11 ms·

AOSP project is coming to an end

274 points by kaladin-jasnah 1y ago

october8140 1y ago
Android Open Source Project
ranger_danger 1y ago
No it's not, they're just not releasing sources until a new version is actually released, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that.
- fc417fc802 1y ago
  Which makes life more difficult for downstream projects. However the recent release didn't include the usual device-specific sources. > This means AOSP 16 cannot currently be built or run on any recent Pixel device easily just using official source. It’s unclear whether this is a delay or a policy change. Either way, it seriously disrupts custom ROM development and our porting efforts. https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/ https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/
  - immibis 1y ago
    Once they give you the device, they're legally required to give you the source code. Most manufacturers don't, but you can sue them and win.
    - rob_c 1y ago
      I think they're counting on that fight. Good luck, I look forward to seeing the gofundme...
      - lipowitz 1y ago
        This is more an opportunity for the EU to suddenly play harder ball than expected.
    - flotzam 1y ago
      Most of AOSP is Apache 2.0 licensed (permissive, not copyleft)
      - fc417fc802 1y ago
        I believe the device tree stuff is GPL due to the kernel. Might be mistaken though.
        immibis 1y ago
        A device tree is probably counted as data, so not copyrightable. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. But there's plenty else that is GPL, and in AVM vs Sebastian Steck, it seems that even LGPLv2 requires the manufacturer to give you all the stuff you need to install a modified version of the software, i.e. it seems that all GPL licenses imply anti-tivoization.
        ranger_danger 1y ago
        > AVM vs Sebastian Steck That case was dismissed because they settled privately, so technically it does not prove anything about LGPLv2, and Germany is not as big on blindly following precedent in law as other countries anyway.
- charcircuit 1y ago
  The alleged claim being made is different than the previous official announcement. The claim here is that AOSP will stop releasing sources publicly altogether similar to other versions of Android like Wear OS.
  - flakiness 1y ago
    FYI: https://source.android.com/docs/setup/about/faqs#android-latest-release https://source.android.com/docs/setup/about/faqs#android-lat... > Google pushes the code for the next release to the latest public release branch and updates the android-latest-release manifest to point to that branch. Along with https://source.android.com/docs/whatsnew/site-updates#aosp-changes https://source.android.com/docs/whatsnew/site-updates#aosp-c... > The android-latest-release manifest is set to the latest AOSP release branch, android16-release
- pzo 1y ago
  seems not exactly true, they did release android 16 to AOSP but "Google did not publish any device-specific source code for supported, modern Pixel devices." https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/ https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/
zeech 1y ago
From https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/ https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/ - > Google did not publish any device-specific source code for supported, modern Pixel devices. > In previous years, Google released full device trees alongside new Android versions. This allowed developers to build and boot AOSP on Pixel hardware relatively easily. > With Android 16, only the platform/framework code has been released. The device trees are missing, at least for now. > This means AOSP 16 cannot currently be built or run on any recent Pixel device easily just using official source. It’s unclear whether this is a delay or a policy change. Either way, it seriously disrupts custom ROM development and our porting efforts.
- nabogh 1y ago
  That's awful. I bought a pixel because the ecosystem around alternative android roms was healthy. This seems to change that. Why can't I just get a general purpose computer in my pocket? Why is everything so hostile? I am willing to pay!
pzo 1y ago
sad, was thinking to switch from iPhone to pixel 10 in few months once released exactly for the reason that is clean android and gives and escape hatch to use grapheneOS or lineageOS or calysOS. Any other android phone manufacturer that is supported by any of those projects? Most devices supported except pixel devices are few years old.
- NewJazz 1y ago
  Fairphone
- zeech 1y ago
