#Google trips over its own words, when they sell you #Android it's the best computing device in the world that does everything. After you bought it Google doesn't let you do anything *you* want to.

#Sideload is a made-up term. Putting software on your computer is simply called “installing”, regardless of whether that computer is in your pocket or on your desk.

What Do You Talk About When You Talk About Sideloading?

What does Google?

Here's #FDroid: https://f-droid.org/2025/10/28/sideloading.html

This is odd: the stock AOSP Android keyboard doesn't have 'ŵ' on it. That's quite useful for Cymraeg. I used Openboard for years, but that seems to have disappeared. I'm using AnySoftKeyboard but I need to tinker with it more. #cymraeg #android #aosp

With each iteration of #Android, we're forced to jump through more insane hoops to access our own data in the internal Android/data hierarchy. And now #Google is going to make anonymous sideloading almost impossible, in another of their continuing nods to fascism (including $20 million toward the destruction of the East Wing of the White House and the construction of the Epstein Memorial Balling Room).

NewPipe is turning 10 :O https://lobste.rs/s/bsri9a #android #historical #privacy #reversing
https://newpipe.net/blog/pinned/announcement/newpipe-turns-10/

Announcing the Swift SDK for Android via @dayanruben https://lobste.rs/s/c3i9bs #android #swift
https://www.swift.org/blog/nightly-swift-sdk-for-android/

My 2 month beef with my own Linux environment. (Developer cautionary tale) https://lobste.rs/s/d3pdfi #android #debugging #linux #unix
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1odq7ti/fixing_my_broken_system_while_breaking_my_fixed/

Is “Don’t Keep Activities” Legit? https://lobste.rs/s/wibpol #android
https://medium.com/@paulklauser/is-dont-keep-activities-legit-a3d01f542f93

@adisonverlice I don't think #Orbot is going away.

• In fact it does support leveraging the #VPN-#API of #Android & #iOS…

electric sheep graze
eating mushrooms smoking grass
lifts the #android veil

#dailyhaikuprompt Mushrooms Grass
#haikufeels #vss365 #haiku
#poetrycommunity

My reservations and criticism re: #Signal are not just valid, but the reality is even worse than I thought:

• The fact that @signalapp requires not only their shitty #Android #App, and a #PhoneNumber but literally won't allow people to use their shitty #Desktop-App unless they have an Android device with a camera pointed at it makes it utterly unuseable for certain users who don't have a fucking #camera in their Android…

Seriously, do they expect folks to deal with that shit?

• It's already worse in terms of #UX than #telegram and #discord and that too makes #XMPP+#OMEMO clients like @monocles / #monoclesChat & @gajim / #gajim easier and faster to onboard #TechIlliterates onto.

• Whichever asshole decided that a replacement for #SMS should mandate #PII like a #PhoneNumber & not be natively cross-platform should be banned from doing any #tech in their life. Trying to circumvent this shit and helping folks with it makes me so fucking angry that I'm now explicitly refusing to support it!

FIX THAT SHIT, @Mer__edith, and if it means you need to kick some devs in their crouch then consider this a necessary "investment"…

#sarcasm #TechSupport #TapesFromTechSupport #Enshittifucation #SignalSucks #TelegramSucks #Messengers

Anyone who expects me to install yet another app for their garbage can kindly fuck off!

• Fix your shit and give me a compelling reason to even consider making an account in the first place.

I won't but seeing folks who actually take privacy serious and thus have their #cameras removed from their #Android device struggle makes me fucking angry.

• By comparison: @monocles / #monoclesChat has actually good #support and they don't ask for #PII like a #PhoneNumber and allow for #SelfCustody of all the keys.

Personally, I wished @delta / #deltaChat had a plugin for like @thunderbird / #Thunderbird so that it can be used as #Chat in it and sort the inbox. Would make it the superior solution for #corporations that already have #eMail #Archival setup for legal compliance…

in particular i'd like to see how they will cope with the lack of "apps" for their system.

#smartphone #internet #android #google #SailfishOs #jolla

nixCraft 🐧 wrote the following post Wed, 15 Oct 2025 14:05:03 +0200

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) today announced "Librephone," a new project aimed at achieving complete mobile phone freedom for users from Google and Apple. The initiative will work to reverse engineer obstacles until its goal of a fully free mobile phone environment is realized. Can they be successful where industry leaders like Ubuntu failed previously?

https://www.fsf.org/news/librephone-project

#linux #opensource

GrapheneOS could break Pixel exclusivity in 2026 with major OEM deal https://lobste.rs/s/xiewju #android #privacy
https://piunikaweb.com/2025/10/13/grapheneos-ending-pixel-exclusivity-new-oem/

FSF announces Librephone project https://lobste.rs/s/g0oxmh #android #mobile
https://www.fsf.org/news/librephone-project

LineageOS 23 released https://lobste.rs/s/iktkkz #android
https://lineageos.org/Changelog-30/

@TimmyMac though #feeder is pretty good on #android https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.nononsenseapps.feeder/

DebDroid - Debian on Android (v1.1) https://lobste.rs/s/uljytl #android #linux #release #unix
https://github.com/NICUP14/DebDroid

@Sascha #TLDW: #Replicant ist die #FSF-endroste #Android-Rom die nur #2G & #3G-Geräte kann, also weder #LTE noch #5G.

• Viel Spaß mit #EDGE oder gar #CSD bei 9600bit/s (!!!)…

@GrapheneOS unterstützen extrem wenige Geräte weil extrem auf Sicherheit geprügelt, #eOS unterstützen ein paar mehr und @LineageOS ist die einzige halbwegs maintained #Aftermarket-#ROM die mehr als nen dutzend (z.T. obskure Geräte) unterstützt.

