It's too late by now. Keep using #windows, #ios and #android. You'll be fine.

@jti42 @pkal @ghul cuz I think that in the legal battle game #FLOSS vs. #Corporations that #OpenSource would be on the loosing end.

• The main success factor for #Linux is not only it's #licensing but also that it coopted #GAFAMs into being contributors that pay key #developers.

And since they all have stakes with partially diverging interests, this is a useful way to take their resources (personnel hours and money) for something good (instead of them wasting it on #Enshittification, #Cyberfascism and #Militarization)…

• IOW: Would you rather want some developer from #nvidia work on #Linux or #Palantir's #Govware? Cuz shure as hell said developer ain't gonna stop developing for 6 figures per year either way.

Kinda like @landley pointed out that #Android - unlike #iOS - is gonna be "salvageable" (and due to #Google going *full 'asshole mode' that #fork is necessary sooner than anticipated)…

• This is opportunistic af but that is kinda necessary until the world decides to ban capitalism, redistributes wealth and sentence billionaires to lifetime community service without parole.

#sarcasm #politricks

@ghul @jti42 @pkal @landley precisely!

Besides: All those big corpos contributing don't do so out of kindness either, but because none of them want to cough up way more money for a #CCSS alternative like Wind River #VxWorks, #Oracle #Solaris or god forbid #IBM #zArchitecture #Mainframes!

• #Android will need to have a #Community #Fork unless #Google instantly and retroactively revers their "#Developer #Verification" bs even for non-#GooglePlay #Apps!

@Tutanota

Some other simple things

8. Disable google advertising ID in phone settings

9. Install F-Droid where you can discover many FLOSS apps deliberately not published on google play

10. Switch from a fingerprint to a pin (added bonus that police in several countries can legally force your thumb onto your phone but cant legally force you to give up a pin)

11. Switch from google notification servers to something else like microg and/or set notifications to not display message content or at least not display message content when the phone is locked (Im pretty sure all that can be done from notification settings)

12. Switch from googles keyboard app to an open source alternative from f-droid (google has been fined millions before for illegally and secretly tracking geolocation it wouldnt surprise me if they do the same with keystrokes, and also mic and camera)

13. There's a bunch of other phone-home features spread across the settings but mostly under privacy category and accessibility category that you might want to turn off if you have no use for

#Google #Android #Privacy #PSA #FLOSS #FDroid #Advertising #Microg

Your Android knows everything about you 👉

❗ Where you go

❗ When you go to sleep

❗ What you search for 

❗ Your habits

... and more! 🙈

Take back your privacy & change your Android settings!

Find out how: https://tuta.com/blog/android-settings-increase-privacy

#Android #AndroidPrivacy #AndroidSettings

Alt...

Make your Android more private: Disable Gemini Turn off AI mode in Google search Turn off history settings & personalized ads Turn off location tracking Turn off camera & microphone access Don’t use Chrome Turn off Google Password Manager

I'm looking at retiring my Nokia G20 and getting a Motorola G Power 2024, because, well, I can get one for USD120 new and it has 8Gb of memory. Reviews said the 2025 model was no better performance-wise and costs $70 more.

Main use cases are browser, 2FA, Mastodon, Lemmy, and media player, so I don't need much performance, but I do want durability, battery life, and non-awful software experience.

Anyone want to talk me into something else BEFORE I go to the shops tomorrow?
#android

So TalkBack 16.2 had an update that fixes the image button issue. It would call buttons with images just image, like the Back navigation button.

But it *still* has an issue where it replaces the Line up and Line down commands on the Humanware NLS EReader, a Braille display given out to blind people across the US, with D-pad up and D-pad down. The Humanware NLS EReader doesn't even have a D-pad. So there is no way to move up and down by line. This will hit more people in the TalkBack 16.2 rollout, and those with an NLS Ereader will see just how carefully Google cares about Braille. /s

And there's no way to change these Braille commands. So now if I want to skip a bunch of filter radio buttons in Audible and get to the first book, I have to go one item at a time for a good 10 elements until I find the first book. If I use another Braille display, the Braille Edge, which does have line up and line down mapped, those commands now only move by line *within* the currently selected item, not vertically down the screen. So even if those commands did work, it won't help.

Android just isn't ready for purely Braille access. And no I don't want to have to pull out my phone and tap the screen. I don't have to do that on iOS which is supposed to be the less customizable platform; why should I have to on Android?

Adding on to this the other issues like not being able to navigate threaded emails easily, moving from one message to the next in a conversation, the notification shade getting worse with "expanded" being replaced with "fully expanded" which is more screen reader clutter I have to listen to or read before hearing the actual notification, and the name of the app on a collapsed stack of notifications being replaced with just a number, and for me it doesn't matter how many Bluetooth keyboard commands there are if Braille support doesn't improve also. I don't use a Bluetooth keyboard. Maybe if I did I'd be happy. But I use Braille, and they should *also* be focusing on that.

