3d ago

Google Confirms Non-ADB APK Installs Will Require Developer Registration

hackaday.com

Technology @lemmy.world

mesa @piefed.social

3d ago

Google Confirms Non-ADB APK Installs Will Require Developer Registration

hackaday.com /2025/10/06/google-confirms-non-adb-apk-installs-will-require-developer-registration/

Android @lemdro.id

cm0002 @programming.dev

3d ago

Google Confirms Non-ADB APK Installs Will Require Developer Registration

hackaday.com /2025/10/06/google-confirms-non-adb-apk-installs-will-require-developer-registration/

76 comments

Still a bad joke. If the custom ROMs can't get past this it's either dumb-phone or linux phone next. No compromise.
- We won't know for sure until they actually drop the code, but I'm more optimistic now that they've clarified that adb will still work to sideload. That means there's still some code path in the package installer that doesn't do this bullshit, so it should be pretty easy to remove it for the people used to working on custom ROMs.
  
  That doesn't help those of us users who don't want to go through the hassles involved with trying to select a device that:
  Allows installation of custom ROMs
  Will not only currently have, but also retain long-term support of custom ROM developers
  Doesn't have the inevitable instabilities and/or incompatibilities so often involved with such ROMs.
  I don't have the patience or time for that shit anymore - I just want a device that works as it should, while also allowing me to install whatever the fuck I want without the Nanny state's approval.
  This crap of Google's is purely for show and doesn't really solve anything. It's a lame distraction from the fact they can't (or won't) make a fucking secure sandbox for apps like they should.
- linux phone
  I know that given this community, a lot of people are going to be on a Linux phone already.
  But there are some very real drawbacks to Linux phones in 2025. It won't be a practical replacement for most people.
  The hardware is not remotely-competitive with high-end hardware that Android can run on.
  Everything I've seen has suggested that power usage isn't as good, probably because Android has had shit-tons of engineers working on cutting power usage for many years.
  Some of the reason that I'd want to use a phone in the first place is for access to the Android app ecosystem. Like, that one app that your employer or bank insists you use or you want to use to update firmware on some Bluetooth device because the vendor doesn't support fwupd. Maybe it's possible to use Waydroid and a Linux machine for some of that; I don't know about all.
  GNU/Linux has a large software library, but a lot of it is not designed around a touch UI.
  One major benefit of Android is that it does a lot to help eliminate a couple things that the general population has had trouble with. The harm from installing malware is mitigated by more-or-less isolating apps. A lot of users just don't understand the concept of managing memory usage; Android just suspends apps transparently. A lot of users apparently don't have a great understanding of a filesystem, and the Android app ecosystem tends to hide the filesystem.
  And you may not care for your own use, but without scale, it's hard to get support from hardware vendors and such.
  That being said, I remember 25 years back or so when Linux was "never going to be a real server OS", when it was never going to have games, when it was never going to make it big in the embedded world, and so forth. It often took time, but it inexorably showed up. And the kernel, at least, made it big on smartphones. GNU/Linux can be pretty hard to stop in new markets. But...it can also take a while to get there.
  
  I agree with all this bullets and would love to add one more: the Linux user experience and community. You have to accept that your operating system will be an ongoing project in and of itself, and that the Linux community is not newbie friendly and has a lot of troubleshooting deadends.
  Linux on the desktop still isn't all sunshine and rainbows. I can't imagine a phone being any better. I still had to sneakernet WiFi drivers onto a laptop with a new Linux install, this year. Same shit I was doing 15 years ago.
- I believe they confirmed uncertified devices will not have these requirements, so technically degoogled Android should still be fine.
  You don't get Google services, but then again that's also true of every other alternative.
  It's all jumping the gun for now. We'll see where this goes.
  
  That will still significantly hinder the development of independent apps if only a small niche proportion of people can install them.
  
  Google have already pulled the Pixel-line from the AOSP device tree. I've read that their security commits to the open repo will slow significantly down. They're talking about moving to a unified OS along with CHROMEOS (Still. Again.)
  AFAIK, all custom ROMs are based on AOSP. I'm not optimistic.
- Go SailfishOS! Ironically enough, you can sideload apks there even though it's not Android.
  
  Last time I checked (granted, years ago) experimental linux phone builds supported more devices than SOS. How's it doing nowadays, moving forward?
- I love your stance!
Boycott the hell out of android!
- As long as you don't go to iOS, sure. Hopefully Linux phones will get a much needed development boom.
  
  Well, I'm likely going to iOS. I need to bank on my phone and those apps only work on iOS and android. If I'm going to be in a walled garden, I'm going to choose the nicer one. Hopefully google gets the message, but I have my doubts.
  Edit: y'all can go ahead and keep downvoting every time I mention this, I still haven't seen a good solution for doing anything else that actually works for me. At least I'll get a better camera out of it, though I will miss my back button. I just dont see the point of staying on certified android if fdroid and many community apps are going away. It was the primary reason I chose to leave ios for android in the first place.
- So, what is your alternative suggestion?
  
