Edit: Replaced “Restrictions” in place of the word “Ban”
Waiting for someone in Europe to sue them.
I use F-droid for everything. I’d truly be fucked.
Chaos and rebellion.
Sell off any phones that I can’t modify. Aggressively de-Google while setting up fake accounts to send garbage into their system training.
Light my way with the burning of bridges.
Hoping that EU comes to the rescue.
google saw that EU allowed apple to do something similar, so why not take the chance to lock the garden…
Nah they wont.
Sure, they are really good on the right-to-repair issue, but that’s because they want to be more independent and less reliant on other countries to make new phones. As for privacy and information control, the government don’t really have an incentive to give people more privacy and freedoms. They are still trying to pass chat control with a majority of the EU members in support (the only reason its not passed yet is because EU laws need to be unanimous)
You obviously don’t understand EU, it’s far from only right to repair, but EU has many protections against American shenanigans, like tracking and storing of personal data, and right to be forgotten (GDPR). EU Also dictated Apple should allow sideloading, something Apple of course mostly circumvented, but they could face steep fines for that too.
EU also has way stricter regulation than USA and UK on mass surveillance. And generally way better consumer protection than USA.EU also mandates de-anonymisation online: (1). EU also plans to have every single message one send scanned by them.
I think the reasoning behind their decisions is simply summed up as: more power to the EU administration, less freedom for everyone else, be it US tech giants, EU citizens or small software developers.
FUD
For the immediate future, I’ll be all set with GrapheneOS.
Beyond that, I’ll suffer whatever inconveniences I need to in order to avoid this bullshit. If that means I can’t use my banking apps, I’ll find a better bank, or use the web site, or just say “fuck it all” and stop banking on my phone altogether. I’ve already given up NFC payments. It’s not the end of the world.
This will only become a bigger pain in the ass as time goes on, I’m sure, but I will die on this hill. I suggest that everyone draw their lines in the sand sooner rather than later.
this pain in the ass seems to be cyclic with regards to open source things. over the last 30 odd years of my being in the flow of doing my own thing with my own hardware, it seems like we hit peaks and valleys of “company does something frustrating” -> “community sorts it out”. rinse and repeat.
it’ll be bumpy but someone will figure it out and we’ll start the cycle again.
I hope so. There is some apps that I’ve simply grown accustomed to using on a phone and I know will not be supported on a Linux phone
Yep. Me too. I’ll be OK for now with GrapheneOS, and as time goes on I’ll make changes as needed. I’m actually optimistic things will work out before it gets to that point, but if it doesn’t I’m willing to do what I need to. I will die on the hill with you.
I’m so tired of this shit man, I no longer have any real plan.
I’m seriously considering carrying the smallest x86/ARM Tablet capable of running Linux I can alongside some cheap phone for 4G hotspot and calls/strictly necessary.Guess PC land is the last place we still have freedom (for now!!! 🙄🙄🙄)
If my job didn’t require MS Authenticator I would just be carrying around a dumb phone and my work laptop.
My job requires MS Authenticator and I just use Aegis to make my TOTPs.
Is there a deeper MS Auth feature that locks you in?
Yeah, they don’t allow us to use TOTPs. It’s “passkeys only” through MS Authenticator. Using anything else causes the 365 dashboard to refuse to onboard.
Not for long, the Microsoft boot secure thing is sus
I’m not one to bang on about the year of Linux, but honestly, the floor is falling out from under ‘consumer Windows,’ and they are doing little to stop it.
At some point, even OEMs are going to get fed up and start offering their own wine/proton centric distros on some laptops/big tablets. They will be awful and bloated, and business laptops will probably be stuck with Windows forever, but still.
Fedora is a thing
You can use a MiFi router with tablet and a dumbphone just for calls.
Honestly no idea. It’s hard enough finding a phone with an audio jack, and now I have to find a phone with an audio jack, and an unlockable bootloader so I can install another OS?
Just seems like my way of living is incompatible with modern society. It’s all just too hard
Just seems like my way of living is incompatible with modern society. It’s all just too hard
I know right?
Used a locked phone! Submit your ID to the web! Create a Instagram account! SUBMIT! SUBMIT! SUBMIT!yeah so hard to switch to wireless audio. horrible even.
Idk if you’re aware of this. But phones with headphones jacks still have Bluetooth. I use wireless earphones occasionally (and yes, it is horrible) but I also need to be able to plug in to my home hi-fi system
Once my phone becomes that limited I may as well go back to a feature phone after mine stops being usable.
- I’ll believe it when I see it.
- I’ll begin transitioning to a different linux-based os
Trying to import a Pixel 10 from outside of the states for the Sim slot.
The GrapheneOS and run it into the ground.
I really hope Graphene partners with Fairphone, helps them get their security up to par, and make the Fairphone the official Graphene phone.
Then I could just use Fairphone forever.
The 10 might not get graphene due to changes in the way the hardware is done. If you want graphene now, grab a pixel 9 instead. Or at least wait till they have an official statement for it.
They have officially stated that they can support the 10 now, but it will have to wait until after the port to QPR1. https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/1960792610114511190#m
Ahh right on. Hadn’t seen that. Thanks for telling me!
The ban is only in Brazil, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. Terrible, and those are some of the bigger markets, but I am not affected in a years time. I will have to see more as we approach the date on working around it.
The change is global, but it’s hitting those countries first (2026).
From the official post about the change:
- October 2025: Early access begins. Invitations will be sent out gradually.
- March 2026: Verification opens for all developers.
- September 2026: These requirements go into effect in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. At this point, any app installed on a certified Android device in these regions must be registered by a verified developer.
- 2027 and beyond: We will continue to roll out these requirements globally.
I think it was clear I know about it, because I said “in a year’s time”. I even already sent this exact timeline in this thread
What’s their PR flavour text for that?
