Comment by fluidcruft
15 days ago
Maybe users could provide their own keys into the F-Droid app and the F-Droid installer swaps keys as part of the download and install. At the end of the day we're just talking about a signature.
15 days ago
Maybe users could provide their own keys into the F-Droid app and the F-Droid installer swaps keys as part of the download and install. At the end of the day we're just talking about a signature.
No. You pay Google for the license and Google can kill your app, even on f droid.
We don't need a work around. We need Google to stop killing our apps.
The new registration system is not the paid the full developer registration--that's only needed for Play Store distribution. The new thing everyone is complaining about is a different registration system that will be free (but likely requires identity verification). Google's announcement said that a solution was being developed but is not yet available to support individual and hobbyist use. They said it will be available before the system becomes mandatory (except for a few high-risk countries)
Frankly, I don't see why anonymous app distribution is necessary. The "I own my own device goddammit" thing is hobbyist category. Why should it be friction-less to install crap that has no provenance? That specifically seems like a really dumb hill to die on.
Besides making compiling apps yourself very difficult (you'd have to register and change the app's name), it's extremely likely that they won't just accept anyone and any app; at least things like NewPipe and Aurora Store are likely to get banned.
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