Technology

Is that an official Google form and/or who am I providing my (required) email address to?

Is there an official Google page that links to this? Sorry but anyone can share a Google form.

This is silly. Google doesn't give a single fuck. This decision will make money for key players and that's the end of the conversation.

Public pushback on stuff like this does work on occasion. It even worked on Apple when they proposed upload filters for CSAM.

Google's intent in the short term probably is just about malware, but in the long term it gives them, and governments which can pressure them the ability to ban any app from nearly all Android devices. Once deployed, there's a near 100% chance of such a mechanism being used for evil.

Closing the side loading option is a path to antitrust suits, a slap in the face to privacy, a kick in the teeth to independent devs and personal use.

There is zero reason for this other than wanting full control of how I use my own phone and how much money/data google can squeeze out of everyone.

I did not purchase a phone to have it later be functionally broken as features it had have been stripped in the name of 'security'.

A warning message is all that is needed. The current toggle is enough.

We are not toddlers.

There are not possibly enough cases that it warrants such a restrictive policy aside from the stated reasons above.

Give me liberty or give me symbian.

How's that?

Sounds like the thing that will finally get me onto another platform. Sideloading is the only way around most of these companys' draconian restrictions.

Just today apple showed how stupid is this policy as they revoked the publisher certificate for a torrent app, proving that the end goal is not locking malware but stuff that they don't like

This is just a way to capture negative feedback in a way that leaves you feeling like you did something while impacting none of their business which they can then ignore and throw away with no issues. Make noise on social media, not feedback forms. Make them hurt.

I couldn't tell from the article, but does this impact ALL apps that do NOT go through the Google Play Store?

What about 3rd party App Stores? Amazon has one, there is also the FOSS app stores like F-Droid. Are those in or out?

if this policy is implemented. the easiest thing for noobs will be get a Chinese phone without certification from Google https://storage.googleapis.com/play_public/supported_devices.html like huawei (you can get a GMS support with emulator like Gbox)

Here is the direct link to the form

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfN3UQeNspQsZCO2ITkdzMxv81rJDEGGjO-UIDDY28Rz_GEVA/viewform?usp=dialog

Some poignant questions for these new platform requirements:

• How do you anticipate this being used against journalists and advocacy groups?
• What research and statistical quantification will be done to evaluate the amount of harm these restrictions can inflict?
• What precautions or safeguards will users have against malicious state actors or capitulating corporations?
• How can developers protect themselves from liable damages due to service interruptions caused by third party verification?
• Do you foresee legal restrictions in rollout due to national security concerns from differing nation states?

Straight into the garbage.

What a disappointing week. I was looking to replace my five year old iPhone with an android phone and now I'm just stumped. Pixel 10 looked pretty good but then this sudden verification requirement news hit. Both platform are now equally crap. The hell with both of these shitty companies. Maybe I'll go full retro and get a dumb phone instead.

I did it and I told them exactly why and what I use and why and hopefully they will take heed. It's not even some freakishly avoid-y reason or anything. I'm not extremist because I know that if I'm going to use a lot of this stuff I have to make compromises because it's not magically going to get better overnight, but also we have to stand up for user freedom so we have some degree of ability to actually use our devices as we wish and install software that we want on our own computer.

Its our chance to over turn this.
Let's hope this won't happen.

Come on, they don't care. I will use a custom mod for as long as possible and when this stops working I will switch to two phones setup: de-googled daily driver and second phone for work/car apps. And if I will have to choose between stock Android and iPhone for the second phone I will go with an iPhone.

What has happened with mobile platforms has proven that the fact that we ended up with PC platforms that allow us the freedom to largely do whatever we want with them was more an outlier than the norm.

Apple and Google have gone out of their way at every step with their new platforms over the last 20 years to make sure that process does not repeat itself. Even the stuff that seems more open like Android technically supporting arbitrary app installs from anywhere and the Linux container in ChromeOS still allows the platform holder to step in and stop you from doing something with those tools should they desire using mechanisms that the OS depends on to be useful.