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 …
We need a new one that isn’t made by a for-profit company that only was good at the beginning to get total market saturation before flipping the enshittification switch to maximize those profits.
All the non-Google entities that build stuff on Android need to start banding together instead of siloing themselves. If AOSP is being closed, they need to create a non-profit replacement for it.
The fucked up part is nowadays third parties like banks or sometimes even governments make apps rely on Google services, so you can’t use an ungoogled phone for stuff you actually need for life…
Makes me curious if they think their monopoly or whatever they were called cases making them split their browser are going to go though. If you are going to have to sell parts of the company, now would be the time to hammer home any last minute bad things that would make the companies more profitable. Shows higher income for the sale, and gets it out of the way so the new purchaser doesn’t look like the ones who did it, but rather the ones who will make announcements on how they will review things to make them better for the user base.
Doesn’t mean they’ll follow through on them, but it takes the evil and sticks it with the old owners.
the best outcome for the short term would be to forcibly take away android from google and give it to an independent foundation. as I heard antitrust proceedings in the usa were heading that way a few months ago
I wonder if the generic tablets with made up Asian sounding names that you see on the big marketplaces could work? They could have slightly larger or smaller screens if they’re cheaper than current phone screens, and could have Linux with something like Signal on them for calling.
They’d probably be lower quality to begin with, but could potentially get better if people start to buy them. They seem to have generic hardware, so might be able to offer the drivers and unlockable bootloaders too :)
Interesting. I’ve not heard of FuriOS, but if it is a Linux phone that actually can be used with US carriers, makes calls and supports SMS/MMS, and can do VoLTE that’s a actually a pretty big deal.
I saw someone else recommending it. I only hope they take this opportunity to release the OS for everyone, but since they’re for-profit, I doubt they will.
Whenever you see a linux phone advertise both security and android app support, you should be wary, since it’s likely waydroid or a waydroid fork, and their design goal of running android in a container instead of a VM has lead to some interesting security decisions.
I would be very happy if anyone could explain to me in a simple and coherent way why I, as a normal user who am aware of what I am doing on my device and am not targeted by any group that’s out to get me, would need a “hardened malloc”, “secure app spawning”, “vanadium browser and webview”, or a “hardened PDF viewer”. The last of these four is the only thing that means anything to me, and it sounds dumb. Yeah, I know PDFs can be dangerous if you open random shit, but come on.
If I run Waydroid it’s only to get my banking app (trusted source) and Whatsapp (not a trusted source but not directly malware either) working. I hardly need their hardened PDF reader.
Not just your two android apps, any program on your system that is aware of your waydroid installation could potentially use it as a path to escalate themselves to root, which is generally regarded as a bad outcome. If you don’t care about that kind of thing, or don’t think that could ever happen to you, that’s certainly within your rights to hold such a viewpoint.
You realize how many things have gotten shittier since android 11? Accubattery isn’t even allowed to monitor everything using up juice any more. You can’t customize your own charging curves, you’re locked out of accessing portions of your storage on your own phone, and a lot of great power user apks had to completely hit themselves or just stop working all together.
What do you need from after 11 that an apk wouldn’t have allowed you to do already?
Its about time an open standard happened for mobile OSes.
That’s what Android was and they keep trying to undo that any way they can
I disagree. Google has always been a thinly veiled Microsoft. A wolf in sheeps clothing. They embrace, extend, extinguish. It’s the same thing.
All corporations suck fucking donkey dick because consumers are morons.
We need a new one that isn’t made by a for-profit company that only was good at the beginning to get total market saturation before flipping the enshittification switch to maximize those profits.
why do we need a new one? can’t android be salvaged? lots of things have been solved already in a way that makes a relatively good foundation.
All the non-Google entities that build stuff on Android need to start banding together instead of siloing themselves. If AOSP is being closed, they need to create a non-profit replacement for it.
The fucked up part is nowadays third parties like banks or sometimes even governments make apps rely on Google services, so you can’t use an ungoogled phone for stuff you actually need for life…
Makes me curious if they think their monopoly or whatever they were called cases making them split their browser are going to go though. If you are going to have to sell parts of the company, now would be the time to hammer home any last minute bad things that would make the companies more profitable. Shows higher income for the sale, and gets it out of the way so the new purchaser doesn’t look like the ones who did it, but rather the ones who will make announcements on how they will review things to make them better for the user base.
Doesn’t mean they’ll follow through on them, but it takes the evil and sticks it with the old owners.
the best outcome for the short term would be to forcibly take away android from google and give it to an independent foundation. as I heard antitrust proceedings in the usa were heading that way a few months ago
So basically remove Google integration from AOSP?
I mean taking away the development access to the project. what do you mean? google based captive portal checks and the similar hidden “gems”?
not with trump around.
And he’s very easily bribed which corporations have caught onto.
Such things are solvable with a bribe in the USA.
We need open bootloader and drivers for phones to make any real progress on this. This is what’s holding back all initiatives.
and many phone manfacterers, issuers(non google, samsung, or IOs) IS CONSIDERING locking down thier phones.
I wonder if the generic tablets with made up Asian sounding names that you see on the big marketplaces could work? They could have slightly larger or smaller screens if they’re cheaper than current phone screens, and could have Linux with something like Signal on them for calling.
They’d probably be lower quality to begin with, but could potentially get better if people start to buy them. They seem to have generic hardware, so might be able to offer the drivers and unlockable bootloaders too :)
I’d be worried about vulnerabilities.
FuriOS? Linux-based and runs Android apps.
https://furilabs.com/
Interesting. I’ve not heard of FuriOS, but if it is a Linux phone that actually can be used with US carriers, makes calls and supports SMS/MMS, and can do VoLTE that’s a actually a pretty big deal.
Not bad, it looks like I have to buy their phone though. Which is not cheap, or performant guessing by the specs despite what the advertising says.
I saw someone else recommending it. I only hope they take this opportunity to release the OS for everyone, but since they’re for-profit, I doubt they will.
Whenever you see a linux phone advertise both security and android app support, you should be wary, since it’s likely waydroid or a waydroid fork, and their design goal of running android in a container instead of a VM has lead to some interesting security decisions.
I would be very happy if anyone could explain to me in a simple and coherent way why I, as a normal user who am aware of what I am doing on my device and am not targeted by any group that’s out to get me, would need a “hardened malloc”, “secure app spawning”, “vanadium browser and webview”, or a “hardened PDF viewer”. The last of these four is the only thing that means anything to me, and it sounds dumb. Yeah, I know PDFs can be dangerous if you open random shit, but come on.
If I run Waydroid it’s only to get my banking app (trusted source) and Whatsapp (not a trusted source but not directly malware either) working. I hardly need their hardened PDF reader.
Not just your two android apps, any program on your system that is aware of your waydroid installation could potentially use it as a path to escalate themselves to root, which is generally regarded as a bad outcome. If you don’t care about that kind of thing, or don’t think that could ever happen to you, that’s certainly within your rights to hold such a viewpoint.
Still using Android 11? Holy hell.
You realize how many things have gotten shittier since android 11? Accubattery isn’t even allowed to monitor everything using up juice any more. You can’t customize your own charging curves, you’re locked out of accessing portions of your storage on your own phone, and a lot of great power user apks had to completely hit themselves or just stop working all together.
What do you need from after 11 that an apk wouldn’t have allowed you to do already?