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F-Droid gets its biggest update in a decade with new UI and smoother app installs (arstechnica.com)
submitted 3 days ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 218 points 3 days ago (32 children)

https://keepandroidopen.org/

Google says "power users" can "still install" unverified apps. Here's what that actually looks like:

Delve into System Settings, find About Phone

Tap the build number seven times to enable Developer Mode

Dismiss scare screens about coercion

Enter your PIN

Restart the device

Wait 24 hours

Come back, dismiss more scare screens

Pick "allow temporarily" (7 days) or "allow indefinitely"

Confirm, again, that you understand "the risks"

Nine steps. A mandatory 24-hour cooling-off period. For installing software on a device you own.

Worse: this flow runs entirely through Google Play Services, not the Android OS. Google can change it, tighten it, or kill it at any time, with no OS update required and no consent needed.

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  • [–] 22 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Worse - that 24 hour timer? You only have a short window of time once it finishes to continue, otherwise you have to wait another 24 hours.

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  • [–] 45 points 3 days ago (4 children)

    It won't be a problem on a de-googled phone. Get it running LineageOS or GrapheneOS. Then install F-Droid (and probably Aurora store too). Some Google junk won't work, but you'll soon be more limited by having Google services on your phone than not having it.

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  • [–] 9 points 2 days ago

    Hardly the point though. For us this is a bother at most, but we can cope because we're already doing our own thing and know what we want. Imagine trying to get your non tech-savvy friends to "sideload" (install) an app from outside the Play Store. Right now it's not a big deal, so if they're interested in the app, they'll likely install it. But this amount of friction and scary warnings is way more likely to stop them.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 days ago (6 children)

    The worst part is for non tech savvy people.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 days ago (5 children)

    Non-tech savvy people don't even care, don't even think about this, and don't know anything about it.

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  • [–] 5 points 2 days ago* (3 children)

    No, some of they do care, but just have problems learning tech stuff or were excluded from digital education at the critical age, or have in general learning difficulties.

    My mom wants to still be able to install and uninstall anything she wants on her phone, but she's elder (and is neurodivergent, too, as me) and has difficulties understanding and learning about tech stuff.

    You're making a hasty generalization based on just a composition fallacy (some non tech savvy people don't care at all, yes, but those are not all of the non tech savvy people).

    You shouldn't be conflating both things as if it were the same, and even if they were the same (which they're NOT), that wouldn't make your comment less bad. They're still victims of the Big Tech propaganda and marketing and of their massive social, cultural and political influence campaigns.

    Please, don't be such a dickhead.

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  • [–] -2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

    Show me one non-tech savvy person that is installing anything that isn't in the Android Play Store already. And that person has to have come up with this on their own and it wasn't somebody like you who maybe tech savvy showing them how to do this I've been in IT for 21 years and I can guarantee no one is doing that.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 day ago

    A non tech-savvy person may not be aware of the extent of digital surveillance and the rights they give up on their data unless someone who is aware tells them about it.

    Even after becoming aware - the inconvenience of switching to something else forces them to stay in that ecosystem unless someone helps them out of it. Many of them care enough to want to stop or limit their exposure to big tech, but without someone tech savvy to help they won't know where to start.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 day ago

    And that person has to have come up with this on their own

    Why is this a requirement?

    Plenty of people who would use privacy-respecting, free software that a tech-savvy friend likes and uses will now have to go through this process and probably decide it isn't worth it.

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  • [–] 14 points 2 days ago* (2 children)

    i hadnt thought about it before but i just had the realization that im not even gonna be able to have 3rd party apps AND my banking app in the same phone (cuz it doesnt like developer options being enabled). uhm shit

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  • [–] 11 points 2 days ago

    I unlocked my phone's bootloader. I'm on the oem OS, up to date, no root, just unlocked the bootloader. Now my device is "not certified" and a lot of apps that have no business caring about my "certification status" don't work (like my phone operator app). That's if the playstore lets me download it in the first place: "this app is not compatible with your device"

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  • [–] 12 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (5 children)

    This is why rooting is great and if you re worried about banking apps, KernelSU is very good at blocking detection and keyboxs for the hardware attestation get leaked weekly.

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  • [–] 2 points 3 days ago (4 children)

    I recently learned that this setting actually persist after migrating to another phone.

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  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago (3 children)

    that would be only if you chose to backup and restore your android settings

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  • [–] 5 points 3 days ago (2 children)

    Which is perfect for them to keep tying your profile information across the board in yet another way. Fuck that.

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  • [–] 7 points 3 days ago (1 child)

    Do you create a new Google account every time you change phones? They're already tying everything to you

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  • [–] 3 points 2 days ago

    I have 1 Google account use specifically for spammy shit. That account is tied to a completely fictional person and lives inside 1 chromium browser.

    My phones and computers have never seen a Google account other than inside the VM that runs that browser.

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