“Keeping users safe on Android is our top priority,” Android president Sameer Samat wrote on X. “Scammers rely on anonymity to scale their attacks. Right now, if we block a bad app, they can often just create a new app and try again. Verification stops this “whack-a-mole” cycle by requiring a real identity – making it much harder and costlier to repeatedly distribute harmful apps.
So, you’re actually going to put an effort in stopping people from publishing malware through the Play Store, right?
Right?
Good summary right there. Clean up your own house before you start preaching under the guise of user safety, fools.
So far the only “cleanup” I’ve seen in the Play Store is removing old apps that haven’t been updated in a while but still run just fine, which means things like a physical Bluetooth air quality sensor I have needs the APK sideloaded now. Totally fighting scammers, Google. Totally.
Wouldn’t it be great if these tech companies just dropped the verbal diarrhea filter and just spoke plainly?
“We’re doing this to try and increase revenue by making ourselves a walled garden like Apple, because there isn’t really competition anymore, we’re greedy, and we lost the plot,” is what they should be saying.
worse… they’ll happily sell ad space to any scammer
Remember when Google backed off the changes to Chrome that prevented adblockers from working and a short time later implemented those changes anyway? Why TF would Google start caring about what users want now, especially since this issue is way less visible to most people? Google wants people to think they have a voice about what happens with Android, not to actually give them one.
Blocking side loading will force apps and any generated revenue into Google’s Play store which is exactly the point of this no matter what Google says.
The bloviating Google is doing now is irrelevant. The company will move forward with blocking side loading within the next few months, guaranteed.
Why TF would Google start caring about what users want now, especially since this issue is way less visible to most people?
EU Digital Markets Act. Google is already on the list. The watchdog is watching Google.
Bull shit half solution. Don’t accept it.
How is it only a half solution?
It’s literally the same solution that we’re all happy with today… Oh I have to tick another box in my settings? Damn Google you so fascist.
Except it isn’t. And now if I want to side load an app I build myself, I need to register with Google.
Maybe you need your hand held when working with computers, but it doesn’t mean all of us should be forced to do the same.
Google is also working on a new developer account type for students and hobbyists, which won’t have to go through “full verification requirements,” but will only allow app installs on “a limited number of devices.”
Sure doesn’t sound like what we have now to me
From the same article just before your quote
Google has made an important concession. The company says it is now developing an “advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn’t verified.” This installation flow will include safeguards to protect people who are being coerced into installing a dangerous app, or tricked by a scammer, along with “clear warnings to ensure users fully understand the risks involved.”
Then the article goes on to say “Google is also working on…”
It’s clear from the article with basic reading comprehension that Google is working on multiple concessions here, one being a power user settings toggle to bypass verified APKs, and another for hobbyist developers to verify their APKs.
This is also ignoring the fact that ADB installs was never going away as part of this change. You could still run an ADB command to install an unverified APK, and that can be done remotely via a computer or via the various terminal apps available. Someone even wrote an app that does it for you.
But sure, carry on with the FUD and accuse me of “needing my hand held” using computers when you can’t even read and comprehend an article properly…
If they remove this then there’s no reason to get an android
Luckily early next year Valve releases a version of SteamOS that runs on a phone processor. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Steam Frame with Qualcomm SoC is just a first step for a phone several years down the road, kinda like a non-crap resurrection of the XPeria Play.
Sounds like this only fixes the problem on the user’s end. Developers are still getting screwed and many will stop maintaining their apps if they are forced to give their personal information to Google.
So, on your phone, look in settings. Search for “feedback”, select device feedback, and tell them directly.
Conversation is important but I’m guessing Google is not going to read this thread.
Damn some of y’all actually cannot read, huh?