  GrapheneOS only supports Pixels due to their having superior security features [0]. Calyx supports Pixels as well as some newer Motos and the Fairphone 4 and 5 [1]. Lineage supports tons of devices [2]. LineageOS is the only one of the three that supports older hardware, but I'd recommend getting a previous-gen Pixel for the seven-year (at least) support cycle. [0] https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices [1] https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/device-support/ https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/device-support/ [2] https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
- input_sh 1y ago
  > Most devices supported except pixel devices are few years old. That pretty much sums it up, there's a reason all of those custom ROMs pivoted to supporting basically just Pixels. Apart from Pixels, your only options are Fairphone and a few years old Chinese models (Xiaomi, Motorola, OnePlus), none of which are even close to state-of-the-art hardware. Custom ROMs are pretty much dead, this just might be the final nail in their coffin.
  - nixass 1y ago
    > (Xiaomi, Motorola, OnePlus), none of which are even close to state-of-the-art hardware. Well, Pixel is arguably pretty shitty hardware as well
    - 1y ago
sebtron 1y ago
As far as I understand this only concerns Google Pixel devices, and AOSP "coming to an end" is mostly speculation. Is this going to affect other manufacturers too, e.g. the Fairphone[1]? [1] https://www.fairphone.com https://www.fairphone.com
- charcircuit 1y ago
  Fairphone should still be able to get the source for Android from Qualcomm.
  - hilbert42 1y ago
    How?
    - charcircuit 1y ago
      Looking at how it works for Wear OS. Qualcomm still only hosts the repos for the BSP and not the whole OS. It's expected to still get those from Google, from the partner portal.
      - Aachen 1y ago
        > (BSP) is the layer of software containing hardware-specific boot loaders, device drivers, in sometimes operating system kernels, and other routines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_support_package https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_support_package presumably. Never heard that TLA in my life and it's not like I've not gotten my hands dirty in Android
        swiftcoder 1y ago
        Unless you are actually shipping a custom device running Android, there's very little reason for most developers to poke that far down the stack
        overfeed 1y ago
        You wouldn't need to touch BSPs or drivers unless you're doing bringup or updating the Android kernel for a supported device. The common approach to avoid a lot of pain whn updating Android is to simply stay on the old kernel supported by the OEM or partner.
transpute 1y ago
Hopefully AOSP Pixel device support is merely delayed, not ended, since Pixel is the only way to get Debian Linux ("Terminal") VM + desktop mode support, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43973395 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43973395. With Apple's ongoing refusal to enable VM/JIT support on iOS and iPad, Google Pixel + GrapheneOS + Debian is a very competitive 2025 offering.
- terhechte 1y ago
  This is my biggest iPad gripe. I understand the security, but just make it a new "entitlement" that is only given to UTM, Parallels and VMWare fusion. Or make it a "developer mode" that you can only enable if you pay $99 a year. I'd be fine with that, but the whole iPad is unusable for any kind of software development and I'd love to be able to travel with just an iPad because for everything else I do while I'm traveling (watching videos, reading, browsing, writing, drawing) the iPad is great and I don't have to lug two devices around.
  - fc417fc802 1y ago
    If it was really about security (in the sense of that which benefits the end user) they'd just stick it behind a toggle and be done with it. I just think it's important to call out the misalignment - security can refer to the interests of the end user, or alternatively to the vendor. The ambiguity is convenient for PR statements.
    - misnome 1y ago
      We’ve decades of examples of simple toggles not working. Bad actors will just explain to the target the necessity of switching it on.
      - jampekka 1y ago
        Put it in the bootloader then. The pretence that Apple makes these things for security reasons and there's absolutely no way in the world to make it possible is a bit ridiculous.
xbmcuser 1y ago
Could be they don't want devices to have latest Android before their own latest flagship devices are released. They might release the AOSP in Aug when the new Pixel hardware drops.
- VoidWhisperer 1y ago
