Control and censorship. Imagine a developer distributing an apk that Google doesn't like, let's say, emulators, ad-blockers, VPNs (if they become illegal in some places), piracy apps or many others. Just remove their verified status and voilà.
This is awful. Google is quickly becoming a new walled garden, Apple-style.
So they finally switched to the same fucking piece of shit system as apple. Fuck you google, you're removing the remaining advantages your mobile OS had.
Google can gargle my side loading nuts
The fuck..
Big Google and big government want your data. I hope Linux phones get good enough for daily use soon.
Welp, it’s over folks.
Saw this comment on Ars and it's a good point:
This isn't about apps. It's about control - the Feds want to be sure that they can track who is creating apps so they can control the spread of government-disapproved apps. Like the app that someone created last month to track ICE raids. If you control who distributes apps, you can further control what apps are made, and whether those apps are seen as a threat.
Information control in a dictatorship is extremely important.
Goes into effect globally by 2027, at least that gives some time to explore alternatives.
Screw google. I'm buying phones that can run postmarketos or any normal Linux applications mobile OS. Need to grow the normal Linux phone market. Someday there'll be a Steam Deck moment for mobile operating systems
People in the EU are probably going to be fine because of the protections there, people in other countries though...
More pwa's please. Why do we need "apps" at all. Laptops function fine without them.
Let Google know what you think about this: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfN3UQeNspQsZCO2ITkdzMxv81rJDEGGjO-UIDDY28Rz_GEVA/viewform
I'm really glad I quit using "smart" phones these days. First AI was being shoved down our throats more and more and now this.
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