We should be able to enter our PIN, hit modifier keys like Control + n for a new email in the Gmail app, or even open apps with our Braille displays, and the TalkBack Braille keyboard, without having to find and hit a search button, or install a custom launcher that may or may not work well for us. I mean Braille Access on iOS just plain works a good 80% of the time. and while image descriptions on Android are great, the Braille support is frustrating enough that, when I'm on Android, I hate using Braille. And that's really sad. Apple just helps us out a bit. Google leaves us to flounder around until we hit a good spot to where it "meets our needs", or is "*shrugs* good enough". They don't strive for excelence, just "good enough." And as Apple continues to advance, "good enough" ain't good enough anymore.

#technology #tech #apple #google #iOS #Android #accessibility #blind

🎄 Advent of Donations - Day 7 🎄

Today's donation goes to the open source project that I'm probably using the most each day: GrapheneOS. It's the mobile operating system that I've been running on my Pixel 7a for almost a year now. I've never looked back to iOS.

Learn more about advent of donations and GrapheneOS in my latest blog update: https://britter.dev/blog/2025/12/01/advent-of-donations/#day-7---grapheneos

#AdventOfDonations #GrapheneOS #Android

🎄 Advent of Donations - Day 12 🎄

On day 12 I'm sponsoring an Android app I use every day to communicate with my family and friends: Molly for Android. It's a fork of the original Signal app that doesn't rely on Google Play services and can be side-loaded from the F-Droid store. If you're using Signal on Android, you should give it a try!

Read more about Advent of Donations and Molly in my latest blog update: https://britter.dev/blog/2025/12/01/advent-of-donations#day-12---molly

#AdventOfDonations #MollyApp #SignalApp #Android

RE: https://mastodon.social/@MastodonEngineering/115694593824209341

"We released an update that adds loading all replies, and several smaller updates that improve the stability of the app."

Hope to see this in third-party #Mastodon #Android apps too

Another interesting app I've been playing with on Android is Netguard. A simple way to block internet access per application.

It lets you block system apps as well as downloaded ones, either via wifi or data. I've blocked Chrome and the Google app and all the extraneous Google stuff like Play and Books, with no issues so far.

https://netguard.me

#Privacy #Android

Does anyone know how to setup a #devcontainer for #Android development with #dotnet and #JetbrainsRider ?

I can get the container running, and build the project, but can't get the emulator to work to add a virtual device, nor make my physical phone show in the devices panel.

#askFedi #androiddev #devcontainers

Forbes: Google Starts Sharing All Your Text Messages With Your Employer

As reported by Android Authority, “Google is rolling out Android RCS Archival on Pixel (and other Android) phones, allowing employers to intercept and archive RCS chats on work-managed devices. In simpler terms, your employer will now be able to read your RCS chats in Google Messages despite end-to-end encryption.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/12/02/google-starts-sharing-all-your-text-messages-with-your-employer/

#privacy #android

Eine Frage an die #vivaldi bubble: seit gestern wird mir bei einem neuen Tab ("+") nicht das Schnellstartmenü sondern Immer(!) die letzte Suche angezeigt. Das ist etwas nervig, ich finde aber keine Einstellung. Das Löschen der Suche brachte auch keine Verbesserung. Irgendeine Idee wo ich das wieder umstellen kann?

Vivaldi 7.7.3862.64
Android 14; SM-A236B Build/UP1A.231005.007

#browser #android @Vivaldi

@jbz @element Will this screw over Android devices with non-standard firmware, such as Lineage OS and Graphene OS?

#matrix #android #grapheneos #lineageos #foss

Also, installing the f-droid apps store on my phone is literally changing my life. Having access to a curated ecosystem of open source androids apps is heavenly. That glorious feeling when software puts the user first.

#fdroid #android #lifehack

15 years fly by like last week, when you're the package manager for #Android, but you feel the technical debt more and more.

What to do? Rip it out and start over? Improve bit by bit? RiiR?

Find out how #FDroid prepares for the next 15 here: https://f-droid.org/2025/11/24/an-experiment-in-automated-building-from-source-15-years-later.html

We stumbled onto an interesting HackerNews submission about Graphene OS, the secure AOSP mobile OS. The topic is about the request for a GOS duress password feature that, instead of wiping the device (as it does now), unlocks a "decoy" user profile. A comment by a user claiming to be an official GOS community mod caught our attention. We would like to respond to the arguments of that user. [continue...]

#GrapheneOS #shufflecake #veracrypt #truecrypt #android #aosp #security #privacy #forensics

XScreenSaver for Android - Priacy Policy

https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/google.html

This truly falls under "malicious compliance." LOL.

#google #privacy #android

@fuat2mb @AndStatus @android @fediverse

I only tried Friendica once, so I don't recall how well #Tusky worked with it, but have you tried Tusky?

It's the #Android client I keep going back to.

Also, #Fedilab is totally worth trying. It's still my favorite way of accessing #Pixelfed.

In the spirit of Follow Friday, what is your favorite underappreciated open source project? Answers with and without a Fediverse presence are valid, but website and/or source repo links are strongly encouraged.