  When you say that they dont want the latest android before their own flagship devices are released, do you mean people running AOSP before the new pixel releases with it or other phone manufacturers/carriers beating them to releasing it? If the second one, that seems a bit unlikely. Atleast here, I don't think I've seen a carrier that delivers an updated android without taking a long time first - iirc this was part of the reason google made it possible to split out security updates and such, to kind of work around that
  - xbmcuser 1y ago
    I mean xda etc making AOSP roms before Google releases its new hardware
petabyt 1y ago
Why do pixel device trees have to be updated through different Android versions? If so the differences would be minor, right?
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
DidYaWipe 1y ago
Can you even use the Play store on AOSP? I was interested in trying it (I don't use Android currently) but from what I gathered it seemed like a bit of a fraud (on Google's part) because it was fundamentally gimped.
- anonymousiam 1y ago
  At some point in the past you could. I used the Play Store with my Nexus One running cyanogenmodrom 15 years ago with no trouble. I haven't tried lately, but I'm planning to. Hopefully there aren't too many hoops to jump through to register an "unauthorized" device with Google.
- charcircuit 1y ago
  AOSP does not include GMS or the Play Store. >it seemed like a bit of a fraud (on Google's part) because it was fundamentally gimped. AOSP is designed to be customized by vendors before they ship a device with it. Development of AOSP goes towards the shared OS pieces that actually get used and not towards things which would just get swapped out. Which is why the stock user space has not had much investment.
  - DidYaWipe 1y ago
    I'm calling it a fraud in terms of Android's initial promise to be the great "open source" OS that would free us all from vendor and telco tyranny. As we all know, it has done nothing of the sort.
- onli 1y ago
  You can on ROMs like LineageOS. The Play Store is part of the Gapps package some users install during the installation of the system. Alternatively there is microG and the Aurora Store, so the play store itself isn't needed. I assume that is the same situation on raw AOSP.
  - vachina 1y ago
    Some apps will delegate parts of itself to be downloaded from play store on demand. Meaning without play store, some apps literally won’t work because it will fail to launch the component needed to be downloaded from play store. I’ve came across this in app when accessing some secure flows, like adding credit card numbers.
prmoustache 1y ago
Correct title would be: Google is locking Google Pixel platform.
- bsimpson 1y ago
  Sounds more like "Google Pixel is no longer the reference device for AOSP"
  - surajrmal 1y ago
    Indeed. Also remember that android supports multiple form factors and pixel at best served as. reference only for phones. Auto, watches, and tablets were ill served. Cuttlefish, the replacement, works for all form factors.
SlowTao 1y ago
While the title is jumping the gun a little, it is only a matter of time until I suspect this will be real. Give it maybe 5 years Max. That said, first rule of predictions, don't provide a time frame.
- bluebarbet 1y ago
  This is my take, too. I'm surprised by all the skepticism here, it looks to me like another case of techies not being able to see the wood for the trees. These companies believe that AI puts them in an existential battle for survival. They're battening down the hatches. Concepts like open source and community collaboration can only look like unaffordable luxuries in such a context. Quaint, even. IMO the last remaining hope for free software is going to be an entirely separate hardware-OS ecosystem, plus funding and lobbying to ensure that the web platform remains competitive.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
raffael_de 1y ago
On a tangential: I recently found out that using Kagi it is possible to configure RegEx replacements in the search results (this makes it possible to replace "[www.]reddit.com" with "old.reddit.com").
- pwdisswordfishz 1y ago
  Unfortunately the old.reddit.com frontend does not support /s/ links.
  - raffael_de 1y ago
    I've no idea what that even is. For me old.reddit is about accessibility while using a VPN and 18+ content (comparison of vaporizers, for example). I don't want to have an account there, as this just lures me into using it more and engaging in pointless discussions.
theyknowitsxmas 1y ago
[flagged]
ABS 1y ago
FWIW: Google says Android Open Source Project not being ‘discontinued’ amidst Pixel change impacting custom ROMs https://9to5google.com/2025/06/12/android-open-source-project-pixel-change/ https://9to5google.com/2025/06/12/android-open-source-projec...
