we need linux phones ASAP

Graphene users REPRESENT

I'm starting to think these for-profit companies only care about making money.

Newpipe, now signed by Norman Reedus, verification picture and everything!

Let's hope that the rest of the world, specifically Europe smash this ridiculous proposal apart for what it is. Europe has already sorted out USB-C etc. Its not perfect and they don't get everything right, but certainly big enough to make stuff right.

"Google stands for free and open internet"

https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/public-policy/keep-internet-free-and-open/

Aged like milk.

What pisses me off it that they say they do this for security. It changes absolutely anything.

They really think that malware developers will say "oh no! I need to submit a picture of an id card to sign my malware! It's literally impossible to submit a jpg of a stolen id card, I'm ruined and out of a job!"

What does it change? Waste 20 minutes of some malware developer while they register under a stolen id? They already have a system that scans for known malware and automatically remove it.

Contact your representative. And here's F-droid's article about it (including how to find your representative at the end of the article): https://f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html

I am perfectly ok with android apps being required to be signed by not just a certificate (they always were just it could be self signed and just needed to match to upgrade without removing data) but a list of trusted entities.

As long as:

• I can install my own key on my phone (I'd I am trusted)
• major distributors like fdroid and have a key installed without friction (like web CAs)
• Google let's me mark their key as untrusted (I probably won't but I should be able to refuse things they trust (at install time, not disabling preloaded apps like settings)

Without this it feels too much extending the monopoly despite being forced to allow 3rd party stores.

Technically illegal where I live.

In Brazil you can't sell a device with a given feature and then remove said feature in a software update. Even Apple, known for never allowing downgrades, was forced to downgrade and pay a fine to a customer after his iPad 3 updated to iOS 7 and lost an iOS 6 feature.

In other words... every single Android device sold until today in Brazil allows sideloading. Even if a single customer uses a sideloaded app, removing the ability to sideload freely would be illegal, and because the original feature didn't require a developer signature it can't be enforced now.

The issue is, as always, if this went to court somebody would have to manage to explain to a tech illiterate judge what a "developer signature" is, how this relates to "sideloading" and so on.

Have we ever lived in a more stallmanwasright.jpg time?

Isn't this illegal in Europe? Was that the whole point of forcing apple to allow alternative app stores?

It seems to me that part of the problem is overreliance on phones as computing devices. A lot of things, like banking, are best done on an actual computer. We have become too dependent on phones.

I will literally go without a smartphone if Google does this, this is insane I would have bought an iphone if I wanted a junk device I don't actually own.

Google’s developer verification will only run on mainstream Android with play services. It’s not supposed won’t be running in standard AOSP so the easiest solution would be to switch to a custom ROM like GrapheneOS.

I am really glad to see these articles popping up now. Since the news broke a week back or so it was suspiciously quiet about this, despite lots of negative comments here.

Open source community keeps trusting Google and they keep using the Embrace, Extend, Extinguish https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish

For those in Europe, write your representatives.

Fro me f-droid's post: https://f-droid.org/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html

What do we propose?

Regulatory and competition authorities should look carefully at Google’s proposed activities, and ensure that policies designed to improve security are not abused to consolidate monopoly control. We urge regulators to safeguard the ability of alternative app stores and open-source projects to operate freely, and to protect developers who cannot or will not comply with exclusionary registration schemes and demands for personal information.

If you are a developer or user who values digital freedom, you can help. Write to your Member of Parliament, Congressperson or other representative, sign petitions in defense of sideloading, and contact the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) team to express why preserving open distribution matters. By making your voice heard, you help defend not only F-Droid, but the principle that software should remain a commons, accessible and free from unnecessary corporate gatekeeping.

https://f-droid.org/2025/09/04/twif.html [^antifeatures]: F-Droid Anti-Features overview: https://f-droid.org/docs/Anti-Features/ [^howmanyusers]: How many F-Droid users are there, exactly? We don’t know, because we don’t track users or have any registration. “No user accounts, by design”: https://f-droid.org/2022/02/28/no-user-accounts-by-design.html [^sideloading]: ‘“Sideload” is a weird euphemism that the mobile duopoly came up with; it means “installing software without our permission,” which we used to just call “installing software” (because you don’t need a manufacturer’s permission to install software on your computer).’ — Pluralistic: Darth Android: https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/01/fulu/ [^playprotect]: “Google Play Protect checks your apps and devices for harmful behavior”: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/2812853

There's never been a more urgent time to switch to Linux on pretty much every device.

Linux mobile

"Year of the Linux Phone" has a nice ring to it.