moment my phone does that is the moment I switch to something else.
Yup, I got a pixel 10a that I will be putting graphene on as soon as it releases.
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Software freedom or demise. While Google is capable of imposing anything then Android is already dead to me.
Its seems fine, other than the whole "coaching" thing. Like, nobody knows how to do this today, so someone will have to "coach" them through it, even if it's Google themselves.
But I would wait and see exactly how it's implemented before calling off the resistance.
Nah, American companies cannot be relied upon by definition. Even if the people running one are fine (and many are), they are still based in what is essentially a pro-crime, pro-corruption jurisdiction.
What do they mean reauthenticate after 24h? I can't authenticate as I don't have a Google account. Although I do unfortunately have Google play installed, my phones can't have it removed.
Whatever you use to login, password / pin / pattern / body part.
You win by disabling software updates at Android 15.
Not if it's implemented in the Google Play Services, then every device will refuse to install unverified apps after the deadline, even if it's not on the newest Android versions.
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