- transpute 1y ago
  Pixel device trees and other code used to adapt the AOSP release to specific (Made by) Google hardware was not released in a big change from precedent. Without the Pixel hardware repos (which include the device trees, driver binaries, and more), custom Android ROMs will have a hard time developing their OS updates. This might also have implications for security (vulnerability) researchers. Some large organizations buy Pixel hardware for security properties and an ecosystem with multiple teams testing and contributing upstream. Their procurement teams may have opinions on this change.
bubblethink 1y ago
I don't get the motivation behind this RedHatification. Hasn't Google already won in the Android space ? Nobody that matters is forking or using AOSP without Google's blessings anyway due to the stranglehold of Google Play Services. Why the sudden dick move ? I see some mention of the impending antitrust cases, but I don't quite see how that fits.
- maxloh 1y ago
  > Nobody that matters is forking or using AOSP without Google's blessings anyway due to the stranglehold of Google Play Services. What about Amazon's tablets?
  - rs186 1y ago
    Or every Android phone sold in China
    - bubblethink 1y ago
      But that's China. Google isn't playing in that sandbox at all. And all this is old news. Fire tablets have existed for more than a decade, Huawei phones w/o Play for more than half a decade.
seventh12 1y ago
Bad info
xnx 1y ago
Not true. From the Android VPN and GM: "We're seeing some speculation that AOSP is being discontinued. To be clear, AOSP is NOT going away. AOSP was built on the foundation of being an open platform for device implementations, SoC vendors, and instruction set architectures. AOSP needs a reference target that is flexible, configurable, and affordable – independent of any particular hardware, including those from Google. For years, developers have been building Cuttlefish (available on GitHub as the reference device for AOSP) and GSI targets from source. We continue to make those available for testing and development purposes." https://x.com/seangchau/status/1933029688202703062 https://x.com/seangchau/status/1933029688202703062
- DanAtC 1y ago
  Reading between the lines tells me they're discontinuing Pixel AOSP support which is a pretty big blow with zero warning to those who used them as de facto reference models.
- belowaverageiq 1y ago
  Ready-made AOSP device trees for Pixels, which are needed to build custom ROMs, are the ones going away. This is a blow to GrapheneOS as they have been dedicating 100% of their time to improving their ROM itself in the past few years. Since at this point they'll need to create device trees like LineageOS does with Snapdragon/MTK phones, so I hope they won't stick with the worst Android manufacturer on Earth. Especially now that the snapdragon 8 elite 2 will have the same security features as the Tensors.
  - belowaverageiq 1y ago
    Never mind, it seems like they're thinking of wasting their time with a custom ODM-built smartphone. I truly hope they won't choose this route. If they do someone should add "Will the GrapheneOS-Phone fail?" on Polymarket, I'll bet my parents' house on it.
    - xnx 1y ago
      > custom ODM-built smartphone I agree that this would be a crazy choice and doomed to fail.
skeledrew 1y ago
Unlikely now, but the writing has been on the wall since "Android Market" became "Google Play Store" and feature after feature has slowly been migrated from AOSP to GMS over the years. The frog continues being brought to boil, and the inevitable will eventually happen.
nickburns 1y ago
A more measured take: https://www.osnews.com/story/142553/rumour-google-intends-to-discontinue-the-android-open-source-project/ https://www.osnews.com/story/142553/rumour-google-intends-to...
palata 1y ago
Hypothetically, what would happen to the Android SDK and all those developer tools if Google was to go proprietary with AOSP? One could fork AOSP, but the Android SDK is not open source, is it?
fithisux 1y ago
People became lazy because of the "godsent" involvement of corporates. This involvement was not free and not guaranteed because of their profit/power motives. I think it is the time for the community to find innovative solutions for the community and to guarantee involvement by the community. There are boards out there and x64/arm64 motherboards that can run AOSP. Someone has to take the task of co-ordinating the efforts and maintain good documentation on how people can contribute, in a friendly to the community manner. I think it is possible.

