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

[faduda@mastodon.ie]

@LexYeen @grote

But all they've done is make it sound cool.

[umbreon@donphan.social]

@LexYeen @grote Should call installing app store apps "Backloading" for how much these companies fuck their customers *and* developers

[reallylazybear@mastodon.social]

@StellaFoxxie @monapp @grote I was able to do it 10 years ago by just reading and thinking. I was only 13 at the time. Maybe today it's hard now, idk. I haven't dabbled with custom ROMs these past few years...

But one thing I do know is that the custom ROM dev's not responsible for bricked devices, dead SD cards, thermonuclear war, or me getting fired because the alarm app failed and that they'll laugh at me if I point my finger at them for messing up my device, lol.

[gurupanguji@mastodon.social]

@msmissing @grote very cynically, one can argue that promos are now tied to making Gemini do more and not android ;-) 🤖

[kevinrns@mstdn.social]

@raymaccarthy @utf_7 @grote

Lenovo is pushing back hard on locked in software, selling ThinkPads cheaper if they install linux, their phone division is partnering with a non google non apple OS.

There are avenues and partners, and when Trump is gone let's break up the tech bros monopolizers into very small competing companies. Very small.

Its a BIG fight, its not just phones, its not just the US.

Support, discuss, ORGANIZE.

[bussphomet@app.wafrn.net]

Yeah fuck this

Time to get a furi or jolla phone

[goss@c.im]

In the long term Alphabet are going to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.

I note that Canadian company Graphene has announced a partnership with Motorola. For clarification, it appears at this stage these Motorola phones will be developed in partnership with Graphene, shipping with Android but fully Graphene ready.

If these are good (Motorola make good hardware) I will set up a biz to obtain commercial quantities of these and beginning offering them for sale already flashed with Graphene.

Things are getting so bad even non nerd boomers are coming to me expressing concern about relying on bug tech of the former US and asking me for advice so there is a market for 'clean' devices.

Anyway, back to my point, once more privacy respecting alternatives are commercially available Android will lose ground and the rivers of gold of AD revenue begin drying up in the same way Windows 11 is prompting an exodus to Linux.

[resuna@ohai.social]

@Umbreon @LexYeen @grote

Buttloading from the butt store.

[resuna@ohai.social]

@luatic @grote

whose security is it about?

[resuna@ohai.social]

@jake4480 @grote @fistfulofdave @wendigo @gavin57

No, you can use a device PIN.

[stellafoxxie@oldbytes.space]

@reallylazybear i've done it too. it's not really hard. it just requires at least 4 hours of work and the last time i did it i ended up with a phone that my sim card would not function in so it ended up being a complete failure :)

[jake4480@c.im]

@resuna @grote @fistfulofdave @wendigo @gavin57 oh good, that's a relief 😂🤣😂🤣

[grote@chaos.social]

@jernej Right, but I am more worried about the unverified developer community and @fdroidorg

Who will still develop for the handful of power users going through this flow?

[raymaccarthy@mastodon.ie]

@kevinrns @utf_7 @grote
A Credit Union In the USA for anyone anywhere that's not American and not living in the USA? Are you demented?

There are of course Credit Unions in Ireland. Yes, you can lodge money and get loans. They are not suitable for my use case.
The Irish An Post (State Post Office) has banking but they discontinued any access on the Web site and also required quite recent versions of Android (or iOS), several years ago.

[reallylazybear@mastodon.social]

@StellaFoxxie Well, least it ain't bootlooping or boots back to recovery. You better not point the finger at the custom ROM dev or they'll laugh at you ! Just kidding haha

Idk. I miss the "CyanogenMod era" of custom ROM's, Xposed framework, all that good stuff. Over the years I guess phone manufacturers did really make it hard to do stuff with phones. Bootloaders are locked and shit. Some phone and tablet models don't even have official custom ROMs

[thornbill@fosstodon.org]

@Kdude @grote it’s already a ridiculous amount of hoops 🙄

[gizmonicus@defcon.social]

@grote I was literally just thinking about how it frequently seems like Google does things under the guise of "security hardening" that also just happens to have the convenient side effect of further locking users into their ecosystem.

[kevinrns@mstdn.social]

@raymaccarthy @utf_7 @grote

Yes yes I am.

[ziclaud@mastodon.social]

@alextecplayz yeah, I did it with an older phone a few months ago to test it, a redmi note 8T, but my current redmi note 13 with HyperOS is wayy worse somehow. They say it's "bugged"...

[elkaki@mastodon.online]

@grote

Honestly If this didn't have the 24 hour period I wouldn't mind much, but fuck is that going to be annoying