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.
this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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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.
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.
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its the reason why i turned off auto software updates on my phone
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.
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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]
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Fuck, I don't have the money to replace my phone. I probably wont by September either. Too many expenses.
So basically they wanna be Apple.
Maybe it's time to bring back MeeGo
Time to popularize Linux phones. I read that the security model is lacking, but especially given that Android is Linux too, it shouldn’t be too difficult to catch up. The EU is also interested in tech independence, so that could be one of the sources of funding. And there are a few viable early projects, like Ubuntu Touch and Sailfish.
How about phone as terminal for home pc.
There need to be enforced of competition law here. Companies aren't going to voluntarily support a platform with few users. Users aren't going to move to a platform without critical apps.
We live in a dystopia were you have to have the banks app to do online banking even on your desktop. You can't charge your car without an app. You can't navigate your car without a map app that has traffic information. Etc etc. I want FOSS alternatives to all these, but there isn't and Google could take even having a FOSS platform at all.
This something we need regulators to fix. It is a politically problem, not a technical one.
America screwing up trust should wake up Europe to dealing with American tech monopolies. Now it's not something just nerds and economists complain about, it is a geopolitical problem.
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Android is not Linux (the OS), it just uses the Linux kernel. That means almost nothing is transferable from one OS to the other unfortunately.
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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.
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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.