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A new Android malware from Google (f-droid.org)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1234732/a-new-android-malware-from-google

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[–] 21 points 1 month ago (5 children)

Is this something we can opt out of, like how we can for Play Protect?

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  • [–] 36 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    AFAIK you can only avoid it by using a custom ROM like GrapheneOS

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    My phone doesn't have any custom ROM support yet, so I guess I'm screwed? I love F-Droid, but this missive amounts to just ragebait for people who don't have Pixel devices.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago

    Buy a phone that lineage os support then. Way more options than pixels. Pretty cheap used, you just have to accept one from a few years ago. and make sure that any required bootloader unlock from oem can still be done.

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  • [–] 9 points 1 month ago

    Best way is to not include it in the first place by using another ROM. If that's not an option, you can always remove it via root. It may also be possible to use ADB/Shizuku to get rid of it, but Google could add checks to prevent ADB from removing it. Then again apps installed via ADB aren't subject to verification.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    You can buy a DeGoogled Android from Fairphone or Murena. Or if you have a Pixel, you can install grapheneos.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Or leave Android altogether and get a Linux phone. You'll have more control but it won't be as slick.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    Its not just about being slick. Real functionality will be lost as well as the lost ecosystem of android apps. I think Jolla is trying to bridge this divide by providing some proprietary android layer.

    But yeah, mobile Linux is defintely the goal.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    The implementation about to be done is actually just another smaller step to trying to be completely locked down.

    In the same way you have to go and allow developer options to install apks outside of the play store now, this new thing will take you a couple more clicks to enable it and have a one time 24 hour waiting period before you can install whatever you want.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    At first Google does plan to offer something called "advanced flow" that will let you install what you want. But this doesn't address the chilling effect for developers (some are just getting out of Android rather than registering and paying Google), or the censorship power it hands to Google to make "undesirable" apps harder to obtain and install. And there's no guarantee they won't just withdraw "advanced flow" one day.

    https://developer.android.com//developer-verification/guides/faq#advanced-flow

    The best way to avoid it is by installing an OS that doesn't include the developer verification component.

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