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Tl;dr: Google being anticompetitive by hampering third-party cloud sync via permissions (while themselves are not affected).
It seems that Google just gave them back the permission, 2 days after they publicly complained about it and after 6 months of ignoring it. What scumbags.
Great, thanks, otherwise would not have clicked:
Hacker News commenters were really skeptical the new call/feature was insufficient. Anyone know whether these APIs would’ve been OK after all?
Storage Access Framework (SAF) or MediaStore API
The more tech-savvy of you are certainly able to use the alternative app store, such as F-Droid. But for our user base of roughly one million users on the app store, this will hardly be an option.
They have the merit to link to F-droid, but damn they are not selling it well...
I don't even know if they get any remuneration from Google anyway?
By the way fuck Google
When I switched to iOS, the biggest pain point for me was Apples stranglehold on background processes meant file syncing didn’t work very well. Now it looks like Android has completely killed it?
I had no idea this was going on. Is it because I'm running Lineage?
I use FreeFileSync and it syncs whatever files I point at it, not just videos and music. I installed it from the Play store.
Yeah this is Google cockblocking
Unhappy with the recently uploaded file feature load function occasion app…? Would you like… BETTER recently uploaded file feature load function occasion app…?!
As the article mentions, this isn't a security "feature," it's anti-competetive. The worst part is that Nextcloud isn't even really in competition with Google. Setting up a Nextcloud server isn't hard, but it's not a trivial task. Sharing it outside your local network also requires a bit of skill, especially if done securely. That is to say, Nextcloud users probably tend to be more tech-savvy.
The people using Nextcloud aren't going to suddenly decide to switch over to Google Drive. I'll get it from FDroid before I downgrade to Google Drive. If that wasn't an option, I'd set up an FTP server or even WebDAV.
The worst part is that Nextcloud isn’t even really in competition with Google. Setting up a Nextcloud server isn’t hard, but it’s not a trivial task. Sharing it outside your local network also requires a bit of skill, especially if done securely. That is to say, Nextcloud users probably tend to be more tech-savvy.
That's only true for those who self-host this. There are lots of companies offering Nextcloud hosting. That's probably why Google doesn't like Nextcloud. I'm not saying Google is right. Actually what Google is doing here is quite pathetic.
Actually what Google is doing here is quite pathetic.
So business as usual then?
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Thankfully the full feature will still work if you get the app from F-Droid
Hopefully this will motivate more people use F-Droid
I noticed that in their info text shown to their users, they don't mention F-Droid. I wonder if google doesn't allow them to mention other stores as part of their "security" policies.
Interesting, Yes I think users should be made aware that if they get the app from F-Droid it will work as intended.
This must be why I never noticed the issue because I have always gotten my apps from fdroid
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Unfettered capitalism is just fucking exhausting. What a bunch of assholes. I really need to degoogle my life. Idk how to strip android off my phone and replace it with whatever, but I guess I'm about to find out.
Edit: ty all. I'm gonna check out f droid and go from there!
The problem in this case is the Google Play Store, not Android.
Google is blocking Nextcloud from updating their app on the Play Store unless they remove this vital permission. But nothing is stopping Nextcloud from making their app available on third party app stores with the approriate permissions.
If you download the app from F-Droid instead, it should work correctly.
That is not to say that what Google is doing isn't monopolistic. I'm just pointing out that you can bypass this restriction by not using their app store.
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I've been wanting a Linux-based degoogled phone for a while now, and though it sorta exists if you happen to have the right phone model, it definitely isn't ready for the everyday consumer. But if it's something you really want to do, there are a few options out there. I've done the best I can from not using the google ecosystem at all beyond android, which is my last big hurtle.
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So, all the family phones that are using this feature for handset backups. They're just gonna stop backing up?
Thanks, Google. Thanks for protecting me from free software that scans files on my own phone and transmits it across my own network to my own server. Such a privacy nightmare. /s
Guessing they want you to use Google One, eh.
I never use a Play Store version of anything I can find on F-droid or other repos I trust. Then I try it using Aurora Store. Only as a last-resort I try Google. Play Store is only for things I cannot obtian or replace another way.
Learned the hard way that android auto compatibility (on GrapheneOS) works only with the playstore Version of an app because andoid auto checks the install source. Thats the same gatekeeping at play...
Thanks I hate it.
AA is also EXTREMELY vpn-unfriendly. It fails to work period of I've got a wireguard VPN without app restrictions, even if there are only a handful of routes using the tunnel. Then, if I restrict the VPN to just certain apps, it'll still give me the big ol' middle finger running those apps via AA, which means I can't stream from my home media host over VPN while using AA because Papa Google apps no.
Really? I'm set up for always on wireguard when not on my home network. And android auto works fine. And yeah, I'm doing full tunnel.
What apps are you using? It refuses to connect to my phone period of on globally, and won't work with stuff like FinAmp if used app-specific
It seems likely you are using it tethered, vs wireless.
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F-droid bitches
I check for all apps on f-droid first, play store second.
does that issue not exist in the f-droid version? if so, i’m glad there’s a workaround when i try graphene😅
The issue does not exist with the version installed from F-Droid. I think the Play Store version is a different build with the feature disabled as a condition of hosting it on the Play Sore.
The Android app itself still works with the permission, and we released new versions on the external F-Droid store. So the limit is a “purely” Google Play Store-related problem.
This is my question. I didn't read into it much, but isn't the problem a permissions level thing in android, or is this specific to the play store?
I don't have an Android phone currently but I thought I'd check on iOS and, yep, Google Drive has access to all files. Well that's a bit hypocritical.
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this post was submitted on 14 May 2025
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