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Android is almost dead – OSnews
- ggm 3mo ago... as an open platform. Android as a mobile and home device OS is approaching 4 billion.
- mdp2021 3mo agoHackers will be concerned with the open platform.
- mike_hearn 3mo agoBad title. It should read "Android Developer Verification" or something similar.
- cromka 3mo agoIt's Holwerda's typical absolutist, extreme take.
- supermaurio2000 3mo agomore the end of google certified android phones: https://www.republicworld.com/tech/lineageos-rejects-googles-new-sideloading-rules-vows-to-keep-android-open-2026-07-06-131369 https://www.republicworld.com/tech/lineageos-rejects-googles...
- antonvs 3mo agoI never thought I’d need to go back to custom ROMs, but here we are.
- ChocolateGod 3mo agoI lost a lot of sympathy for these campaigns when they started to use hyperbole. ADV is not a virus, nor a trojan horse. > killing the ability to install your own software on your phone But you can still install whatever you want over ADB...
- preisschild 3mo agoBy definition Google Mobile Services are a rootkit and have always been, not only since ADV...
- jsiepkes 3mo ago> But you can still install whatever you want over ADB... ...if you wait 24 hours. And also thanks to the new Google Play attestation API a lot of apps won't even work on alternative Android OS'es. But that's all needed in the name of security. Never mind if your Samsung Galaxy phone is EOL and hasn't been receiving updates for 4 years anymore. It still works with the attestation API. But the fully updated GrapheneOS phone is a real security hazard apparently, so it won't work with it. So no, you can't just run everything you want via side-loading. It's pretty obvious Google is making a power play to curb down on everything that isn't going via Google Play.
- ChocolateGod 3mo ago> ...if you wait 24 hours. False. ADB is not restricted at all, the moment you enable developer options and enable ADB you can install an APK. The Google "wait 24 hour" flow only triggers if you install an APK off the web. https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1rzd0is/mishaal_rahman_important_clarifications_on_the/#:~:text=The%20waiting%20period%20does%20not,device%2C%20it's%20enabled... https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1rzd0is/mishaal_ra...
- jsiepkes 3mo agoOk, that's some good news. Still leaves the attestation API though. Which makes using a non-Google sanctioned device a non-viable option. Also don't forget that the source code for Android is now, since 2026, only released twice a year (i.e. every 6 months). So overall it's quite clear which direction Google is moving in. They are clamping down on the ecosystem.
- ChocolateGod 3mo ago> Still leaves the attestation API though. Which makes using a non-Google sanctioned device a non-viable option The attestation API isn't Google 'being evil', it exists as part of legal requirements that exists, namely for financial and banking applications. Any alternative platform that wanted similar kind of apps would almost certainly have to implement a similar system. > Ok, that's some good news The fact you thought wrong shows the confusion being caused by these factually incorrect articles.
- mindcrash 3mo agoI really don't see how Google will make Samsung and the big Chinese Android phone manufacturers (Xiaomi, OnePlus, ...) put this crap on their own custom Android distributions, especially because all these guys know that if they do it will have a very severe cost -- Besides Play and the Galaxy Store F-Droid is probably the third most popular distribution channel for Android apps on Galaxy devices, for example. So I do think the only people who will be really affected by this are those running Google's own Pixel devices which are entirely locked into the Play ecosystem. The rest not so much.
- ChocolateGod 3mo agoIt's part of Google Play Services, so it's already integrated into Xiaomi, OnePlus etc phones.
- pjerem 3mo agoGoogle is used to put their shit into the Google Play Store contract they have with manufacturers. Samsung, XiaoMi and OnePlus will let this pass because that will be that or losing access to Play Store. Oh and also they frankly don’t care at all because 99% of people will not know. Android distribution are already incredibly shitty and most people are used since the 90s to have their computers and now their phones full of junk software. The average smartphone is not that different from the average windows XP/Vista PC of the 2000 era, with crapware everywhere, apps that are doing a lot of malicious things without the user even knowing (or frankly, caring). For you and me it’s something unacceptable, but for most people it’s just the nth layer of enshitification.
- sunaookami 3mo agoIt's already installed on every Google-certified Android device through the Google Play Services
- red-iron-pine 3mo agopixel users can lean on GraphineOS, for now
- preisschild 3mo ago> So I do think the only people who will be really affected by this are those running Google's own Pixel devices which are entirely locked into the Play ecosystem. The rest not so much. Ironically its the opposite because Google's Pixel series are relatively open and thus its possible to install Android forks (GrapheneOS, LineageOS) without Google Mobile Services that contain ADV
- annagio_ 3mo agoI have couple apps from f-droid, and I'm not prepared for this. Let's hope something happens, otherwise rip.
- cyanydeez 3mo agoso whats stopping a realFOSS fork of android? are boot loaders locked? too much diversity? do we need to buy one of those phone farms used by botters?
- soraminazuki 3mo agoFOSS fork of Android is useless without hardware capable of running them. Which means you need hardware manufacturers and telecom companies on your side.
- preisschild 3mo agoGoogle Pixels are open ;)
- soraminazuki 3mo agoExcept Google is the very company progressively shutting out open source efforts out of the Android ecosystem.
- akimbostrawman 3mo agoNothing they will continue to work just like before, this is only an issue if you include the proprietary rootkit that is google play services.
- VaderAi 3mo agoDoubt it as google push Android and Android is said to have a better camera than apple..but stats show 50/50 between two