Comment by 999900000999
1 month ago
You know, this would be a fantastic time for Google to get their sandbox in order. If we need to do it like this, go ahead and create a secondary user, call it sandbox and let me install all my wild and unapproved apps there. SecureNet can automatically fail in Sandbox.
But I don't think they're going to do that, ultimately users who actually care about this are an absolute tiny percentage of the market.
And weirdos like us can always just import a Chinese phone that doesn't have mandatory Google verification crap.
> And weirdos like us can always just import a Chinese phone that doesn't have mandatory Google verification crap.
No, we can't. One of the first countries with that mandatory Google verification is Brazil, and we can't import phones which are not certified by ANATEL, they will be rejected by customs in transit.
I knew Brazil was kinda weird with tech import taxes but I didn't know they banned non-certified phones, jezz. Here in Chile they get disconnected from the cell towers after 30 days, but you just need register it^.
Do you know if the Brazilian gov or regulators asked for this first from Google or something?
^: It's less spooky than it sounds, any phone in Chile needs to be compatible with the natural disaster alert system.
Yes, Brazil doesn't allow the commerce of uncertified radio transmitters. It has been like that for close to a century.
If you are asking why the change is happening in Brazil first, the banks cartel met with google and decided to rely on that, for security.
With elections coming next year, and this being practically a "law" created in partnership with the banks cartel, this may be the time to make some noise about the change.
But the purpose of prohibiting sideloading isn't security. It's preventing of apps like NewPipe and Vanced.
But what would be the point when no one would bother writing an app for such a small user base?
So I can test my own apps on my own devices, or upload them to itch for other weird people.
I don't feel like giving Google a large amount of my personal information just so I can distribute free games. Why do they need a copy of my lease ?
The point parent is making, if Google makes it so difficult sharing the software with other people, who is going to make those itch-the-scratch software going through so much trouble?
We would miss out a lot of creative people making software.
1 reply →
Maybe so I can develop a service without forking over profit to a company that deserves none of it.
I haven't tested it myself, but as far as I know you can run ADB in the phone itself via Termux. Perhaps it's possible to make a wrapper that install apps from F-Droid with ADB? It would mean that you would only need to be tethered to the your PC once.
Obviously they'll eventually remove this because Google is hostile to things like ReVanced / some spook wants this power.
ADB using two Android smartphones and Termux (https://github.com/termux/termux-app):
* Search for "Smartphone-1 to Smartphone-2" "adb tcpip 5555" in "Motorola moto g play 2024 smartphone, Termux, termux-usb, usbredirect, QEMU running under Termux, and Alpine Linux: Disks with Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) Partition Table (GPT) partitioning": https://old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1j2g5gz/motorola_mot... (old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1j2g5gz/motorola_moto_g_play_2024_smartphone_termux/)
* Search for "termux-adb" in "Motorola moto g play 2024 Smartphone, Android 14 Operating System, Termux, And cryptsetup: Linux Unified Key Setup (LUKS) Encryption/Decryption And The ext4 Filesystem Without Using root Access, Without Using proot-distro, And Without Using QEMU": https://old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1jkl0f8/motorola_mot... (old.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/1jkl0f8/motorola_moto_g_play_2024_smartphone_android_14/)
It's not necessary to use two phones, see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45740033
AFAICT it only works on non-rooted devices when used over USB to access another device, because without root it has no access to the adb server on the phone running termux.
I'm definitely not 100% sure about that though, so someone please correct me if not.
Just tested⁰, it works with WiFi ADB but it has some limitations.
- The pairing process is kinda awkward, you need to split screen Termux and the Wireless debugging submenu, if you change windows the pairing IP and code are changed.
- The pair survives a reboot and WiFi change. You can disable the 7day revocation, so the pairing process is a one time thing.
- After a pair you still need to connect (adb connect localhost:port) and the port changes after a WiFi change or disconnect. I searched for solutions and apparently it's simple as running nmap twice¹
- It obviously doesn't work without a WiFi connection (unless is there some dark magic to connect your phone to its own hotspot).
So a wrapper seems viable if you are ok only installing apps on trusted networks.
[0]: I'm on GrapheneOS but I believe the dev menu is the same.
[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/tasker/comments/1dqm8tq/project_sim...
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Or just install an alternative AOSP-based OS. Ironically one of the best phones for that is the Pixel, because it runs GrapheneOS.