[andrewaylett]

Given the Epic settlement means Google is allowing alternate app stores, and also the delay only applies for unregistered developers, I'm not certain it won't actually get easier to get folk set up on F-Droid.

It still remains to be seen what the actual requirements are, and even if F-Droid could become "approved" that doesn't mean they want to. Time will tell.

[singpolyma3]

"only applies for unregistered developers" but remember the whole point is to allow Google to pull your "registered developer" status on a whim. Something they've shown over and over again they cannot be trusted with

[gzread]

But if there's a court order saying Epic and F-Droid have to be registered developers, they can go to jail for doing that.

[singpolyma3]

Sure. But there isn't.

[rockskon]

Why the hell should we "mother may I" with Google for running apps on our own phones if it isn't sourced from the Play Store?

The "security" rationale is horseshit given just how much malware is readily download able on the Play Store. Google never cleans its own house before going after others.

[Onavo]

It's not just the US, story through the grapevine is that Google is under a lot of pressure Asian governments over "online scams".

(Allegedly the main actor behind this push is Singapore)

[Zak]

Singapore is not big enough to dictate terms to Google. If Singapore wanted this change and Google didn't, Singapore's most extreme option would be to ban the import of standard Android phones to a market of a few million people.

[rockskon]

They're free to make changes to Asian country phones and not let the political pressure of Asian countries impact non-Asian countries.

[tosti]

Poor, poor Google

[hparadiz]

Don't you know? If one elderly person gets scammed we all deserve to be infantilized.

[RedComet]

Wouldn't it be something if, given all the surveillance already in place, law enforcement punished the scammers instead of the innocent?

[miki123211]

The scammers are often in a very different country than the victim. Finding the scammer is only 50% of the work, the other 50% is diplomacy and hoping the other side is willing to extradite. This is not made easier if the police force in the scammer's country is extremely corrupt.

This is why those scams so often rely on gift cards (or sometimes on cash which a local mule converts to crypto).

[cute_boi]

Many banking scams involve fake checks and deposits into other accounts, but I don’t see the government or banks taking active steps to stop them.

[gzread]

Maybe they can just sanction that person? Block them from making phone calls to the country and publishing apps?

[Ms-J]

But then how would they police what you install?

Maybe you have the criminal idea of installing an adblocker, for example.

That is not allowed since corporations need to make money.

The government and ad networks need to track you for your benefit.

Ads are needed before listening to each minute of a song.

You must submit to crpyto miners running in the background from the ads, increasing your electricity bill and pollution.

Only USA sanctioned and approved ads are allowed, also. We wouldn't want you seeing an ad from a competing entity, right?

If you install an ablocker, you are a terrorist and broke 324582 American laws.

[benoau]

(nevermind that the scams are extraordinarily likely to come through Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon)

[tosti]

They don't want users to find out who's the real scammer.

[fluidcruft]

The scams are likely to some from outside Play. In the US, these scams don't run because iPhone is the dominant platform and side loading in iOS is not possible. In the rest of world they are widespread.

[soraminazuki]

"Likely"? Do you mean that based on actual data, or are you using it as a weasel word so you can present whatever convenient "facts" that benefit Google as truth?

I’m betting on the latter. No Kitboga video mentions custom Android apps. What actually appears on almost all videos are online ads/spam or fake celebrity accounts messaging random people on Facebook.

It's funny how you aggressively push solutions that ignore the most common scam vectors investigators encounter. Could it be a coincidence that your proposal conveniently places every aspect of people’s lives at the mercy of big businesses? Or that the scam vector you downplay, ads and social media, just happens to be cash cows for some of the richest companies in history?

We already have plenty of paid lobbyists cheering the transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest. There's no need to do that dirty work for free. Weaponizing the elderly being scammed of their life savings while protecting those that benefit from it is beyond messed up.

[fluidcruft]

My proposal? Who exactly do you think I am? lol

[benoau]

Outside Play, on YouTube or via Google Ads for many of them. Likewise for Meta ads.

[fluidcruft]

The scams that are happening in the rest of world are calls posing as bank support about urgent security issues and telling people to install apps to protect their accounts.

[LocalH]

Sideloading is very possible on iOS and there's an entire subculture surrounding it.

[fluidcruft]

Not widespread enough to be a viable grift target.

[expedition32]

Ha if we follow that to it's logical conclusion we should ban smartphones.

[packetlost]

Ok, but the vast majority of people do need their hand held because they're incompetent, naive, or both. IMO this is pro consumer move

[AlBugdy]

We shouldn't let naive or mentally disabled people to dictate how computing should work. That's the same logic behind the age verification shit that's happening worldwide.

If you (not you specifically) are unsure of your abilities to use computers, let a friend or a family member buy a dumbed down device for you or install parental controls or something. Or maybe have clicking the build number 7 times reveal "toddler mode" where you can lock your device down irreversibly as much as you want.

[schubidubiduba]

It might be pro consumer if the power were lying in some kind of democratically justified organization, which then decides which apps are allowed and which are not.

This way, consumers are helpless victims of the same megacorporation, which will use its near-absolute power over the mobile ecosystem (shared with one other megacorporation) to profit on the back of consumers.

[bigstrat2003]

No. Society should not be holding the hands of adults. It's unnecessary and it's insulting.

[xigoi]

If Google actually wanted to protect people from malware, they would not approve Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, …

[goku12]

This is as pro-consumer as cutting off one's nose to cure a cold. Let me say this for the... I don't know how many times, that security, child protection, scam prevention, terrorism, miniaturization, sophistication, etc are all lies peddled by trillion-dollar megacorps to justify their cash grab, and by despotic governments to justify their consolidation of power over citizens. Nobody wants to know why all those problems still occur despite these unpopular measures. Meanwhile, NONE of those draconian restrictions on users' freedom and privacy are technically necessary to achieve any of those ideals. It's a lie that they convince the people by repeating incessantly.

This is 2026, for God's sake! How long has this grift been playing out? At least two decades? What will it take people, much less the tech savvy ones, to learn that all these are designs of greedy and power lusting minds?

[otabdeveloper4]

It's not about malware. It's about Google complying with USA's geopolitical adventures.

Basically, Google needs an answer when men in suits ask them why they have technology that enables users to install sanctioned Iranian banking apps.

[jojobas]

Somehow if you replace Google with Apple in the same sentence you'll get cursed to hell. Go figure.

[goku12]

Says who? The fanbois? What makes you think that ordinary people are any happier with Apple's abuses than Google's? This is not a worthwhile justification for what either one of them does.