Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the actual fuck, Google‽

I swear to Hephaestus, at this point I'm considering switching to UBPorts or Sailfish OS or something...

And, just like that, no more modded apps, no more custom stores, everything is tightly under control unless you install a custom ROM (and then it's no more banking apps,etc.). And it's all for our own good, after all, big brother Google knows what's best for us!

While I won't tell people exactly what to search, I can guarantee that I can find malware first try on Google Play. Google Play Integrity is just as dodgy.

My personal favorite is how they are doing it to prevent data theft and malware. All they have ever done is trick people out of data. All of their shitty apps that I can not remove from my Samsung phone ARE the malware I do not want. Fuck Google and every person that works there!

shit like this really should be illegal

Custom ROM usage is gonna explode

My blood glucose monitor is not on the play store. So one dy next year I'll wake up and no longer be able to get that data...?

setting up walled garden using security excuse. What's the next excuse?

To be clear, developers will have the same freedom to distribute their apps directly to users through sideloading or to use any app store they prefer.

They’re fucking with us

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-android-security.html

The fuck..

The terrible risk that you install apps which don't use google-tagmanager, googleanalytics and don't send logging and user data to Alphabet.

Wish we lived in a world where open source was funded even at a single percentage of what this oligopoly pulls in each year. We'd have a viable alternative to the duopoly by now.

Wow thanks for posting this. I read the whole thing but what I'm not getting is the fact that their started concern is apks "side loaded". This is aimed directly at the foss community as normal people already won't I stall anything outside of the play store. No non tech enthusiasts go straight to git hub ...

ELI5 if this will affect the use of F-Droid?

Apps that use dark patterns (aka almost everything in the play store) are more harmful than apps commonly flagged as malware.

It seems Google has been tightening control over Android in recent years and this looks like the next major step. Most people probably won’t care and the only realistic option for users who value software freedom and privacy is to wait until Linux or another free and open-source OS becomes a viable alternative. Overall a disappointing turn of events for the mobile computing space

Think of it like an ID check at the airport, which confirms a traveler's identity but is separate from the security screening of their bags

😐

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-android-security.html

Luigi #2 where are you?

For fucks sake, let's find out what Fairphone needs in the US to be used with other services and create a gofundme for them to get it. Goddamn I am beyond sick of Google's shit right now. It is constantly a nightmare to get around their bloatware and deal with the rest of the surveillance nightmare on a daily basis. Fairphone works on T Mobile but they suck!

Time to fund /e/OS GraoheneOS etc but also bridges like Waydroid until we can use e.g. PmOS and avoid Android altogether.

Fuck off. This is my last android phone

WHAT. THE. SHIT. ಠ_ಠ

Fuck you Google no one is gonna buy your bull shit anymore. Fork android!!!

So I guess my next phone will be a Chinese phone. Even if it spies on me, I'll have the freedom to install whatever I want from anywhere.

The Chinese have a golden window of opportunity. Let's hope they don't mess this up.

Yawn. Guess more people will just have to not install gapps..