Privacy@lemmy.mlbyiturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world
22 hours

Android verification is coming: Google confirms timeline and supported app stores - Ars Technica

arstechnica.com

[…]

In the new blog post, Google’s Matthew Forsythe confirms that the developer verification system is slated to come online on September 30 of this year. The initial deployment will be limited to countries with a high level of app scams: Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand.

[…]

Google released its new developer console back in March, inviting external developers the opportunity to pay $25 and verify their identities early. Developers who don’t register will find that their apps cannot be sideloaded on Google-certified Android devices once verification has rolled out. Google says that almost every app in the Play Store is now ready for the change, and a “large majority” of apps outside Google Play have completed verification.

[…]

Google says it will verify the apps in the following stores when it begins enforcing the new restrictions.

Google (Google Play)
Honor (HONOR App Market)
OPlus (OPPO App Market)
Samsung (Galaxy Store)
Transsion (Palm Store)
vivo (V-Appstore)
Xiaomi (GetApps)

[…]

The next step toward verifying apps will come this month as Google deploys a new system service on most certified devices. The package (com.google.android.verifier) will appear on phones and tablets running Android 8 or higher, allowing Google to block the installation of unverified apps. It will remain dormant until verification is activated in your specific region.

In July, Google plans to roll out the new developer APIs and begin testing for “limited distribution” accounts. This is Google’s solution for hobbyists who want to make their own apps and share them with a small group. Limited accounts won’t require a fee or government ID verification, but you can install these apps on up to 20 devices.

In August, the advanced flow will become available globally ahead of verification becoming mandatory in the first markets. As detailed a few months ago, the advanced flow will allow users to bypass verification, but the process isn’t easy. You’ll have to navigate to a buried menu, confirm you understand the risks multiple times, and wait a whole day before completing the process.

And that brings us to September, when Android devices in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand will begin checking verification status before installing apps. However, things get murky after that. Google will undoubtedly monitor how verification works as millions of users are suddenly limited to verified apps, which could affect how it moves forward. Google says it intends to expand developer verification in 2027, eventually making it a global device policy.

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    Android verification is coming: Google confirms timeline and supported app stores
    arstechnica.com
    A new system service will roll out this month ahead of big changes starting in September.
    • asdasd201@lemmygrad.ml
      33 minutes

      So just because I refuse to forfeit my soul to the Satan’s company, I won’t be able to use my phone? Fuck this and fuck Poogle, I’d rather switch to Nokia 3310!

    • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      57 minutes

      does anyone know why would anyone use any of the mentioned stores instead of the play store? using f-droid has a clear benefit (they are also not on the supported list). but what is the purpose of those mainly manufacturer specific stores?

      • marxismtomorrow@lemmy.today
        39 minutes

        Money, and monopolistic behavior. Samsung, for instance, constantly pushes the “Samsung Account” on all their devices. Constantly. For the first two weeks after getting a new Samsung device you will be spammed with “finish setting up your phone” notifications that just want you to sign up for their tracking, and conveniently, when you’re logged into a Samsung account, their app store is the default. And you will get notifications from their app store to download or buy whatever app they recommend. I can only assume the other stores mentioned do similar things.

        • Lumidaub@feddit.org
          17 minutes

          I think they’re asking why a customer would (actively) choose those app stores over the Play store.

          • brucethemoose@lemmy.world
            10 minutes

            The answer is they don’t choose.

            Most people just use whatever the default is, and don’t really know a better option is available until it’s presented explicitly.

    • akwd169@sh.itjust.works
      6 hours

      Sooo if I just use adb to disable that service

      com.google.android.verifier

      I wont have to put up with google’s bs?

          • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            54 minutes

            and who exactly will benefit from the hard fork? those few who already run a degoogled android and won’t be affected anyway?

