Considering Google and Apple both donate to Trump, we really need an alternative: Linux mobile OS. A linux OS that can be installed on a range of phones, from cheap to more expensiove. Just buy the phone and install the OS, as you do on PCs.
Good linux mobile OSs already exist, but phones' hardware is still proprietary and messed up, so it is very difficult to provide a good hardware support for those mobile OSs
Yes, the bottleneck isn't software, it's hardware. We need phones with unlocked bootloaders
Can one just remove GSF and bypass this? Or is it something going to be built into Android going forward? Genuinely curious.
This is something the EU should really regulate, unfortunately they are busy regulating oat ~~milk~~ drink and veggie~~burgers~~.
The EU hasn't even been able to stop Apple from doing this shit.
The EU is actively preventing their own people from leaving the Google ecosystem with the Play Integrity API in their own apps.
I contacted the EU DMA team a while back. Part of the response:
We have taken note of your concerns and, while we cannot comment on ongoing dialogue with gatekeepers, these considerations will form part of our assessment of the justifications for the verification process provided by Google.
So at least some part of the bureaucracy are aware of it.
The thing I don't understand about any of this, is why can't you comment on ongoing dialogues with the gatekeepers?
I understand the basic tenants of keeping the discussion closed until official statements can be prepared, to prevent the press and the public from going off half cocked. That makes sense for private matters.
This is not private. I can't understand what is the point of negotiating law for people if they can't even see the ongoing process?
That’s the copy pasta I got, too!
Same
I'm confused why so many open source developers think that the EU is going to be the foster parents of FOSS communities
There's a real effort in some EU countries to fund FOSS projects to get out from under US dominated tech.
It's because they did a thing with USB once
I honestly didn't realize how the fdroid deployment worked, and now I'm gonna be way less skeptical of apps I see there.
I do not go to Google play until apps on f-droid prove inadequate for my usage.
Will the F-Droid website shutdown as a whole if the project ends?
I've gone back to flip phone. Yes, an XP3 Plus running android; but with no app store and no apps that use Internet. Data, and WIFI is off forever. It just comes with basic apps out of the box. Nothing Google is on it. It's just for phone calls.
And I've gone back to a standard MP3 player. All this because the smartphone ecosystem is utterly chaotic and fragile. Anything smart is nothing but a headache to me now. Smartphones are anything but convenient to me today (they are more like dopamine slot machines with the trash social media apps that come pre-installed on them to keep people scrolling).
But I have an old Samsung tablet running LineageOS that I just use for reading. Never put it online. And I see no reason to update any apps. Maybe in the future, I might consider installing other apps (highly unlikely). But I'm fine with how it is. And since Syncthing is no longer an option on Android, I'll just use Rsync to sync my books directly to the micro SD card I use with it.
I don't use anything Google anymore (yes, not even YouTube). And I really don't want to install Google's shitty app store and make a new Google account (after getting rid of all my Google accounts). This is why I'm wondering what the plan is for the F-Droid project.
Is it time to just dump anything Android too? Unless it's a scaled down version of Android that comes with the device like my flip phone?
I'm using Syncthing-Fork on Android and Syncthing on Linux. Works very well.
Syncthing is no longer an option on Android?
I'm using syncthing-fork.
That's what I heard. They discontinued it. But it's been forked.
I just think it's best to drop anything Android now; and truthfully, just stop bothering with smartphones at this point. Or don't use Android for much other than in a locked down phone that comes out of the factory with no Google BS; like the XP3 Plus flip phone I bought for a fraction of the price that a trash smartphone would be.
To be frank, I don't use Android for much of anything now. I've completely given up the smartphone. I don't miss it. And honestly, it's a relief.
When will F-Droid stop working on stock android?
There's nothing set in stone yet. Google just committed to doing it is all that's happened so far. But the response against it has been pretty heavy and we'll see how it goes. We have to speak up right now and organize our communities like this post is doing.
LOL. There's dozens of us here.
Try Graphene today. IT WORKS
Samsung s22 and s25, checking in. Graphene won't be viable for the vast, overwhelming majority of Android users today or in the coming seasons.
I hope people figure out some kind of virtualization/docker-containerization solution to the coming Goo-lag.
Samsung s22 and s25
I'm still holding some hope that maybe Samsung's flavor of the OS won't have the restriction of requiring Google keys. Specially considering that Samsung has its own "Galaxy Store" with app submissions controlled by them, not Google.
Though it's possible they might simply extend the signatures accepted to include also the ones signed by them ^^U ..still it would give them a competitive edge to remove the restriction so they might be incentivized to do it.
Except for stuff you really need like online banking, tap payments and digital ids
All my banking apps and credit card apps have worked flawlessly on Graphene OS. You're correct that tap to pay doesn't work, which is a bummer. But that is just Google spyware as well, honestly.
I heard about this a while ago, but I remember the GrapheneOS team talking about suing Google if they didn't allow them to pass play integrity checks like they should be able to, but Google just doesn't let them. That's the only reason tap to pay doesn't work and some baking apps have issues, its Google purposefully limiting graphene OS so they have a competitive edge somewhere.
No they work. It's not like LineageOS. Both Bank apps I now need, work on GrapheneOS but did not on LineageOS. It is my compromise without being compromised.
Plenty of bank apps work just fine. None of the ones I've tried had problems, except Santander, which works perfectly after changing a setting.
Not here in Norway. You need BankID which is an app that well, requires a lot of stuff.
Depends on your location. There is a timeline table here:
I see September 2026 as a tough date.
I am not on Android now, but…
…Can folks not just dual-boot?
Like, keep a stock partition to make Play Store apps happy, and a “main” GraphemeOS boot option or whatever.
To my knowledge no. Theres also the issue of hardware. For example, I stupidly gave samsung another chance about 3 or so years ago, and you basically cannot put another OS on their devices without bricking them.
Privacy has become a very important issue in modern society, with companies and governments constantly abusing their power, more and more people are waking up to the importance of digital privacy.
In this community everyone is welcome to post links and discuss topics related to privacy.
much thanks to @gary_host_laptop for the logo design :)