EVIL KBGY9 NEWS

The End of Sideloading?

Recently, Google annouced that they will be enforcing developers of Android apps to ID verify in order for their app to be installable on Android devices that have Google Play Services. This doesn't mean "only if you want the app on the Play Store", this means "if your phone is running Android and has Google Play Services, no matter where you downloaded the app from". So you won't be able to go online and just download an APK; it has to be from a developer who has given their ID and personal information to Google, no matter if it's on the Play Store or not. Obviously, this is an absolute nightmare for security and privacy. Many open source or older applications may cease to run when this is implemented. Google has said that this new program will be in early access for 2025 (and not yet a requirement), with a wider rollout in 2026-2027, including in the US and other countries, after which it will be enforced more strictly. Google claims this is for "security" and won't be used to target apps, however, for this to make sense as a security measure, it means they must be targetting apps that they don't approve of, such as malware (but also, very likely apps that do things like stream music or videos from YouTube but don't show ads, as well as any other software Google objects to).

For this reason, don't buy an Android phone unless it can be custom rommed (as Google has said this decision will NOT be affecting custom ROMs), though Google also opened new complications with that: Google is no longer providing device trees for Pixel devices. Device trees allow custom ROM developers, at a basic level, to tell a custom Android ROM how to interact with various hardware on the phone (like the screen or cameras), and the lack of this will make custom ROM development for newer Pixels rather difficult. For years, Pixels have been considered a reference device: the idealized version of what Google thinks an Android device should be, and an easy device to develop ROMs and test apps for. Now, this will no longer be the case, and people are speculating that many custom ROMs won't be as focused on Pixel builds in the future due to this.

This is a massive mistake from Google, considering many of the people that buy Android buy it specifically because it allows things like sideloading in the first place. This approach Google is taking seems to more then slightly mirror how Apple has been doing sideloading in the EU, however, if Android just becomes an iPhone with worse privacy and extensive data collection, there would be no point to buying an Android device beyond custom ROMs for anyone who cares about being able to do what they want with their device. Hopefully, Google rethinks this, as this is an absolutely idiotic decision from a company of Google's size.