  I'm strongly considering the switch to something like PostmarketOS. Also, I'm trying to donate small amounts to a few Linux phone projects, and am asking others to do the same. Even $5 here and there could be the difference needed to accelerate mobile Linux to a better state.
  
  Buy an used pixel and install graphene.
On an unrelated note, Google’s blog post also is soliciting feedback from the public on these changes.
"Please let us know if you have any feedback or questions about the verification requirements."
https://goo.gle/Android-verification-feedback
- Google will ignore this unless there's an absolute fuck-ton of backlash over it (and with so much currently under Republican control, even that's quite iffy), so get everyone you can to give it to them. If you have any ideas on how to get even the corporate boot-lickers against this, please spread it far and wide. Quickly.
Shatter this corporation.
It's not their platform. It's your computer. That's what the money was for.
adb requiring registration in less than 3 years.
I wonder if Epic games will sue them again. Epic has their own side loaded APK for the mobile Epic Games Store.
Wasn't this prevented by the last lawsuit?
- The verification is supposedly not linked to play protect at all. Presumably Epic will be a verified developer even without being on Google Play and therefore their apk's will remain installable regardless of distribution method. If Epic were blocked then I imagine they'd absolutely have grounds to sue.
- The Republicans have managed to insert enough of their sycophants throughout the American legal system - most notably including the Supreme Court - to ensure corporate interests will always win in the end going forward. The invasion of the Supreme Court is especially insidious because those are lifetime appointments, and they've ensured their recent additions to it are young enough to stay in place for a very long time.
  This has already had effects in allowing Trump get away with literal murder by them expanding the power of the Oval Office to absurd amounts with recent "decisions."
  
  All federal judge appointments are for life.
  That means all those courts of appeals judges and lower court judges he appoints are also there until they leave or get better jobs higher in the judiciary food chain.
  
  But what about EU?
guess im stopping updating my phone on android 15 and security update september congrats google
- Or just install lineageos
  
  i have an s24 so that's not possible.
They keep trying to lock it down more and more. Why do they even think that's a good idea? The entire reason Android is successful in the first place is that it's an open system, so it can be easily and cheaply adapted for various products. If they're gonna just turn it into iOS (Google skin) and shove more and more functionality into random proprietary components, I wouldn't be surprised if companies start forking Android or just do their own thing like Huawei is now.
- Why do they even think that's a good idea?
  At some point becoming a "registered developer " will become a source of profit for Google.
  
  I don't think so, most of the open source apps on fdroid are already on the play store
- Probably the 3rd party app stores, the rules the judges gave them in America.
Is there currently a way to run adb from the phone itself? This should be possible, right?
- Without rooting, there's Shizuku for some limited rights access. Otherwise I know there (was?) a way to connect another phone via USB to act as a the "development PC" to issue ADB commands from, but I've never personally done it so I can't tell you much more than that.
  ETA: Wireless debugging is a thing, too. It being enabled (along with actually being connected to some kind of Wi-Fi) is required for Shizuku to start up (& can be shut off without ill effect once you've started Shizuku).
  
  Yep, I believe Shizuku will get a lot of new users.
  
  Interesting, might be a solution if Google doesn't shut it off somehow.
So there's nothing new here other than a link to their Q&A video.
And perhaps more importantly a subtle reminder that the Q&A blog post in question includes a link to a Google survey for developers you can freely add feedback to by entering your email.
Following the links instead of reacting to the headline has its perks.
I feel like googles hands may be getting forced on this. There is a growing authoritarian movement across the globe and android sideloading was one of the ways to avoid surveillance as that info was mostly private and offline. I wonder if they are being forced by shithole regimes (like USA now) to go in on the government verifying all apps or get blocked in that country for bypassing "national security." (Wouldn't surprise me if the UK and USA were two of those countries)
Remember LaLiGa said last year that Google should have the ability to remotely remove piracy apps from someone's device without their permission?
- I admire the generosity you're giving Google here, but even if fascism wasn't on the rise globally, I could see them doing this just for the all-important purpose of making more money. Rent-seeking by way of requiring an account (and soon after, a credit card) to access a feature that was once open and free.
  Google has been killing free services for over a decade now, I have to imagine they've long decided to monetize and advertise on every possible channel and wavelength.
  
  What if the big money makers behind Google are the same fascist, that are backing Trump now? 🤯
- Then why pre-comply? Fight for the user and be seen publicly being forced to suck. Instead it’s obvious that they actively choose to suck.
  
  What google wants the money so of course they're going to bend over to whatever backroom demands they have possibly been given

76 comments