Google just gave Android power users a sideloading win

croemer

Google clarifies that this status can carry over to new devices, so you only ever have to go through it once.

Pooge

There is no win . They are winning 50-0 and they just scored an own-goal; so what?!

xt00

How long before there is a "we've detected your account has been used multiple times to re-setup a phone.. we've re-enabled the Google Nanny Safety mode.. also we've locked your google account just in case.. " I mean other than hackers, who has needed to factory reset their phone more than once in a year you must be doing something shady... right right?

Zak

It's a very small concession. The high initial friction still means when someone comes to me with a problem and I tell them the solution is in F-Droid, they have to wait a day. Most give up and pick a different, less trustworthy solution from Google Play.

yesbut

can't wait until this is just completely bypassed and we can ignore Google again.

catlikesshrimp

WTF win? Sounds like I will need a tracking google account because it can "carry over" when I "upgrade my phone" "Google giving a concession" is no win. WTF Concession? Why are we asking google for permission to use the devices we bought as they see fit? Ok, google is doing what is best for them, abusing users. But the manufacturers are really to blame here because the devices are by default locked to what google and them decide. There is no Market Choice here.

hagbard_c

You still seem to need a Google account to be able to use the hardware you just paid for. I don't have one, don't want one either. I've been using Android without Google for about 15 years now but will hold off on getting a new device until I'm sure I can continue using it without getting a Google account.

sgbeal

When typos are inadvertently funny: > Google’s been working hard to relive everyone’s fears...

AlBugdy

What's the phone OS landscape now? What can someone who values their agency and wants FOSS choose? * iOS - walled garden, so no * Android: * * with a Google account and Play Services - a bit less of a walled garden, but still no * * Android without Google: * * * GrapheneOS - root or adb not supported, so no * * * LineageOS - (edit: root or adb not supported, so no - just learned) seems like a viable option although it seems like it depends on Google's development of Android and keeping it FOSS. How's the situation with security updates? Which phones would you recommend? I don't count Samsung or whatever crap as they're generally quite user-hostile. * Linux - IIRC only PMOS supported FDE. Is that still the case? Are there are good Linux phones? I tried PinePhone a few years ago, but it was crappy. The OS also lacked basic features like new windows showing up inside the screen. * anything else?

scuff3d

"Google is doing this thing that is total bullshit, but now they're given you slightly less shit. What a win! Our glorious corporate overlords are so generous!" What a joke. It's not a journalist job to shill for corporations

throwaway81523

I thought that even after the 24h wait, you will have to go through some annoying dialog to install (or maybe even update) anything not from the play store. So installing from F-droid will become an obnoxious process. Even worse if updates also become obnoxious. F-droid often wants to update several apps at once, so I click "update all". If that becomes multiple dialogs, that sucks.

branon

How will the transfer occur? I'm assuming via Google account? So this is vendor lock-in to an online account being sold as a way to "win" against a problem _created_ by said vendor? I would prefer a per-device wait time and I sincerely hope a Google account will not be a hard requirement. I didn't consider this initially. Google is in the process of stealing the shirts from our backs and selling them back to us. Whoever wrote this article is drinking the kool-aid. This should NOT be presented as a positive thing. Some of us use Android without a Google account and would still like to sideload.

inxode

Bring back keypad based phones with J2ME, they were way too fun.

Havoc

We hereby grant you a conditional right to install software on the device you "own", subject to conditions, and terms, but only under certain circumstances and only so long as it pleases us. Modern handheld computing is such a shitshow...

NooneAtAll3

step 1: make situation very bad step 2: make situation tiiiny amount better step 3: proclaim this as "a win" ...really?

nabogh

> Google's latest concession makes the sideloading controversy a big nothingburger. It's really not. Try to realise that it's not meant to be Google's phone and they shouldn't be "letting" me do things

Taterr

None of the comments here seem to discuss or even mention how this situation looks from googles perspective? I feel like HN readers are not aware of the scale of the problem they face or their motivation behind these changes. If you look at the rate of growth of the call/text scam industry I think it's entirely possible that android owners are getting scammed out of more money than google themselves makes on the android platform as a whole. It's at least not that far off. Which doesn't even account for the humanitarian issues which they probably feel partially responsible for.