Android Open Source Project

No it's not, they're just not releasing sources until a new version is actually released, and there's nothing inherently wrong with that.

fc417fc802 1y ago
Which makes life more difficult for downstream projects. However the recent release didn't include the usual device-specific sources. > This means AOSP 16 cannot currently be built or run on any recent Pixel device easily just using official source. It’s unclear whether this is a delay or a policy change. Either way, it seriously disrupts custom ROM development and our porting efforts. https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/ https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/
- immibis 1y ago
  Once they give you the device, they're legally required to give you the source code. Most manufacturers don't, but you can sue them and win.
  - rob_c 1y ago
    I think they're counting on that fight. Good luck, I look forward to seeing the gofundme...
    - lipowitz 1y ago
      This is more an opportunity for the EU to suddenly play harder ball than expected.
  - flotzam 1y ago
    Most of AOSP is Apache 2.0 licensed (permissive, not copyleft)
    - fc417fc802 1y ago
      I believe the device tree stuff is GPL due to the kernel. Might be mistaken though.
      - immibis 1y ago
        A device tree is probably counted as data, so not copyrightable. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. But there's plenty else that is GPL, and in AVM vs Sebastian Steck, it seems that even LGPLv2 requires the manufacturer to give you all the stuff you need to install a modified version of the software, i.e. it seems that all GPL licenses imply anti-tivoization.
        ranger_danger 1y ago
        > AVM vs Sebastian Steck That case was dismissed because they settled privately, so technically it does not prove anything about LGPLv2, and Germany is not as big on blindly following precedent in law as other countries anyway.
charcircuit 1y ago
The alleged claim being made is different than the previous official announcement. The claim here is that AOSP will stop releasing sources publicly altogether similar to other versions of Android like Wear OS.
- flakiness 1y ago
  FYI: https://source.android.com/docs/setup/about/faqs#android-latest-release https://source.android.com/docs/setup/about/faqs#android-lat... > Google pushes the code for the next release to the latest public release branch and updates the android-latest-release manifest to point to that branch. Along with https://source.android.com/docs/whatsnew/site-updates#aosp-changes https://source.android.com/docs/whatsnew/site-updates#aosp-c... > The android-latest-release manifest is set to the latest AOSP release branch, android16-release
pzo 1y ago
seems not exactly true, they did release android 16 to AOSP but "Google did not publish any device-specific source code for supported, modern Pixel devices." https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/ https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/

zeech 1y ago

From https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/ https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/ - > Google did not publish any device-specific source code for supported, modern Pixel devices. > In previous years, Google released full device trees alongside new Android versions. This allowed developers to build and boot AOSP on Pixel hardware relatively easily. > With Android 16, only the platform/framework code has been released. The device trees are missing, at least for now. > This means AOSP 16 cannot currently be built or run on any recent Pixel device easily just using official source. It’s unclear whether this is a delay or a policy change. Either way, it seriously disrupts custom ROM development and our porting efforts.

nabogh 1y ago
That's awful. I bought a pixel because the ecosystem around alternative android roms was healthy. This seems to change that. Why can't I just get a general purpose computer in my pocket? Why is everything so hostile? I am willing to pay!

pzo 1y ago

sad, was thinking to switch from iPhone to pixel 10 in few months once released exactly for the reason that is clean android and gives and escape hatch to use grapheneOS or lineageOS or calysOS. Any other android phone manufacturer that is supported by any of those projects? Most devices supported except pixel devices are few years old.

