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People should be able to write software for Android, and distribute it outside Google's Play store, without having to:

* pay Google
* give government ID to Google
* agree to Google terms and conditions

People should be able to install the software they want on their phone, from sources other than Google's Play store, without having to jump through Google-imposed hoops.

e.g. via F-Droid.

We've got until September this year to stop Google squeezing the open Android ecosystem.

keepandroidopen.org/


Keep Android Open

Advocating for Android as a free, open platform for everyone to build apps on.
keepandroidopen.org
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)

reshared this

in reply to Neil Brown

mozzribo
mastodon - Link to source
mozzribo
• •
@GrapheneOS Do you have plans or announcements regarding this?
@GrapheneOS
in reply to mozzribo

GrapheneOS
mastodon - Link to source
GrapheneOS
• •
@illumniscate It doesn't directly impact GrapheneOS. It won't have this enforcement. We'd have to go out of the way to make integration with an opt-in toggle for it and aren't interested in it rather than other approaches to verifying app authenticity/trustworthiness.
@mozzribo
in reply to Neil Brown

Ærion
mastodon - Link to source
Ærion
• •

Hopefully this will give #FOSS devs an incentive to shift app development to #mobilelinux if Google pushes ahead with this.

There ARE alternatives. I'm fully aware that they are, for the most part, not prime time ready, but they DO exist, and they've come a long way.

Maybe Google doing this will be a blessing in disguise, as it may just be what's needed to give #linuxphones a push.

I, for one, will switch to one form of mobile Linux or another, if Obtainium/F-Droid/IzzyOnDroid are killed off by this.

#obtainium #izzyondroid #postmarketos #ubuntutouch #ubports #sailfishos #phosh #gnomemobile #plasmamobile

#foss #sailfishos #postmarketos #ubuntutouch #phosh #izzyondroid #mobilelinux #linuxphones #obtainium #ubports #gnomemobile #plasmamobile
in reply to Ærion

Daniël de Kok
mastodon - Link to source
Daniël de Kok
• •

@aerion Most Linux phone OSes have *far worse* security than Android.

Why not just use an AOSP-based OS like @GrapheneOS ? You get all of the upsides and very few to none of the downsides.

Even if you do not like Google's decisions, just ditching the engineering marvel that is AOSP does not make much sense at all.

@Ærion @GrapheneOS
in reply to Daniël de Kok

Ærion
mastodon - Link to source
Ærion
• •

@danieldk
I would, if it wasn't for the fact that it only runs on Pixel phones.

That makes GrapheneOS even more of a niche operating system than the various mobile Linux options, as at least they run on more than one brand of hardware.

I very deliberately opted for a #Fairphone, a device that, apart from its ethical and sustainability benefits, can run several alternative OSs.

I severely dislike what Android has grown into: an increasingly more restrictive OS, with artificially imposed limitations that we would not accept in our desktop OSs. It has enabled hardware manufacturers to lock users into a purely profit driven perpetual upgrade cycle.

Why can I install Linux on 15+ years old hardware, with ease, and use it with modern software, yet I cannot do the same with a mobile phone or tablet? It fuels an ever growing pile of electronic waste.

What I ultimately want from my mobile devices is the exact same freedom I have on my desktop.

@neil @GrapheneOS

#FairPhone @Neil Brown @GrapheneOS @Daniël de Kok
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)
in reply to Ærion

GrapheneOS
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GrapheneOS
• •

@aerion @danieldk Fairphones have very poor updates, privacy and security regardless of OS choice.

Fairphone doesn't provide proper updates from day 1. Fairphone 5 launched September 2023 and already has an end-of-life 5.4 kernel branch with no plan to upgrade. They weren't providing the kernel updates when they were available themselves but another OS could have done it and now it's impractical. Fairphone similarly doesn't keep the drivers, firmware and other components properly updated.

@Ærion @Daniël de Kok
in reply to GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS
mastodon - Link to source
GrapheneOS
• •
@aerion @danieldk Pixels are the only smartphones with competitive hardware, firmware and software security with iPhones. They're the only non-iOS devices providing reasonably good long term updates and support. Fairphone markets their devices as providing it but they don't actually do it. They're lagging a year or more behind on OS updates, skipping non-yearly updates entirely and a month or two behind on the bare minimum Android schedule for patches which are available to ship earlier.
@Ærion @Daniël de Kok
in reply to GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS
mastodon - Link to source
GrapheneOS
• •
@aerion @danieldk The vast majority of smartphones either don't allow installing another OS or have extremely poor support for it including crippling the security of the device if people do it. In general, people who want to use another OS on a smartphone need to buy a device with it in mind. Supporting more models wouldn't change much especially a device like the Fairphone with far less distribution than Pixels. What would be the purpose of supporting an insecure device with bad updates?
@Ærion @Daniël de Kok
in reply to GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS
mastodon - Link to source
GrapheneOS
• •
@aerion @danieldk Fairphones are missing important hardware-based security features. They use largely the same components as other phones but it's quite outdated hardware for overly high prices. Buying newly produced outdated hardware with poor updates is hardly sustainable. The reality is more resources are likely used to produce each than an iPhone due to the efficiency of scale. iPhones have far better updates, also provide long term parts/repairs and much better privacy + security.
@Ærion @Daniël de Kok
in reply to GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS
mastodon - Link to source
GrapheneOS
• •

@aerion @danieldk GrapheneOS is a privacy and security hardened OS and has hardware requirements based on it. The only laptops/desktops meeting similar requirements are from Apple but it's unclear how much of the security features could be used elsewhere.

GrapheneOS and the Android Open Source Project are Linux distros. It's not glibc, systemd and GNOME which make it Linux. Most of the software you're calling Linux isn't even Linux specific but rather also works on FreeBSD, Hurd, etc.

@Ærion @danieldk
in reply to GrapheneOS

GrapheneOS
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GrapheneOS
• •

@aerion @danieldk GrapheneOS has a large and rapidly growing userbase. Many people care about privacy and security who aren't misled into believing operating systems and hardware far worse at both than an iPhone are the answer.

Instead of supporting devices not meeting bare minimum privacy and security standards, we're working on proper devices meeting our full requirements with an OEM partner. They're one of the largest smartphone companies and are announcing our partnership next month.

@Ærion @danieldk
in reply to GrapheneOS

Neil Brown
mastodon - Link to source
Neil Brown
• •

> an OEM partner. They're one of the largest smartphone companies and are announcing our partnership next month.

Exciting!

Do you have lead times, even estimates, yet?

(Asking as I think that support for my Pixel 6 ends later this year.)

in reply to Neil Brown

GrapheneOS
mastodon - Link to source
GrapheneOS
• •
The partnership is being announced in March 2026. The devices are planned for 2027. You'll need to replace your Pixel 6 prior to the devices launching. We don't recommend using end-of-life devices and don't expect Pixel 6 support to be extended. We may keep releasing basic updates for the Pixel 6 for a while but we won't pretend that applying AOSP backports and Linux kernel LTS revisions is enough. No more driver/firmware support will be the end of it being safe to use.
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