I like LocalSend, it's a cross platform AirDrop work-alike for Windows, Linux, Mac, PC, Android and iOS.

https://localsend.org/

#followfriday #opensource #windows #linux #mac #ios #android #localsend

Vivaldi 7.7 on Android is here! 💪

✓ Add custom search engines
✓ Import and export bookmarks
✓ Long press to create search engines
✓ Dark mode tuned for comfy reading

Everything new: https://vivaldi.com/blog/vivaldi-on-mobile-7-7/

#Vivaldi #Browser #Android #App #Tech #Software #Technology

Alt...

Android phone showing the Vivaldi Browser version 7.7, displaying the new import/export of bookmarks feature.

This is the script of my national radio report yesterday on the serious new Android "Pixnapping" exploit, and related discussion of sideloading and the risks of agentic #AI. As always, there may have been minor wording variations from this script as I presented this report live on air.

- - -

Yep, I really do wish that I could bring more good news but man when the tech world is sliding into darkness even faster you still gotta call them as they are and things do seem to be going in the wrong direction painfully fast.

So the latest bulletin item of interest is researchers have discovered a new exploit that could be used by malware in a particularly insidious way. They're calling it Pixnapping, and that is a very descriptive name. What this technique does is bypass Google's #Android and deep level hardware protections and reportedly could let malware basically read almost anything on the user's screen, including sensitive personal information, one-time codes from apps like #Google Authenticator and others. There are timing constraints involved and other details but overall it's pretty awful.

And what makes it even worse is that this not only appears to apply to pretty much any relatively modern Android phone, tablet, or other Android device, but there isn't a fix for it yet, and getting one that actually works -- keeping in mind the hardware involvement -- looks like a nontrivial matter. And that assumes you have Android devices that are still getting updates, which LOTS of people with even relatively new devices don't receive.

Apparently Google developed what they hoped was a fix for this, but the original researchers turned around and quickly found a way to bypass the fix. So that's pretty depressing.

Now there is some relatively good news -- such as it is. Currently this exploit apparently hasn't been seen in the wild, only in the hands of the researchers who discovered it, and they reportedly say they won't release the code for the exploit until there is a fix. But of course, once they release the code it could show up pretty much anywhere and people with unpatched devices could be vulnerable.

Is there anything users can do right now or if they have devices that never get the fix? Well yeah, it's pretty much the standard advice, which is to try stay away from dodgy apps and suspicious websites, in particular don't install apps from unreliable sources that might ultimately carry this exploit or other exploits as a payload.

I'll mention in passing that Google has been talking about blocking (except in a restricted set of cases) users from "sideloading" apps, that is, installing apps directly without going through their Play Store or other official sites for example. Apparently they've backed off a little bit on this -- the details aren't clear yet -- because while sideloading can be a vector for malware it also is important for people to be able to use to install perfectly safe and legal apps that perhaps Google or some government somewhere doesn't approve of and so isn't in the Play Store, etc. Apple's iOS, e.g. iPhones has always been very restrictive in this context and that's been a real problem for many completely legit users over the years.

And there's something else important I want to add here. We need to be thinking about this new exploit, and malware, and bugs in general in a new way due to Google and other firms pushing very hard -- Google is really at it for this holiday season -- for people to use their so-called "agentic" AI systems to browse the web for you and make purchase decisions for you and take all sorts of other potentially risky actions on YOUR behalf.

Because it's not difficult to imagine how agentic AI and the like could actually "supercharge" malware and bugs that could manipulate the AI in perhaps a wide range of very problematic ways that could cause users potentially a lot of grief, with no real confidence that the AI firms are willing to take full responsibility for any damage caused.

So in terms of what can go wrong with this tech, it's quite possibly the reality that much worse is -- unfortunately -- still to come.

- - -

L

Tried installing another FOSS app from F-droid.

The previous ~6 installed smoothly and just plain do the work.

Not this one, need to install another app, or is that 3 more apps? and then download a data file.

Back to "Hobbyist level software masquerading as fit for domestic consumption".

#FDroid #Android #FOSS

@JSkier Meshtastic nodes are fun, but I've only used them with the flaky #android app. I have plans to flash them so they can do plain-old #AX25 and #reticulum.

Battery-efficient push notifications on a #degoogled #Android device? Yes please, thanks to @unifiedpush!

Varying degrees of #selfhosting available (e.g. with a simple @nextcloud add-on and #NextPush app) or ntfy

Or you can use the free #Sunup app from the @fdroidorg store to out-of-the-box to make use of @mozilla push infrastructure. Neat! 📸

https://f-droid.org/en/packages/org.unifiedpush.distributor.sunup/

The #syncthingFork for Android repo was deleted!?

#syncthing #android #foss

[The devil is in the details] #Google apparently backing off a bit on
#Android sideloading restrictions

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/google-will-let-android-power-users-bypass-upcoming-sideloading-restrictions/

Alt...

We'll see.