NewJazz 1y ago
Fairphone
zeech 1y ago
GrapheneOS only supports Pixels due to their having superior security features [0]. Calyx supports Pixels as well as some newer Motos and the Fairphone 4 and 5 [1]. Lineage supports tons of devices [2]. LineageOS is the only one of the three that supports older hardware, but I'd recommend getting a previous-gen Pixel for the seven-year (at least) support cycle. [0] https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices [1] https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/device-support/ https://calyxos.org/docs/guide/device-support/ [2] https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/ https://wiki.lineageos.org/devices/
input_sh 1y ago
> Most devices supported except pixel devices are few years old. That pretty much sums it up, there's a reason all of those custom ROMs pivoted to supporting basically just Pixels. Apart from Pixels, your only options are Fairphone and a few years old Chinese models (Xiaomi, Motorola, OnePlus), none of which are even close to state-of-the-art hardware. Custom ROMs are pretty much dead, this just might be the final nail in their coffin.
- nixass 1y ago
  > (Xiaomi, Motorola, OnePlus), none of which are even close to state-of-the-art hardware. Well, Pixel is arguably pretty shitty hardware as well
  - 1y ago

sebtron 1y ago

As far as I understand this only concerns Google Pixel devices, and AOSP "coming to an end" is mostly speculation. Is this going to affect other manufacturers too, e.g. the Fairphone[1]? [1] https://www.fairphone.com https://www.fairphone.com

charcircuit 1y ago
Fairphone should still be able to get the source for Android from Qualcomm.
- hilbert42 1y ago
  How?
  - charcircuit 1y ago
    Looking at how it works for Wear OS. Qualcomm still only hosts the repos for the BSP and not the whole OS. It's expected to still get those from Google, from the partner portal.
    - Aachen 1y ago
      > (BSP) is the layer of software containing hardware-specific boot loaders, device drivers, in sometimes operating system kernels, and other routines https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_support_package https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_support_package presumably. Never heard that TLA in my life and it's not like I've not gotten my hands dirty in Android
      - swiftcoder 1y ago
        Unless you are actually shipping a custom device running Android, there's very little reason for most developers to poke that far down the stack
      - overfeed 1y ago
        You wouldn't need to touch BSPs or drivers unless you're doing bringup or updating the Android kernel for a supported device. The common approach to avoid a lot of pain whn updating Android is to simply stay on the old kernel supported by the OEM or partner.

transpute 1y ago

Hopefully AOSP Pixel device support is merely delayed, not ended, since Pixel is the only way to get Debian Linux ("Terminal") VM + desktop mode support, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43973395 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43973395. With Apple's ongoing refusal to enable VM/JIT support on iOS and iPad, Google Pixel + GrapheneOS + Debian is a very competitive 2025 offering.

terhechte 1y ago
This is my biggest iPad gripe. I understand the security, but just make it a new "entitlement" that is only given to UTM, Parallels and VMWare fusion. Or make it a "developer mode" that you can only enable if you pay $99 a year. I'd be fine with that, but the whole iPad is unusable for any kind of software development and I'd love to be able to travel with just an iPad because for everything else I do while I'm traveling (watching videos, reading, browsing, writing, drawing) the iPad is great and I don't have to lug two devices around.
- fc417fc802 1y ago
  If it was really about security (in the sense of that which benefits the end user) they'd just stick it behind a toggle and be done with it. I just think it's important to call out the misalignment - security can refer to the interests of the end user, or alternatively to the vendor. The ambiguity is convenient for PR statements.
  - misnome 1y ago
    We’ve decades of examples of simple toggles not working. Bad actors will just explain to the target the necessity of switching it on.
    - jampekka 1y ago
      Put it in the bootloader then. The pretence that Apple makes these things for security reasons and there's absolutely no way in the world to make it possible is a bit ridiculous.

xbmcuser 1y ago

Could be they don't want devices to have latest Android before their own latest flagship devices are released. They might release the AOSP in Aug when the new Pixel hardware drops.