        • akwd169@sh.itjust.works
          5 hours

          Oh I didnt mean anyone else should I was just trying to confirm my thoughts on whether this would work

          Trust me fuck Google and this is horrid news for FOSS so I hope there can be some fight back against this dictatorial censorship… Google is evil for trying to create a walled garden like Apple’s out of android

          • Pommes_für_dein_Balg@feddit.org
            4 hours

            That’s not what I meant. I meant that yes, there are technical ways to get around this garden wall.
            But only a very small percentage of users will know of it, or dare open a terminal to issue adb commands to their phone.
            So the majority will be locked out of open and free app stores despite the technical possibility to keep using them.
            And with fewer users, there will be fewer developers and fewer apps available.

      • quick_snail@feddit.nl
        3 hours

        Or just reinstall the OS without google.

        We’re about to see a bunch of cell phone repair shops offer this service.

        • Lumidaub@feddit.org
          19 minutes

          Maybe at first, until their customers realise that all their apps need those services. And this is assuming the average person even notices the change in the first place and cares about it.

    • zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      7 hours

      Maybe Commodore saw this coming and that explains the crazy pricing of their linux flip phone.

      • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netEnglish
        45 minutes

        Ehh, if they had foresight, they wouldn’t be putting a hardcoded block for all web browsers on the Commodore phone. Instead, it’s mostly just Peri commercializing his personal ideas of what a phone should be based on his past videos.

      • asdasd201@lemmygrad.ml
        35 minutes

        Bricks aren’t enough, every Google building needs carpet bombing while the assholes who’s main purpose is to do evil are locked inside.

    • StellarExtract@lemmy.zip
      19 hours

      Hey Google, could you not dictate what I’m allowed to install on my own damn device for my “safety”? I don’t need a third parent, and if I had to pick one it wouldn’t be you.

    • gndagreborn@lemmy.worldEnglish
      16 hours

      Up until now, I haven’t been overwhelmingly emotional about all the horrible things happening right now.

      I don’t know why this news hit me particularly hard. Reading it made me feel like a part of me died. Got glassy eyed. This kind of feels like the final betrayal in a sense. Not the ultimate betrayal, but one super close to my heart.

      • Allero@lemmy.today
        12 hours

        Hey, it’s gonna be alright

        -You still will be able to sideload apps, they just add a nasty 24-hour cooldown -In the meantime, it’s worth having a migration strategy to a mobile OS that actually respects you - be it Graphene, Lineage, or Linux/Sailfish.

        • crispbacon99@lemmy.zip
          3 hours

          Yep, it’s time to start moving away from these big tech companies and develop utz competitors

        • FineCoatMummy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          7 hours

          be it Graphene, Lineage, or Linux/Sailfish.

          The prob comes when the ONLY mobile OS that work for the things ppl want to do are IOS and Android. We could see a world where MOST web sites are locked behind chain-of-trust reqs. Certainly all the important ones needed for normal life.

          We’re not quite there today. But it is the direction.

          • aphonefriend@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            16 minutes

            Then you cancel that service and let them know exactly why you did. Hit them in the only thing they care about - money. One doesn’t matter, but 100k would.

            Be the change you want to see.

      • warm@kbin.earth
        20 hours

        Just a waiting game for Linux to save the day again.

        • partofthevoice@lemmy.zip
          4 hours

          Should be a challenge, “how can I help Linux get there?” If more of the general public tech enthusiasts were interested in developing this out, I have no doubt it could be done in months time. Ref: be the change you want to see in the world.

          • ProdigalFrog@slrpnk.netEnglish
            51 minutes

            Best thing we can do is donate to PostmarketOS, and if you can, install it on a compatible phone and make bug reports of what doesn’t work.

            • partofthevoice@lemmy.zip
              49 minutes

              The bar for entry for contributing to these projects is too high. Can we instead do work to lower the bar? I don’t want to accept that there’s nothing we can do beside open our wallets. Not that I’m against donating, it’s just that money isn’t my strongest asset.

          • warm@kbin.earth
            3 hours

            For sure, but all I can do is report bugs and donate money here and there. I don’t have the skills for such advanced development myself.

    • helpImTrappedOnline@lemmy.world
      19 hours

      This is like if Walmart started policing what products Target can sell and policing what products can go into your house, while not bothering to police their own store.