Please consider donating to PostmarketOS to build up a pure mobile Linux alternative that is completely free of Google's influence. It's the best option we have.
this post was submitted on 02 May 2026
872 points (99.4% liked)
Technology
84281 readers
4476 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Ok, so I might as well buy an iPhone then because this is the only thing android did better lmao. Fuck you google.
Use GrapheneOS. It's degoogled android. Currently you have to install it yourself on a Pixel phone but AFAIK Motorola is working on releasing device with Graphene pre installed
looks like I know what my next phone purchase will. and new, even.
I hate Mussolini, i'll side with that Hitler guy
load more comments
(3 replies)
TempleOS phone, when?
Hold my lithium
Love that some megacorp can just make decisions like this that affects billions of people.
Really just feeling the fucking freedom. I hate everything.
The megacorps can do anything they want with their product. The chef can change the menu anytime and he can refuse you service - it's his restaurant. Our problem is that it's a duopoly and there's nowhere else to go.
The only way out is open standards and platforms, enabling true competition.
Real quick.
Just imagine you order a plate of pasta. You're only two bites in, and it's DELICIOUS.
Then here comes chef. While making full eye contact, he tips your plate and dumps all of that pasta in the trash.
Chef proceeds to take a giant wet shit onto the plate. He brings a new set of silverware and a fresh napkin right before your server comes back with the check.
You insist that you didn't order a giant wet shit, but they won't take it off the bill.
Let's stop pretending this is an inevitable oopsie. This shit is egregious.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Android was an open standard and platform, a LONG time ago. Then Google did a rug pull with all new features of android requiring 100% of their services to function.
No, it wasn't ever. It always belonged to Google who benevolently open sourced parts of it and retains control.
Safetynet and PlayIntegrity are under Google's control. The PlayStore is Google's. All of the APIs are Google's! Hardware blobs are closed and belong to the manufacturer.
Just because some of the stuff shows up on GitHub doesn't make it an open platform.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Ah yes the invisible hand will fix it
After all it's the invisible hand's job
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(4 replies)
Are there people who are angry out of principle/ideologically but who don't do sideloading etc? Because, I'd like to think that if you are angry enough at this, then you have the incentive and the will to root you phone (making it an unsupported device and making it NOT locked for sideloading) and go on with your life. I wish Google died like... Yesterday. Don't get me wrong. Am I missing something?
I make sure to only buy phones that can be rooted. This change still irks me, because it's just another notch on the slide toward control and surveillance under the guise of security theater. If AI winds up being as effective as prognosticated, perhaps it's less theater and more valid. Script kitties could then do a lot of damage.
My concern with sliding toward surveillance is rooted in principle, FOSS ideals that seek to empower users rather than plug them into a matrix. I admit that my idealism is likely naive, depending upon the realities of burgeoning technologies. In any case, I will continue to choose software that allows me to carefully curate what information reaches my brain. I'm in a weird place where I long for transparency, but I have little trust in existing systems. I want the world to be more open and less insular, yet I oppose recent pushes to force identification by limiting user choice. It feels rapacious; I need to trust the system sufficiently in order to consent. A society built upon trust would be far more resilient than one built upon coercion. Coercion is where I draw the line in most areas of life.
You make it sound like rooting is a simple opt-in. It is not. It is not possible on every phone, requires technical expertise, risks bricking your device, you will likely loose firmware update support, various apps (like banking apps) will stop working. It is a tough choice.
You're right. At the very least, users shouldn't be forced to make this choice. It's absurd how little authority we have over devices we have paid for with our hard earned money. :(
not all phones can be rooted nowadays, and when ot can it has other disadvantages too that the current method of avoiding play store does not have
I agree. People that lack the technical expertise or rooting compatible devices shouldn't be forced to even consider this. Once you have paid for a device, you should be allowed to do with it whatever the hell you want, without Google or other big tech shoving unsolicited policies down your throat.
I would prefer that Alphabet keep Android open, but honestly, how can anybody be surprised? Eventually Google is going to tighten the screws on Android. I haven't looked into it, but hopefully there are some truly free options out there. Graphene?
Graphene is Android based. Not sure what it'd mean for them in case Android fully locks down.
The sideloading block will likely be enforced by Play Services, so GrapheneOS won't be affected. Android is also open source, so even if Google implements the block within Android itself, GrapheneOS can just remove it.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(4 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
Concerning that this thread is overrun with bots telling me to download some super duper safe LLM
load more comments
(2 replies)
So does this mean FDroid cannot be used with just any Android phone?
They'll push the update through Google Play Services, so if your phone is Gapps free, you'll probably be able to continue to use F-Droid.
load more comments
(9 replies)