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Android won't kill sideloading after all, but new verification rules will make it harder
(www.techspot.com)
So about those linux phones....
this post was submitted on 21 Jan 2026
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Aaaaaaany day now..... guys..?
(I have a pinephone and no, it is absolutely nowhere near ready)
My guess is that any good Linux phone experience would need greater funding from some company or foundation....(Valve please?)
That's kind of a double edged sword though. Android got a foothold because a small scrappy unknown company in silicon valley brought them into the fold...
It's not if it's done right, android is problematic because it's not a community project, it's just a code dump.
case in point, the linux kernel itself
The Pinephone used way underpowered hardware when it came out.
Regardless, there's been a lot of progress from postmarketOS and others the past years and especially accelerated once again with the original announcement to kill installing apps outside of the PlayStore.
I've also gone ahead and put in a reservation for the new Jolla phone to support another alternative.
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The company says it is now developing an “advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn’t verified.” This installation flow will include safeguards to protect people who are being coerced into installing a dangerous app, or tricked by a scammer, along with “clear warnings to ensure users fully understand the risks involved.”
IIRC we already had to enable a setting and confirm a warning popup. What are they gonna do? Add more popups? A captcha-"puzzle"? Less easy to accept dialogs?
Probably a captcha puzzle, or some other thing that requires you to connect to them and surrender your data for free for their commercial purposes.
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A "concession" to use your phone, and you need to give your address, phone number, and ID. Fuck off.
Meanwhile the Play Store is full of scams. This isn't about safety, it making sure they get a cut from the scam apps.
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They're not killing sideloading, they're just building the gallows and sharpening the axe.
The outrage doesn't stop anything, it just makes them slow their plans and wait out the public outrage.
The company has confirmed that it is developing an "advanced flow" to let experienced users install apps from unverified developers
How about don't change it at all, Google
"side" loading is just normal loading for me. I have one single app from the google app store. (It's cookie clicker 😂)
Even calling it side loading is an attempt to delegitimise the practice. To make it sound like you're doing something dodgy by the side.
It's just installing an app.
Nobody calls installing an app from outside the Microsoft store on their Windows PC "side loading".
Likewise for Macs regarding their app store, or installing an app from outside your distro's repository on Linux.
Do you use Fdroid or simply get apks online, like we all used to before these walled gardens?
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I'm not worried about sideloading because I use GrapheneOS, but I'm worried that development for various apps might stop...
They must really hate ReVanced.
Oh, I bet. They probably hate GrayJay more though.
GrapheneOS is luckily out of their jurisdiction :)
Can anyone verify if this is the "new" update to the process? The article takes 75% of the way to get to this paragraph and isn't even clear if this is Google's proposed concession or an existing separate process:
To accommodate educational and noncommercial development, Google will introduce a new limited developer account type aimed at students and hobbyists. These accounts will not undergo full identity verification but will instead allow app installations on a restricted number of registered devices.
If that is the workaround, it sounds like it's still awful since it requires a Google developer account and really only would work for limited development deployment.
Billionaires doing what a billionaire does: feign a reason to kneecap a service, force complaints about its ineffectiveness, then use that as an excuse to dismantle it entirely. I am so tired of this.
Boiling the frog
Great, more hoops to jump thr... I mean... an "advanced flow", for gaining the privilege of installing apps of your choosing
Cool story, goog.
I'm just going to keep waiting for a linux/foss phone so that its features and capabilities are actually predictable year to year.
But maybe I'm just too picky about what features and capabilities I want. I admit I've gotten used to some pretty outlandish stuff like... lemme check my notes here... "the device does the things I tell it to do." Real galaxy-brain shit!
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This is from November, and is about the 'student accounts' thing which doesn't at all help the central issue of being forced to make an account to distribute your app
Fuck all of this tech bros enshittification surveillance bullshit. I'm going to Radio Shack and buy a Heath Kit! /s
If Google continues to round the corners of their Google Play triangle icon, it’ll become a circle in a few years
It's all about herding people by dictating the path of least resistance.
So this sucks obviously. Will this also affects apps from alternate appstores like F-Droid or only APK's? I mean F-Droid already signs the apps, right? I'm a little confused.