I agree with your point regarding web apps but I was just using banking as a for example. I often use web apps even when open source apps are available.
There’s a lot more than banking apps, they’re just the most common. I first ran into issues rooting android 10 years ago with work email. Apparently streaming services are also likely to throw an error without Magisk or something else.
For now! 
It really is not “for now”
we have confirmation that this only affects devices that utilize privileged Google Play Services (which is stock os devices like pixel stock, samsung, xiaomi etc. etc.), Google Play sandboxed and AOSP/GOS without google play services will not be affected
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Just because their latest tactic doesn’t cause a problem for GOS means nothing. It’s the next move on the chess board we need to be thinking about because it’s almost a nailed on certainty that there will be more to come.
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I will not comment on things that are uncertain and I do not recommend fear mongering people for things are that are not for sure to happen.
Don’t have a problem with that Goru, you would need a crystal ball never mind a PC for that, but you have to admit that if you look at their past form there is every reason to believe that they only have one ultimate objective in mind.
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It’s definitely a “leopards would never eat my face” relationship a lot of people have with Google…
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I’m more curious about the degree to which Google will mess with F-Droid and its current state.
I dunno about that Jonah. You can do things on a Linux desktop that you can only dream of on windows and mac, but I do agree that if autonomy is the only way privacy can be defended in the future then Linux just has to be the only plausible option. TBF I’m trialing Droidian on a Sony at the moment and it does have potential, only the lack of apps is a major drawback but if you are Ok with webapps (as I am), it’s a viable alternative that can only get better.
There is a already a confirmation? Do you have a link?
Anyway, without their own device, I have doubts about the future of GOS. I know they said they are working with a provider already. But this was also said in 2022 and it went nowhere.
Let´s see. I don´t want to go back to iPhones. But I don´t like where Google is driving AOSP.
are you kidding me, it is obvious:
Google says that only apps with verified identities will be installable on certified Android devices, which is virtually every Android-based device—if it has Google services on it, it’s a certified device. If you have a non-Google build of Android on your phone, none of this applies. (…)
[Android – Certified - Partners]
Starting in September 2026, Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed on certified Android devices.
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I have a few thoughts about this.
1)Android is a very secure platform. Even malicious apps are very limited in what they can do without asking for permissions. They can mostly do passive stuff (read device info, read clipboard). The rest is social engineering. So comparison with desktop OS like Windows and Linux are a bit misleading.
2)If you consider malicious apps a problem (and this is a philosophy, some would say it’s the user responsibility to vet apps before installing them), then they are better ways to protect users.
One of the way that would keep it relatively open & enanche security is Google designing certified gatekeepers. This would be any app store or platform with a vetting process. This could include F-Droid, Acrescent, Epic Games Store, etc. Those stores could then send to Google a list of their siging keys as well as the App developer keys. Ideally, this list would be regularly updated in a public list, so any ROM can have a list of certified “safe” apps.
Would this restrict user freedom? Definitely. You wouldn’t be able to install your own app, or an app published exclusively on GitHub. Same goes for security critical apps that use a custom F-Droid repo for timely updates.
Still, it would be much better than the current proposal - which would effectively turn Google’s Android into EU builds of iOS
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You sure about that? Not as secure as GOS or even iOS.
There in lies the problem in everyone’s (non tech savvy privacy conscious folks). They are using words like protect and better to fool you into giving up control over your devices by making you believe in their narrative that they are only solution to this problem that suddenly is becoming large enough for them to care about now. Don’t fall for it.
You want Google to have more control over stuff? What kind of backward thinking and logic are you applying?
So, you don’t see this as a problem? This is literally what we are against and fighting here. For your digital freedoms. Security is just a veil for control and surveillance and taking away freedoms.
You’re wrong. No better way to say it. Your naivete is also leaving me flabbergasted. sigh
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You do you but all of what you said is a bad idea.
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I didn’t say it was more secure than iOS.
I don’t believe Google has users best interest at heart. But if you just say “There is no problem here” to Google, you cut the conversation. Better to accept the problem, and seek solution. My entire point was that even if you want to increase Android security, there are other ways to do it.
But I am not going to argue more. If you read my post again you should see I am not for this, but this would be better than Google proposal.
Also, I would appreciate if you don’t start attacking my character.
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It was implied when you said very secure. It infact isn’t very secure.
It didn’t read like it. Anything but vehement opposition with this makes one reasonably think that one may not be against this.
Nothing about your personality is known and nothing about it have I disparaged. I only expressed my views of your incorrect thinking on this based on your verbiage and comment.
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So you have the absolute truth ? You can disagree on my views but saying my thinking is “incorrect" seems pretentious. Also nuance is important, and not everything is black and white.
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I didn’t get that from it.
Just a reminder 95% of GOS “security“ is because of android. Most of GOS security is mainly tweaks on AOSP android. AOSP is over 2 million lines of code.
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this is a substantial understatement
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What exactly is not black and white here? What is the nuance here we are not understanding? Are you once again implying that you are okay with what Google is doing? Because the lexicon you have chosen thus far in this thread heavily implies so. And if you still claim that you are still against Google given your verbiage, then I’m afraid this is coming down to your inferior communication skills because if you objectively evaluate the English language, you would be heavily contradicting yourself and hence would mean not making sense.
Means nothing if the last 5% is the most important to severely harden. GOS still takes the cake no matter how large of the security they take from AOSP.
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