Google has news on what you will need to do for still being able to sideload apps:

[epic_null@infosec.exchange]

@nazokiyoubinbou @FifiSch @grote You said you don't understand why the process of installing a new OS on your phone is so scary for the average user? I was responding to that part - it's scary because if you fuck it up, the only way through it is to not fuck it up.

[linkachus17@furry.engineer]

@grote Unnecessary steps to install apps on Android outside Play Store

[leanderlindahl@social.folkdata.se]

@grote please don't call installing software sideloading... We should refuse to use that term.

[raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie]

@utf_7 @kevinrns @grote
The problem is stupid Bank apps with no Web version that only run on vanilla unmodified Apple iOS or Alphabet Android.

I demoed Debian on a 4G prototype VOIP phone in 2007. it was better than Android today! We are being forced to be beholding to Apple or Alphabet.

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@Epic_Null @FifiSch @grote And I'm saying it's not scary if you mess it up is because you can just simply try again and not do something really stupid like yanking out the cable the second time.

I'm also saying most have dual partition layouts where if you do screw up the second one you can go back to booting the first.

Also, there's nothing wrong with the old tried and true "just ask someone who knows this stuff" like people used to do back in the day. I don't know why everyone decided that they had to just buy stuff certain ways and if it wasn't right toss it and buy a new thing rather than just asking someone who knows the thing like everyone used to do...

[li@tech.lgbt]

@itsFriday @CalcProgrammer1 @grote that implies that "installing an application" and not requiring a license from the state + google to do so .. is a "feature for advanced users" which it isnt.

[dequei@masto.es]

@stw @grote Yeah, just start using linux phones, like the #Jolla and done

[razemix@mamutovo.cz]

@nazokiyoubinbou @FifiSch @grote
> "Install LineageOS"
Oh, is that an app or something? Can i download it from the Play Store?

You're naive. I'm not saying it's okay for Google and Apple to do whatever they're doing. I'm just saying that the whole process to switch OS is hard and claiming otherwise isn't helping anybody. Also, the thing is, users shouldn't be forced to switch OS just to install an app they want. The same way they shouldn't be forced to self-host a whole-ass cloud stack just to keep their privacy (see https://neilzone.co.uk/2022/07/self-host-it-is-not-the-answer/). It simply isn't a viable solution for regular users. There should be much stricter regulations in place to prevent these kinds of things in the first place.

[31113@kolektiva.social]

@shivvr but how often does that happen to you vs how often do you unlock your phone in the presence of other people or cameras who could see what you're typing?

[tedmielczarek@mastodon.social]

@TimWardCam @grote I feel like you're inventing a weird fictional scenario here to be mad about, but Google Play already has support for limited distribution of apps for internal testing without requiring all of the steps required to publish an app in the Play Store: https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9845334?hl=en

[zaki@plasmatrap.com]

@grote@chaos.social okay, i need to ask this since i can't quite seem to find info anywhere

what would happen to the sideloading permission if developer options was disabled?

if sideloading also gets disabled as a result, i presume re-enabling it would require repeating the steps outlined, yes?

if that would be the case, it would still be borderline useless on any daily-use phone, since a considerable number of apps (notably ones to do with Money) would actively refuse to start with developer options enabled

conflating having "unapproved" software installed with having access to more direct system settings is kinda Not Great tbh

and just because it isn't directly approved doesn't immediately mean it's malicious, either (said detection/blocking would also effectively conflate the two)

[ngm89@social.vivaldi.net]

@grote

Just one step:
Make your own mobile OS.

[itseperkele@mastodon.social]

@grote you and google are underestimating the lengths I'll go to avoid googles bullshit.

Would be great if I had a money so I could buy a Jolla.

[gulfie@yiff.life]

@burnitdown @grote I'd be willing to bet most are from AdSense ads

[argv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.org]

@nazokiyoubinbou

I'm hoping we get RISC-V desktops/laptops instead, since it's an open standard.

The manufacturer of one RISC-V laptop, the DC-ROMA II, claims it has an 8-hour battery life. If that's true then it's definitely competitive with Apple in that regard.

The CPU's clock speed is only 2GHz, though, so unless it has very high instructions-per-clock compared to Apple Silicon, it's going to be quite slow.

[epic_null@infosec.exchange]

@nazokiyoubinbou @FifiSch @grote and my response is that's only comforting to those who are already confident in their ability to complete the task at hand. If this is your first time, you have no clue what "something really stupid" looks like, or what happens when that occurs.

[pavel@social.kernel.org]

@CalcProgrammer1 @grote Google is evil. It should have been clear after they change from their "don't be evil" motto.

Not sure what the thing is with PIN or biometrics. Are biometrics now required?

Anyway, if they are not evil, they should allow "sideloading enable" while doing full wipe.

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@Epic_Null @FifiSch @grote Ok, let me say it more clearly: you can't mess it up to such an extent that it won't boot ever again without doing some things that basically require you to know what you are doing and intentionally screwing it up because you wanted to make some kind of point or something.

And, again, even if they screw it up to that level, they can just boot back to the original which wasn't overwritten because again, as I just said, modern phones use two separate partitions. When you tell it to flash, it goes to the unused one unless you very specifically manually tell it to use the wrong one.

You really really really don't like the idea of having control over your own device do you?

[kevinrns@mstdn.social]

@raymaccarthy @utf_7 @grote

Dont use bank apps. Find a Credit Union

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@argv_minus_one There probably are a lot of possibilities there. I'd definitely be interested to see how RISC-V pans out.

ARM is very weak per cycle compared to most other processor techs. I can't say where RISC-V is though. (After all, ARM basically is a form of RISC...) So it's not impossible a 2GHz processor could perform very favorably compared to ARM. Or not. It really depends... I don't have enough info on RISC-V to say one way or the other.

(Bear in mind that benchmarks are shockingly artificial and basically let processors cheat a lot.)