A few days ago we brought you word that Google was looking to crack down on “sideloaded” Android applications. That is, software packages installed from outside of the mobile operating …
The infuriating part of the Google enshittification process is that there is absolutely nothing the user can do about it.
Literally the only thing that motivates Google is profit. Controlling side-loaded apps will almost certainly boost their profits by a infinitesimal fraction of a percent, therefore it will be done. Even if consumer uproar causes Google to back down in the short term, they’ll simply implement this a few months later. Late-stage Capitalism sucks.
For me, MitID in Denmark. 100% required for society and life here, requires Google Play Services now :(
I tried e/os on my Fairphone for a bit. I think I could make it all work okay enough besides that. I should write people at the government or something I guess?
Also, only officially browser for MitID is fucking Chrome. Always works with Firefox or libreWolf, though. However, I have contacted MitID two times about issues. They are always referring that I should look at the help page supported OS/browser blah blah. They don’t care about the part of the population that doesn’t use Chrome. Ironic that the same government now screams and shouts about how we have become too reliant on US big tech… Idiotic tech noob politicians.
Yes! Being active politically is always important.
Be civil and polite at first, you want these people on your side after all. But don’t be afraid to hold back if they respond with bullshit either. They are your representative, make them represent you and hold them to account if required.
Encouraging friends and family to write is usually a good idea too.
Not being politically engaged, I feel, is one of the main reasons for the downfall of democracy throughout the globe. Too many people think ticking a box every 4-5 years is all they need to do.
I don’t know myself, but Graphene OS (on Google Pixel phones) has a pretty impressive sandbox layer for the play store and the apps it installs. It might be worth looking into if you’re not aware of it currently. (But if you’re aware of the Fairphone, I’m guessing you probably know about Graphene).
This is the answer unless you consider setting up a DIY home server fun, which often the kinds of people who recommend options for this kind of thing do… so just keep that context in mind here with recommendations.
Syncthing is a great solution and it is wayyyyy less a headache than any other DIY method I have done for replacing cloud/filesharing purposes.
This is not late stage capitalism. This is mid stage at best. The entire economy and world population could be shrunk down to literally pennies, as the wealth gap widens. It could have us ending up like district 9, or Elysium as broad examples. The govt and entities have not even started cracking down on illegal activities, loop holes, bank accounts, cash spending, crypto, and more in the super strict enforced fashion they could be.
While rightly fucked up and enshittified. We could be so so much further down the capitalism rabbit hole of hell. Everyone should be boycotting and avoiding the largest companies as a whole. No change you make goes unnoticed. You might be less than 1 percent but the snowball effects happen. Movements, parties, resistance, change, software, everything adds up.
So what you can do. Don’t go mentally insane about it. Most things don’t require THAT much effort. A simple tweak here or there makes an impact.
The infuriating part of the Google enshittification process is that there is absolutely nothing the user can do about it.
Literally the only thing that motivates Google is profit. Controlling side-loaded apps will almost certainly boost their profits by a infinitesimal fraction of a percent, therefore it will be done. Even if consumer uproar causes Google to back down in the short term, they’ll simply implement this a few months later. Late-stage Capitalism sucks.
You can stop using all Google products. Now I understand their market share on the web means they’re going to continue to shape the web.
But make no mistake. There is something, however small, that you can do. De-Google.
I will help hand hold anyone who wants to build servers or services (to the best of my ability) to replace Google services with their own.
There are a lot of alternatives out there. What service or services are you stuck on?
For me, MitID in Denmark. 100% required for society and life here, requires Google Play Services now :(
I tried e/os on my Fairphone for a bit. I think I could make it all work okay enough besides that. I should write people at the government or something I guess?
Also, only officially browser for MitID is fucking Chrome. Always works with Firefox or libreWolf, though. However, I have contacted MitID two times about issues. They are always referring that I should look at the help page supported OS/browser blah blah. They don’t care about the part of the population that doesn’t use Chrome. Ironic that the same government now screams and shouts about how we have become too reliant on US big tech… Idiotic tech noob politicians.
I’ve never heard of that, so I looked it up. There definitely appear to be non-Google alternatives.
Yes! Being active politically is always important.
Be civil and polite at first, you want these people on your side after all. But don’t be afraid to hold back if they respond with bullshit either. They are your representative, make them represent you and hold them to account if required.
Encouraging friends and family to write is usually a good idea too.
Not being politically engaged, I feel, is one of the main reasons for the downfall of democracy throughout the globe. Too many people think ticking a box every 4-5 years is all they need to do.
I don’t know myself, but Graphene OS (on Google Pixel phones) has a pretty impressive sandbox layer for the play store and the apps it installs. It might be worth looking into if you’re not aware of it currently. (But if you’re aware of the Fairphone, I’m guessing you probably know about Graphene).
I do, but as far as I was aware my Fairphone can’t run Graphene? I would love to keep using my Fairphone over buying Google’s hardware at this point
Then buy second-hand. You aren’t giving Google any of your money, and you can focus on increasing your privacy.
Still, repairability is right up there with privacy for me, so I’m quite happy with the hardware right now
Got any advice on alternatives to Drive? I keep considering nextcloud, but people I know have said it’s a resource hog and finicky at best.
Those people may be the kind who tell you formatting your hard drive and reinstalling windows every other week is the best way to keep it ‘clean’.
Ive been using Nextcloud at multiple businesses for years, its a rock.
Syncthing
This is the answer unless you consider setting up a DIY home server fun, which often the kinds of people who recommend options for this kind of thing do… so just keep that context in mind here with recommendations.
Syncthing is a great solution and it is wayyyyy less a headache than any other DIY method I have done for replacing cloud/filesharing purposes.
just be sure to check if the deletions sync timeframe suits your case. in the new 2.0 deletions are not remembered forever
This is not late stage capitalism. This is mid stage at best. The entire economy and world population could be shrunk down to literally pennies, as the wealth gap widens. It could have us ending up like district 9, or Elysium as broad examples. The govt and entities have not even started cracking down on illegal activities, loop holes, bank accounts, cash spending, crypto, and more in the super strict enforced fashion they could be.
While rightly fucked up and enshittified. We could be so so much further down the capitalism rabbit hole of hell. Everyone should be boycotting and avoiding the largest companies as a whole. No change you make goes unnoticed. You might be less than 1 percent but the snowball effects happen. Movements, parties, resistance, change, software, everything adds up.
So what you can do. Don’t go mentally insane about it. Most things don’t require THAT much effort. A simple tweak here or there makes an impact.