Your Phone Is About to Stop Being Yours: 70 Days Until Lockdown

NackerHughes

Starting in 2027, a silent update, nonconsensually pushed by Google, will block every Android app whose developer hasn't registered with Google, signed their contract, paid up, and handed over government ID. Every app and every device, worldwide, with no opt-out. This includes apps shared between friends, distributed through F-Droid, built by hobbyists for personal use. Independent developers, church and community groups, and hobbyists alike will all be frozen out of being able to develop and distribute their software. Registration requires: - Paying a fee to Google - Agreeing to Google's Terms and Conditions - Surrendering your government-issued identification - Providing evidence of your private signing key - Listing all current and all future application identifiers If a developer does not comply, their apps get silently blocked on every Android device worldwide.

WarmWash

Google play store was ruled a monopoly and the Apple App store was not. Google allows alternatives on their platform and Apple strictly forbids it. If the legal system dictates that open = monopoly and closed = fair game, then you get dumb shit like this. Probably one of the dumbest rulings in tech ever, but few people know about it. Basically set precedent to never share your platform if you don't want legal scrutiny.

npodbielski

i am using lineage os on some devices. It does not even have google play. On others I have GrapheneOS which is sandboxed. How that does affects me?

ezequiel-garzon

I thought Google was adding more hoops to jump through for F-Droid, Termux and the like. Did that change? Obviously the more hoops the less happy we will be, but it'd be nice to know.

tosti

How does this work on lineageos? I'd just turn off my phone before midnight, boot it into fastboot and reflash lineage 2 days later, missing the window for them to push anything. No gapps btw.

randyrand

Maybe stop using Android? I feel like there are a lot of decent distros these days. This helps accelerate it.

skinfaxi

The 24 hour waiting period is absolutely ridiculous. The article says to download alternative stores but I thought they too are impacted as it is the installation mechanic.

erelong

Alternatively the duopoly hard block might push linux mobile development in to overdrive (with AI assistance?)

gjsman-1000

> The EFF calls app gatekeeping "an ever-expanding pathway to internet censorship." I think what's interesting, and what our grandchildren will look back on, was how naive the early internet was. There was almost this sense of "the government is powerless" whether it be piracy or jailbreaking or casual death threats [8647 style] or who knows what else. Combined with also a sense that devices will always be exploitable, there's always a way around, resistance from government and corporations will always be futile.

lookeey

This is not the problem it is presented to be, and I see more benefits to this than prejudice. There is a very concerning amount of illegal apps/scams distributed through ads that I've casual users install somewhat banally with the aid of short walkthroughs. Any sufficiently advanced user is barely affected by this, as the procedure is just complex enough to block average people from getting scammed/using illegal services unknowingly, but simple enough to barely be an inconvenience for anyone who cares enough and can go through it.

FiloSottile

This sort of breathless outrage rhetoric would be a lot easier to take seriously if it spent even a minute acknowledging the very real risk to users that this is meant to mitigate: tech support scams where people are walked through installing an app that takes over their phone and steals their money, private data, and identity. You can disagree with the tradeoff, but if you don't acknowledge it you're just doing propaganda. Personally, I think the 24h cooldown is an excellent compromise to allow user freedom while slowing down attackers sufficiently to mitigate the harm. Tech is cool, but it's not an end in itself. Serving people should be. And if people are getting hurt, it's not working well, even if those people are not the ones that read Hacker News.

accountrequired

Let's be real, it was always theirs. Wish it wasn't so, though.

everdrive

The phone was never yours. You have a nice, granular set of permissions which (attempt to) control what apps can do ... but you don't really have any permissions that prevent you from _Google_ spying on you and selling your data or giving it up to law enforcement. It's like the propaganda radio you can turn down, but never off. You're given just enough control to feel like you have a choice.

silverFork

I guess the an alternative open unix based operating system that can upload existing apps from both android as well as apple is needed or the greed will not ever end. This is about corporations that constantly need growth using new ways to collect rent from the rest of the world. They are chocking the world to collect new monies. They are recommending installing F-droid.. and not accepting android's demands. Its time to have open source smart phone operating system that can not be taken hostage.

Aozora7

I got a used pixel 10a and installed GrapheneOS on it partly due to this.

amelius

In this age of AI why don't we have Linux running on random phone hardware yet?

JSRR1991

Might have to switch to iphone... otherwise my next phone will be linux

adelekeabdulgan

So i wont be able to install .apk files for test purposes? thats terrible. whats the way forward?

kykat

And this is why I've been recommending iPhones to my family when I always recommended Android

aestetix

Incidentally, with this update, Android will lose any edge it had, and become a shittier and less polished version of iOS.