And how does a company get the authority to do a “ban”? Isn’t that supposed to be a Government thing?
Seems like their real goal is to make the users of their devices as vulnerable as possible. How?
- First they remove the ability for other apps to record phone conversations, so we can’t use call recorder apps
- Then, in the recording feature of their own app, they don’t record the part where it says, “This call is being recorded”, making it possible for anyone to claim that they had not been informed of the call being recorded.
- While the phone goes screen-off and lock in 15 seconds (that’s the timer I set) when doing something useful, like reading stuff on a website, if I leave it on the home screen, it seems to randomly decide sometimes that it doesn’t want to turn off (last I checked, I waited for > 2minutes before I pressed the off button myself)
- and then using the off button too much, will make it go bad faster, which will then not have a replacement.
- they will definitely call this a “bug” if the matter falls out of their hand. But until then, they will keep on denying it. Do they even read bug reports?
This comment is very conspiratorial. While this change is making people more vulnerable to malware and lessening their freedom, the screen lock thing is complete nonsense. Your launcher has been given permission to keep the screen on. If it is the system launcher and that permission was provided automatically, all you need to do is use another launcher.
The official Google blogpost states this timeline:
-
October 2025: Early access begins. Invitations will be sent out gradually.
-
March 2026: Verification opens for all developers.
-
September 2026: These requirements go into effect in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. At this point, any app installed on a certified Android device in these regions must be registered by a verified developer.
-
2027 and beyond: We will continue to roll out these requirements globally.
There is no PR stunt here, just the need to read. Unless you are considering a PR stunt the claim that it is 50 times more likely to get malware from outside of the Play Store, that is just a complete lie as the Play Store is filled to the brim with malware.
If it is the system launcher and that permission was provided automatically, all you need to do is use another launcher.
I am using stock android on a smartphone that was in the Android One program. I have not changed the the launcher.
My expectation when keeping the Google first party screen lock thing is for it to not make it easier for me to make the mistake of leaving the phone unlocked.At this point, any app installed on a certified Android device in these regions must be registered by a verified developer.
And that will mean that if I were to feel like making my own app for the smallest of things and just install it on my own phone, I need to tell Google: “Hey! I am programming for Android!” as if they don’t already have enough of my data.
And then sideloading would probably require signing it with a certificate, so Google will always know that I made a software and installed it on my phone.There is no PR stunt here
Yes. There is no PR “stunt” here. Not everything that includes PR is a stunt.
Using the phrase “PR flavour text” refers to whatever PR is saying to make the actions of a company, seem less controversial. And that is the main job of a company’s PR department.
In this case, it is:
‘This change aims to reduce malware and scams associated with unverified apps, as sideloaded apps are significantly more likely to contain malicious software’And yes, that thing is a lie as you already explained. That is why I call it PR flavour text.
2027 and beyond: We will continue to roll out these requirements globally.
This just gives me a deadline for switching to a Linux phone.
Seems to have come earlier than what I thought I would be able to manage, but I will have to manage somehow.
-
There hasn’t been anything Google on my phone for a while now, so I’ll first wait and see how they regain control over my phone :D
the “:D” really made the comment, its like the “this is fine” meme, but simplified to 2 characters xD
Basically, yes
All we can really do is deal with shit as it arises, but it’s still shit
We’ll have to see how they implement it first. If it’s just through Play Protect, I’m fine as I’m already not using that. If not, guess I’ll have to make-do with a Linux phone.
I’m probably going to spam this around a bit, since most people don’t seem to know about it, but a reminder that FuriLabs has a (GNU+)Linux phone with decent spec.s and the ability to run Android app.s (from what I’ve heard) pretty decently: https://furilabs.com/
Biggest drawback is it’s based on Halium. Usual growing pains of a new product/company apply but apparently the company is pretty responsive and their dev.s have worked with customers to get things like calling working with the carrier and bands of their country where it hasn’t worked before so improvements move pretty quickly.
Collection of different experiences I’ve variously seen online over the last year or so:
- https://clehaxze.tw/gemlog/2025/07-20-flx1-actually-usable-linux-phone.gmi
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41839326
- https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1fa1ljn/furilabs_flx1/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1j46f2w/flx1_linux_phone_display_out/
- https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/03/furiphone_flx1/
I don’t own one, myself, so I can’t give any personal experience but I’ve seen it around for a few years now but most people don’t seem to even know about it. Maybe there’s a reason for that? But none I’ve ever seen anyone say.
(all that said, – if they take PayPal – I’m gonna buy one with PayPal credit as soon as humanly feasible; the end goal, for me, was always to move to Mobile Linux, eventually, so I’m very interested to try out if this makes it finally feasible, for me)
This is what I have my eye on. That or a sailfish phone. Reviews seem really good so they gives me hope. Still going to be inconsistencies but that’s a tradeoff I’d make.
FLX1 has an audio jack, SD card, and removable battery?? If they continue to develop this (if it doesn’t die by the wayside, as the others have), and Signal continues to work on it, I’m in! From this cursory look, it seems to be exactly what I was looking for.
Edit: holy crap. It’s bigger than the Pixel 7 Pro.
Pixel 7 Pro FLX1 162.9mm 171mm 76.6mm 82mm 8.9mm 12mm I think I want this. I just can’t do without rcs messaging. My family won’t switch to the apps
So how long until celluar providers also say you have to have a trusted device to activate your SIM? Apple, Google, Samsung, automotive and Windows would be fine and they’d probably allow their branded or limited hotspots.
This would basically eliminate any Linux option (pc or phone), and DIY devices. I could see other OOB vendors getting on board to be certified to have a certificate issued to them.
Not impossible, but SIMs go in all kinds of devices nowadays including tons of generic IOT gadgets.
