I don't know what the reasons are for the company going bottoms up, but I hope the developer can sustain themselves otherwise and continue making opensource contributions.

I have heard it has some security problems as well, which might be a big deal if your threat level is higher. At the same time, Aurora store works without google play services installed, doesn't that have some privacy benefits? I have heard that google play services in GrapheneOS has the same permissions as a regular app, however, I still feel the pull to be without them on my main profile and feel like I don't really get the implications of that. Maybe it collects less data but surely it's still a lot?

I get server busy all the time when downloading now

Wow, I'm negatively impressed, but I guess this happens when you have lazy contributors who just toss some unverified AI output at you and keep complaining that stuff isn't implemented or fixed. We get what we deserve, maybe.

Saw protonmail screenshotted and got triggered. @protonprivacy@mastodon.social refuses to make an fdroid build. It's one of the reasons I stopped using them (and their CEO supports Trump).

it's working for some apps

Ignorance is the problem, most people don't know there are alternatives to the Playstore.

Oh it's not a me problem this time? I thought my firewall was somehow blocking it but I just did a download both with and without a VPN on, so I guess it is Google banning shit like usual...

The GrapheneOS team explicitly recommends against installing the aurora store for that exact reason. If you can install the stock play store with a burner email then the aurora store doesn't actually give much of a privacy benefit (you are still uniquely identified either way) but aurora store is playing a game of whack-a-mole with Google.

WHY IS THIS MY FIRST TIME LEARNING ABOUT THIS‽

Hells yeah! Awesome!

Fix your title. It doesnt match the link's title

Well yes but nobody forces devs to only upload on Playstore, they simply do because they suck. Even quite a few open source projects!

Ah I see thanks for the correction

The issue isn't installing the Aurora Store, it's using it after install.

Aurora Store allows (allowed?) people to download apps from the Play Store without logging in - frankly I'm shocked it lasted this long to begin with. It gives full access to the Play Store library (you still have to log in for paid apps), but it serves a very different service from Obtanium, F-Droid and the rest

It's still working on my phone.

The title is misleading, GrapheneOS users are the only ones who have an alternative lol

Most other open source Android builds simply rely on Aurorastore and we see how unreliable that is

/e/OS uses some weird shady appstore that contains a lot of playstore malware (literally anything) and is completely intransparent.

Apkmirror and apkpure rely on other people extracting and uploading APKs.

Tips for everyone

Install the following apps:

VerifiedAppsAndroid (Github) also available through their F-Droid repo

This app contains a growing database of signatures so you can verify that APKs you get are legit. Make sure to submit all the playstore apps you rely on, as those are especially affected!

Signature of the app:

org.privacyguides.verifiedapps
40:5C:6B:D2:CA:7C:3A:AE:8F:46:3C:6F:8B:55:BC:F0:DD:AC:43:1C:5E:D8:EA:FF:65:D1:06:C9:81:7A:20:7F

Vadhod APK Extractor contains AI code but it is the only updated and well working app I know that can extract split-APKs and regular ones. Also it doesnt need filesystem permissions!

Universal Installer allows you to install split-APK files like you might get from extracting Playstore apps.

It might be a good idea to make an F-Droid repo with essential proprietary apps, as the combination with VerifiedApps allows users to not need to trust the repo but be able to verify the App's origin securely. Android will only allow updates if the signature matches, so you only need to do this once on install.

Note that Obtainium+Apkpure have frequently installed 32bit APKs on recent Android phones that still supported those, which is a security issue. Might not happen if your phone doesnt even support them anymore like recent Pixels do.

I use obtainium because I'm a big nerd loser but f-droid works fine anyways; you can install all the stores you want, including aurora

Yeah, the person who opened the case uses CalyxOS. I'm getting the issue on a manufacturer build, OxygenOS **updating is fine but installing a new app is not

Google scared of a little competition, easy lawsuit for being anticompetitive, not the first one either.

Doesn't sound like it's specific to grapheneos. It's probably on any android.

Don't be afraid to use grapheneos. Grapheneos works perfectly fine. It's a normal android just with more control over your phone.

Are they sure that's supposed to say "merge" and not "morge"?

Oh rad PDFs have always sucked

Reminder that VLC has been to the moon and back.

Most users have no idea that it's much more than a video player. The interface is sofa king bad for anything BUT video playing.

Even just playing videos, it doesn't have reverse step frame-by-frame, because they outright refuse to implement it, even though other players have had it for many years without any problems.