• enable developer options
  • confirm that you are not tricked
  • restart phone and re-authenticate
  • wait one day
  • confirm with biometrics that you know what you are doing
  • decide if you only want unrestricted installs for 1 week or forever
  • confirm that you accept the risks
  • enjoy the few apps that still have developers motivated to develop for a user-base willing to put up with this
  • limerod ( limerod@reddthat.com ) OP
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    7 months ago

    This is so stupid. At this rate I will have to consider Linux powered phones before switching phones in the future.

    Needing to wait and follow so many tedious steps to install apps I want, ugh.

    This was how xiaomi started to limit bootloader unlocking to the current 3 months wait model.

    There’s also a video by a google person in the mastodon toot saying how this is a positive change.

    • biscuit ( biscuit@lemdro.id ) 
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      7 months ago

      Respectfully, grow up.

      It’s a one-time action, and it’s a necessity because humans are dumb and have allowed scammers to guide them through installing dodgy APKs.

      We are globally asking for regulators to regulate big tech and this whole verification thing was Google’s attempt to quell that storm. Obviously the original plans weren’t acceptable but this really doesn’t seem like that big of a deal anymore, now that they’ve compromised.

      I really don’t see the issue here that power users need to tap a few buttons and wait 24 hours once for each device. You don’t even need to leave developer options enabled, and you’ve still got ADB installation options if you urgently need an APK installed and you hadn’t previously gone through this flow.

      The comparison to bootloaders is also a stretch. People in this Lemmy community are so quick to enflame and enrage themselves, it’s worse than Reddit…

      • limerod ( limerod@reddthat.com ) OP
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        7 months ago

        Absolutely, no. I don’t want to jump hoops or follow complicated procedures and wait a day or longer to start using the apps I want to use on my device I paid with my bills.

        If we are on the subject of app installation. Desktop users can already install any and all apps that they desire. Your malware scanner will warn you if you attempt to install a malicious software.

        For those people who cannot think for themselves advanced protection mode already disables app installation not approved by play store. So, even this point is moot. Besides, if we let google do this they may add age verification like some social media websites.

        The comparison to bootloaders is also a stretch. People in this Lemmy community are so quick to enflame and enrage themselves, it’s worse than Reddit…

        Maybe, they have the foresight to see how much worse it can get. It started with the advanced protection setting a year ago. Later OEMs started to add restrictions to bootloader unlock methods. Some like samsung simply removed it with latest software updates.

      • limerod ( limerod@reddthat.com ) OP
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        7 months ago

        I have an old redmi lying unused. I will have to experiment on it to understand the ROM flashing scene. PostmarketOS is a good project. Hopefully, the community interest will increase and make things more accessible for everyone.

  • Steve ( Steve@communick.news ) 
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    7 months ago

    I’m almost certain there will be an ADB hack to bring this process down to a couple min. Or faster

    It only took me ~10min to install GrapheneOS. A whole new OS!
    Changing a single setting should be super quick.

    • limerod ( limerod@reddthat.com ) OP
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      7 months ago

      10Mins sounds good. I agree ADB powered alternatives will exist. But, this is too much friction and I’m speaking as a power user who uses fdroid, shizuku, termux and all sorts of power user apps.

      It will be tedious when I want to share an awesome open source app with someone who will think it is unsafe because android would warn and make you follow these steps to install “unverified apps”. Many of those friends will find even installing fdroid for updates bloat.

      If I ask them to follow this, they would rather give up and not bother. This will be a huge blow to adoption of open source android apps.

    • VibeSurgeon ( VibeSurgeon@piefed.social ) 
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      7 months ago

      adb-installs are explicitly allowed to skip the 24 hour wait limit.

      This thing is nominally there to shut down phone scammers - people who are technically fluent enough to install adb are very unlikely to be susceptible to them.

  • nil ( nil@piefed.ca ) 
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    7 months ago

    Plug your Pixel to your PC, click several times on GrapheneOS website and there you go, you’ve just got both freedom and security.

    Or go to lenovo store and buy motorola.

  • mannycalavera ( mannycalavera@feddit.uk ) 
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    7 months ago

    This post is slightly disingenuous. It’s not all side loading. It’s only for unverified apps.

    What side loading do you need to do where the app developer hasn’t verified or isn’t using the limited distribution? The sad reality is that the vast majority of what remains are scam apps.

    Android is perhaps a victim of its own success here in that it now needs to worry about the old grannies that get pressured into installing scam apps more than a tiny minority of power users.