VoidWhisperer 1y ago
When you say that they dont want the latest android before their own flagship devices are released, do you mean people running AOSP before the new pixel releases with it or other phone manufacturers/carriers beating them to releasing it? If the second one, that seems a bit unlikely. Atleast here, I don't think I've seen a carrier that delivers an updated android without taking a long time first - iirc this was part of the reason google made it possible to split out security updates and such, to kind of work around that
- xbmcuser 1y ago
  I mean xda etc making AOSP roms before Google releases its new hardware

petabyt 1y ago

Why do pixel device trees have to be updated through different Android versions? If so the differences would be minor, right?

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

DidYaWipe 1y ago

Can you even use the Play store on AOSP? I was interested in trying it (I don't use Android currently) but from what I gathered it seemed like a bit of a fraud (on Google's part) because it was fundamentally gimped.

anonymousiam 1y ago
At some point in the past you could. I used the Play Store with my Nexus One running cyanogenmodrom 15 years ago with no trouble. I haven't tried lately, but I'm planning to. Hopefully there aren't too many hoops to jump through to register an "unauthorized" device with Google.
charcircuit 1y ago
AOSP does not include GMS or the Play Store. >it seemed like a bit of a fraud (on Google's part) because it was fundamentally gimped. AOSP is designed to be customized by vendors before they ship a device with it. Development of AOSP goes towards the shared OS pieces that actually get used and not towards things which would just get swapped out. Which is why the stock user space has not had much investment.
- DidYaWipe 1y ago
  I'm calling it a fraud in terms of Android's initial promise to be the great "open source" OS that would free us all from vendor and telco tyranny. As we all know, it has done nothing of the sort.
onli 1y ago
You can on ROMs like LineageOS. The Play Store is part of the Gapps package some users install during the installation of the system. Alternatively there is microG and the Aurora Store, so the play store itself isn't needed. I assume that is the same situation on raw AOSP.
- vachina 1y ago
  Some apps will delegate parts of itself to be downloaded from play store on demand. Meaning without play store, some apps literally won’t work because it will fail to launch the component needed to be downloaded from play store. I’ve came across this in app when accessing some secure flows, like adding credit card numbers.

prmoustache 1y ago

Correct title would be: Google is locking Google Pixel platform.

bsimpson 1y ago
Sounds more like "Google Pixel is no longer the reference device for AOSP"
- surajrmal 1y ago
  Indeed. Also remember that android supports multiple form factors and pixel at best served as. reference only for phones. Auto, watches, and tablets were ill served. Cuttlefish, the replacement, works for all form factors.

SlowTao 1y ago

While the title is jumping the gun a little, it is only a matter of time until I suspect this will be real. Give it maybe 5 years Max. That said, first rule of predictions, don't provide a time frame.

bluebarbet 1y ago
This is my take, too. I'm surprised by all the skepticism here, it looks to me like another case of techies not being able to see the wood for the trees. These companies believe that AI puts them in an existential battle for survival. They're battening down the hatches. Concepts like open source and community collaboration can only look like unaffordable luxuries in such a context. Quaint, even. IMO the last remaining hope for free software is going to be an entirely separate hardware-OS ecosystem, plus funding and lobbying to ensure that the web platform remains competitive.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

raffael_de 1y ago

On a tangential: I recently found out that using Kagi it is possible to configure RegEx replacements in the search results (this makes it possible to replace "[www.]reddit.com" with "old.reddit.com").

pwdisswordfishz 1y ago
Unfortunately the old.reddit.com frontend does not support /s/ links.
- raffael_de 1y ago
  I've no idea what that even is. For me old.reddit is about accessibility while using a VPN and 18+ content (comparison of vaporizers, for example). I don't want to have an account there, as this just lures me into using it more and engaging in pointless discussions.

theyknowitsxmas 1y ago

[flagged]

ABS 1y ago

FWIW: Google says Android Open Source Project not being ‘discontinued’ amidst Pixel change impacting custom ROMs https://9to5google.com/2025/06/12/android-open-source-project-pixel-change/ https://9to5google.com/2025/06/12/android-open-source-projec...

