this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
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What will you do after Android starts restricting FOSS apps? (reddthat.com)
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by PumpkinDrama@reddthat.com to c/opensource@lemmy.ml
215 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I mostly use apps installed from F-Droid, so I’m not sure how I’ll use the phone, except that it’s sometimes required as a contact method.

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[–] ominouslemon@sh.itjust.works 18 points 4 days ago (3 children)

I'll happily continue using my GrapheneOS Pixel since nothing will change for 3d-party ROMs :)

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 35 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Until it does. Google is already closing development, so the GrapheneOS devs will have a more difficult time rebasing their changes to AOSP each snapshot.

[–] ominouslemon@sh.itjust.works 11 points 4 days ago

Yeah, it's a moving target for sure. For now, the devs seem to be very certain that AOSP will stay and that they will still be able to port GOS on new devices (although it will take more time and work).

[–] other8026@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Not exactly. GrapheneOS has an OEM partner and has early access to AOSP changes that aren't public. A huge downside to that is that security preview releases can't be open source until after Google makes the code public.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Well, that's not a huge downside. They still provide those security updates in their binary builds.

[–] other8026@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 days ago

Fair enough. I said "huge" because I guess some people care a lot. I personally don't and have been on security preview releases since they started releasing them.

[–] SrMono@feddit.org 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Is this verified, or does it still depend on how the mechanism is implemented?

[–] ominouslemon@sh.itjust.works 22 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

If app installation is not managed by Google (i.e. if you're not using Google Mobile Services or GMS), Google cannot block the installation of any apps. Graphene's devs have confirmed themselves that this new measure will not affect their ROM

[–] illusionist@lemmy.zip 5 points 4 days ago

That's great to read

[–] SrMono@feddit.org 4 points 4 days ago

Perfect. I thought about some kernel level shenanigans which could be out of influence for third party vendors.

[–] Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Can you tell me how the ad experience is with GrapheneOS? As in, do apps which try to insert ads in screen transitions (or anywhere) still do so? Or websites which put in AdSense popups?

GrapheneOS doesn't recommend AdAway or other adblocking solutions, so does it do so itself?

[–] ominouslemon@sh.itjust.works 7 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It does not block anything by itself. I use Adguard as my DNS provider and it does that system-wide. It you can also use a VPN provider such as ProtonVPN that does it

[–] Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Hmm. OK, I've been using AdAway (not AdGuard) as DNS and/or VPN, experimenting with both) under Pixel 9 stock OS, and it mostly works... but some apps and websites still get ads through.

LineageOS w/Adaway root /etc/hosts blocklists was 100% perfect on my older phone... that's my main quibble with trying LineageOS vs. GrapheneOS.

I know some people recommend against rooting, but I've never had security issues doing it and it seemed to offer more bulletproof ad-blocking.