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Governments can demand it, but how could they stop it? Even without custom roms, developers could just distribute the code for others to compile and push to th

Governments can demand it, but how could they stop it? Even without custom roms, developers could just distribute the code for others to compile and push to their device locally. It would be indistinguishable from legitimate development.

dane-pgp 5y ago
For a start, governments could demand that phones sold in the country forbid sideloading. Then, after a few years, the government could release an app which checks the firmware version of the phone it is running on, and whether the phone is jailbroken, and tells the mobile network whether to allow data access based on that.
- hellojesus 5y ago
  If I develop an app, I can push it directly from the Android SDK to my phone. My phone doesn't need to be jail broken, rooted, etc. All I need to do is enable debugging or developer mode (can't remember which; it's been awhile). If someone were to distribute their code, what would stop someone from compiling and loading it through the Android SDK (or Xcode) all-the-same? No firmware version would be able to catch it because the firmware itself didn't change.
  - dane-pgp 5y ago
    In the dystopian future I'm imagining, presumably Android would require jailbreaking/rooting to enable debugging/developer mode, or in some other way make your use of these features visible to the government app which authenticates you to the mobile network. To develop an app which requires online services, there would be a few approved methods, such as testing in a simulator on a non-mobile device, or with mocked internet connectivity. Other restrictions may apply too, such as having to register your developer ID with the government, being limited to a small number of test devices, and/or being stuck on a dedicated untrusted segment of the internet.
    - hellojesus 5y ago
      That is a terrifying future, and one that I hope doesn't materialize. It's hard for me to imagine people being okay with that, especially coming from an open world, but obviously not impossible. If it comes to it, though, I would gladly take up arms against the state in declaration of liberty.

dane-pgp 5y ago

For a start, governments could demand that phones sold in the country forbid sideloading. Then, after a few years, the government could release an app which checks the firmware version of the phone it is running on, and whether the phone is jailbroken, and tells the mobile network whether to allow data access based on that.

hellojesus 5y ago
If I develop an app, I can push it directly from the Android SDK to my phone. My phone doesn't need to be jail broken, rooted, etc. All I need to do is enable debugging or developer mode (can't remember which; it's been awhile). If someone were to distribute their code, what would stop someone from compiling and loading it through the Android SDK (or Xcode) all-the-same? No firmware version would be able to catch it because the firmware itself didn't change.
- dane-pgp 5y ago
  In the dystopian future I'm imagining, presumably Android would require jailbreaking/rooting to enable debugging/developer mode, or in some other way make your use of these features visible to the government app which authenticates you to the mobile network. To develop an app which requires online services, there would be a few approved methods, such as testing in a simulator on a non-mobile device, or with mocked internet connectivity. Other restrictions may apply too, such as having to register your developer ID with the government, being limited to a small number of test devices, and/or being stuck on a dedicated untrusted segment of the internet.
  - hellojesus 5y ago
    That is a terrifying future, and one that I hope doesn't materialize. It's hard for me to imagine people being okay with that, especially coming from an open world, but obviously not impossible. If it comes to it, though, I would gladly take up arms against the state in declaration of liberty.