transpute 1y ago
Pixel device trees and other code used to adapt the AOSP release to specific (Made by) Google hardware was not released in a big change from precedent. Without the Pixel hardware repos (which include the device trees, driver binaries, and more), custom Android ROMs will have a hard time developing their OS updates. This might also have implications for security (vulnerability) researchers. Some large organizations buy Pixel hardware for security properties and an ecosystem with multiple teams testing and contributing upstream. Their procurement teams may have opinions on this change.

bubblethink 1y ago

I don't get the motivation behind this RedHatification. Hasn't Google already won in the Android space ? Nobody that matters is forking or using AOSP without Google's blessings anyway due to the stranglehold of Google Play Services. Why the sudden dick move ? I see some mention of the impending antitrust cases, but I don't quite see how that fits.

maxloh 1y ago
> Nobody that matters is forking or using AOSP without Google's blessings anyway due to the stranglehold of Google Play Services. What about Amazon's tablets?
- rs186 1y ago
  Or every Android phone sold in China
  - bubblethink 1y ago
    But that's China. Google isn't playing in that sandbox at all. And all this is old news. Fire tablets have existed for more than a decade, Huawei phones w/o Play for more than half a decade.

seventh12 1y ago

Bad info

xnx 1y ago

Not true. From the Android VPN and GM: "We're seeing some speculation that AOSP is being discontinued. To be clear, AOSP is NOT going away. AOSP was built on the foundation of being an open platform for device implementations, SoC vendors, and instruction set architectures. AOSP needs a reference target that is flexible, configurable, and affordable – independent of any particular hardware, including those from Google. For years, developers have been building Cuttlefish (available on GitHub as the reference device for AOSP) and GSI targets from source. We continue to make those available for testing and development purposes." https://x.com/seangchau/status/1933029688202703062 https://x.com/seangchau/status/1933029688202703062

DanAtC 1y ago
Reading between the lines tells me they're discontinuing Pixel AOSP support which is a pretty big blow with zero warning to those who used them as de facto reference models.
belowaverageiq 1y ago
Ready-made AOSP device trees for Pixels, which are needed to build custom ROMs, are the ones going away. This is a blow to GrapheneOS as they have been dedicating 100% of their time to improving their ROM itself in the past few years. Since at this point they'll need to create device trees like LineageOS does with Snapdragon/MTK phones, so I hope they won't stick with the worst Android manufacturer on Earth. Especially now that the snapdragon 8 elite 2 will have the same security features as the Tensors.
- belowaverageiq 1y ago
  Never mind, it seems like they're thinking of wasting their time with a custom ODM-built smartphone. I truly hope they won't choose this route. If they do someone should add "Will the GrapheneOS-Phone fail?" on Polymarket, I'll bet my parents' house on it.
  - xnx 1y ago
    > custom ODM-built smartphone I agree that this would be a crazy choice and doomed to fail.

skeledrew 1y ago

Unlikely now, but the writing has been on the wall since "Android Market" became "Google Play Store" and feature after feature has slowly been migrated from AOSP to GMS over the years. The frog continues being brought to boil, and the inevitable will eventually happen.

nickburns 1y ago

A more measured take: https://www.osnews.com/story/142553/rumour-google-intends-to-discontinue-the-android-open-source-project/ https://www.osnews.com/story/142553/rumour-google-intends-to...

palata 1y ago

Hypothetically, what would happen to the Android SDK and all those developer tools if Google was to go proprietary with AOSP? One could fork AOSP, but the Android SDK is not open source, is it?

fithisux 1y ago

People became lazy because of the "godsent" involvement of corporates. This involvement was not free and not guaranteed because of their profit/power motives. I think it is the time for the community to find innovative solutions for the community and to guarantee involvement by the community. There are boards out there and x64/arm64 motherboards that can run AOSP. Someone has to take the task of co-ordinating the efforts and maintain good documentation on how people can contribute, in a friendly to the community manner. I think it is possible.