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- cross-posted to:
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We need alternatives to big tech. They’re reigning in and locking everything they can down, and the states are loving them for it as it solidifies their ability to control us.
Those who have the expertise should start contributing and working more on Linux for mobile. Postmarket has made great progress it just needs more manpower
its the reason why i turned off auto software updates on my phone
Fuck you Google. I won’t do further updates on my Pixel and the moment I run into an issue I’ll move operating systems or phones if required. Half my apps don’t come from Google Play and I don’t want the developers to have to register with Google for anything.
Guys, can’t we Just use e/OS? I thougt it wouldn’t be affected?
Starting in September 2026, Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed on certified android devices.
I wonder… I know that we used to mod our consoles due to the limits of ‘certified’ official software.
On the one hand, google is obviously evil, and it’s intentions here are undoubtedly evil as well. On the other, I do think some kind of verification of developers should exist. Just not in google hands. But who. There really isn’t anyway to create an organization that could be trusted to do this. And of course, the user should be able to chose to install apps from an unverified developer.
Google has their own store, that’s how they verify.
That’s how it works on Windows already. You buy a cert from a third party vendor so your setup file can pass Windows security checks and doesn’t show a big warning to the user when they open the setup file.
If this happens, I guess it’s Linux Phone time for me… I’m pretty certain GrapheneOS will be able to get around this abuse of power for a while, but it wouldn’t take much effort from Google to kill them too ; they almost already have…
Or maybe dumb phone time ? But I like browsing Wikipedia and playing chess and RetroArch on my phone, I don’t want to lose that just because big G$ said so…
The new requirements will “only” apply for “certified” Android devices. I’m pretty sure, devices running a custom ROM aren’t certified, especially if you don’t even have Google Services installed. Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to a bright future for Linux phones.
Fwiw, just because a dumb phone doesn’t give you access to “smart” features doesn’t mean the capabilities aren’t present on the phone. It’s just a matter of what could be hidden on the circuit board (lots can be hidden in chips), and what can be hidden in usual expected traffic (if bandwidth requirements are low, even timing of packets could be used to encode hidden data that would never show up in any logs).
Plus the simple tracking of cellphones is necessary for them to function at all.
I wonder if there is a dumb phone with tethering currently. Cause if you don’t mind carrying 2 devices, that may be viable for your use case
You can still use a dump phone. You can play and browse Wikipedia on a Steam Deck which has WiFi. If you are outsid, you can use a Mifi device of a USB LTE/5G dongle for the SteamDeck.
Steam decks are expensive and relatively bulky when compared to a phone. I don’t think it’s really a practical solution for most of us.
Maybe it’s time to bring back MeeGo
Fuck, I don’t have the money to replace my phone. I probably wont by September either. Too many expenses.
Linux phones look more and more attractive
Couldn’t agree more Especially when the Pine Phone Pro is improving every year since its has came out and with Posh shell and Waydroid nothing will stop Linux from succeeding in the modern era
sadly
The PinePhone Pro was officially discontinued in August 2025, as it didn’t sell well enough to keep production going.[7]
So what can I buy now?
Aw shucks now that’s something you don’t see often on the internet
Graphene OS
No, linux
As far as I know, it is still reliant on the whims of Google through shenanigans with AOSP, and of course having to use a Pixel.
Linux offers a more solid and independent foundation, and while it is less polished yet, to me it’s the only real way out in the long run.
Still, GrapheneOS is a big step in the right direction - hope it wouldn’t come across as me being against the project.
They’ve signed with an OEM (still secret atm, but the best guess seems to be Motorola?) who will produce the first flagship GrapheneOS device sometime this or next year iirc. Supposed to be revealing the manufacturer next month. That’ll at least take some of the Google dependency by having to use Pixels.
Yep, heard a bit about it. Didn’t include here because it’s still a big WIP.
Motorola
Oh hello.
Yup, if enough people switch to graphene big G will fuck them over. Exiting entirely is the only long term solution.
So basically they wanna be Apple.
Feels a lot more interesting to just pick up a feature phone, and use it as a hotspot modem for a laptop.
which can do this? its my dream thing. I think I may have seen it but they were priced kinda redic.
In the meantime port linux OSs to be easilly installable on Android devices
Also how do we get our hands on the geniuses behimd this fiasco ?
How soon before Windows copies this, given they already tried this sorta lockdown with S Mode?
Also, couldn’t Ubuntu hypothetically lock down the Snap store like this?
In theory Canonical could lock down Ubuntu like that, but it would be the end of Ubuntu. Switching over to Mint or Debian is not a big deal for majority of the linux-users and also Ubuntu would lose all the advantages they can currently pull off from Debian package maintainers. Also I suppose it would bring a ton of headaches with licenses, but IANAL, so don’t quote me on that. And, obviously, that would kill snapcraft too as I don’t see any incentives for developers to support walled gardens for free, so it wouldn’t be all bad.
I used the s mode and i was eating my desk in the meantime.
I’m sceptical with Windows, considering that most programs are installed via EXE files, so the outcry will be huge. But I’m not saying it can’t be a possibility.
With Ubuntu there would only be a chance of it happening if they also make their distro immutable. That way the user could not as easily install packages the traditional way. But even then there might be ways to disable this immutable mode for troubleshooting. However, this, in my opinion, would cause a mass exodus as Canonical does not have the same advantage as Microsoft or Google have: Windows and android are, to an extent, closed off ecosystems. Thus switching to another system is very hard, as not every software is available on every other system, so potentially subpar alternatives and comparability layers, whose functionality mostly depends on whether the company behind the original system is actively fighting against these tools or not. Ubuntu on the other hand, is a Linux distro, so you cab make it like Theseus and recreate this distro more or less with the sum of its parts, if need be.
How do we defend our privacy on Android now?
Never could. Power of thousands of paid developers against a few. That’s like finding all needles in a haystack, and power determines the size of that haystack and the amount of needles.
You can’t use something that cost that much to make and expect to divert from what the producers intended.
Privacy isn’t really in their interest. They feed off our data.
That’s obvious, but before, we could use GrapheneOS and F-Droid etc to defend it ourselves. I’m not expecting Google to help, just hoping the resistance has something up its sleeve too.
I’m basically am doing exactly this. But I’m only on GrapheneOS as I had to compromise on some closed apps that refused to run on LineageOS. GrapheneOS means I can compromise on Google a bit without being completely compromised by Google. The market and geopolitical problem remains.