🔐 Tor Browser 14.5.8 released — now available for all platforms

This update includes key security patches from Firefox, updated Tor (0.4.8.19), and OpenSSL (3.5.4). 🔧
Fixes include Safest mode search issues, HTTPS exception bugs, and Snowflake bridge updates. 🛠️

YEC 2025 UI changes also implemented across desktop and Android. 📱💻

🔗 https://blog.torproject.org/new-release-tor-browser-1458/

#Tor #Privacy #CyberSecurity #Firefox #OpenSource #TorBrowser #Linux #Android #iOS #TechNews #Encryption #SecurityUpdate #OpenSSL #Snowflake

So here's a tech nightmare nobody's talking about:

Google's rolling out their new developer verification rules for Android starting in September 2026. Every app then needs to be registered with Google, even if you're sideloading or using alternative app stores like Samsung's Galaxy Store. 📱

Sounds reasonable until you realise: Huawei can't comply because they're literally banned from doing business with Google under US sanctions.

So what happens to the millions of people using Huawei watches and fitness bands with their Samsung or other Android phones? Currently Huawei Health is installed via the Galaxy Store for people using these devices on Samsung phones. But this means the Huawei Health app gets blocked. Your fitness tracker stops working. All your data, all your workouts, all that expensive hardware, gone.

Probably also not just Huawei either. Any Chinese manufacturer under US sanctions could face the same problem. Google's created a collision between US geopolitical trade policy and their verification system that's going to break legitimate use cases for millions of users.

And Samsung? Total silence. They can't push back without risking their relationship with Google, so they're just staying quiet and hoping someone else fixes it. (EU maybe? 🤔🇪🇺)

Google keeps saying Android is "open" but they're asserting control over every single app installation on certified devices. The Galaxy Store doesn't give you any protection here either, Google's verification requirement applies there too.

We're about to find out what happens when geopolitics meets app distribution policies, and regular users are going to be the ones who suffer.

#Android #Google #Huawei #TechPolicy

PSA, the new Android 16 update will surreptitiously reenable fingerprint device unlock even if you had intentionally disabled it before. Depending on where you live and your threat model, this might not be safe! Americans have little protection against law enforcement compelling biometrics unlock. To make matters worse, the fingerprint unlock settings are found in a different part of the security settings UI than the rest of the device unlock settings. If you update to Android 16, make sure your device unlock settings are what you intended.

#android #android16

Alt...

Device unlock settings under Android 16, configured for PIN unlock. Fingerprint device unlock does not appear as an option here.

Alt...

Fingerprint unlock settings are housed in a completely different part of the Android 16 settings UI from the rest of the device unlock settings. Note that "unlock your phone" somehow became reenabled after upgrading to Android 16 despite being previously disabled.

@micr0 I am down to the point that I'd want to ask @fairphone whether they'll unpatch whatever the fuck signature / debeloper cert requirements #Google will put into #Android in their ROMs if not offer fully #degoogled devices from the get-go!

When I bought a #Pixel phone, I've spent three times as much as I usually spend. I figured out it's justified, since I'm finally going to have a phone with good software support (#GrapheneOS).

Over the last 6 months, #Google:

1. locked down the device tree,
2. increased embargo to security updates to 3 months,
3. broke battery charge limiter.

Won't recommend this to anyone.

#Android

Broken links aside (fix incoming), #FDroid raises the case against the #Google developer forced registration once again.

We'll skip the small talk, go read, and better yet, spread this wide and far: https://f-droid.org/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html so people are made aware, actions can be taken and #Android is kept truly open!

F-Droid and Google's Developer Registration Decree https://lobste.rs/s/x1sdu5 #android
https://f-droid.org/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html

Offline translator for Android https://lobste.rs/s/m9rmop #android #privacy
https://github.com/DavidVentura/firefox-translator

THIS is #extortion and #blackmail by #Google and I'd like to ask if anyone else wants to file protest at @BNetzA & @EUCommission if not file charges against #Google for said felonious blackmail...

• #NotLegalAdvice but if Google wants to #ban #3rdPartyAppStores by criminalizing #IndieDevelopers outside of #GooglePlay and call it "#Sideloading" I feel obligated to consider said charges because what Google does is literally commit #ComputerSabotage against my own devices...

Seriously, I hope @fdroidorg / #Fdroid and other #3rdParty #AppStores actively consider this #AntiCompetitive action by Google as an act of #sabotage.

• NOONE can claim Google are "the good guys" when they are subject to #CloudAct and enforce #cyberfacist bs like that.

It's time for #Android to be #Forked - maybe call it "#RobotMobile" or something...

Heads-up to @Google and anyone who uses an #Android device. Further testing is needed, but the latest Android 16 update seems to have seriously compromised location services. The #GPS itself seems to be an issue, frequently not finding satellites and heavily relying on (incorrect) positioning services.

This will be a big problem if people request #SAR with the new Satellite SOS features and they show up in the wrong place.

I will keep testing to try to figure out what's happening here.

Exploring GrapheneOS secure allocator: Hardened Malloc https://lobste.rs/s/popcyd #android #security
https://www.synacktiv.com/en/publications/exploring-grapheneos-secure-allocator-hardened-malloc

@Billie @maddy at which point it seems prudent to "#ForkOff" and do as @landley suggested once in the past and #salvage whatever one can from #Android and do an #OpenSource #fork - similar to how @libreoffice got started when #Oracle decided to shaft the #OpenOffice community...

aside from gitnex, what are your favourite apps to use for forgejo/codeberg on android?

bonus points if it works for other forges, but tbh the only other one i care about is sourcehut (i love you @ddevault)

@forgejo @Codeberg
#git #forgejo #codeberg #android #boost