403
From F-Droid to emulators, here's who's hit hardest by Android's new verification rules (www.androidauthority.com)
submitted 7 months ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
53 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 72 points 7 months ago (13 children)

Ironically, this may be a catalyst for better Linux Phones

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 13 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (4 children)

    It took 6-10 years for Android to take shape.

    On Linux, every app has full access to your browsing history, clipboard (passwords), photos with geo-tags, music, list of other installed apps, contacts. Unrestricted battery and network access -- it's a tracking paradise. And all it takes is one supply chain attack on npm install with typical 4000K dependency packages

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago (3 children)

    Linux phones have already been around for many years. Right now we're very close to Linux phones that are usable on a daily basis. Not as close to decent Linux phones, of course, but with the right (not at all unrealistic) resources it could be completely within reach in a year or two.

    Also, Flatpaks exist and work pretty much just like Android apps.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    I made a full comment in this thread. The bottomline is

    1. Sandboxing of resources both hardware (gyroscope, network devices) and data (photos, music) takes a lot of trial and error.
    2. There is a need for an ecosystem: i.e. apps sould be able to create calendar events, or access shared mediaplayer — also with permissions
    3. Developers need to adapt to the software ecosystem
    4. Hardware companies e.g. smart watch, projectors, TV need to adapt

    It all takes years.

    Linux phones are around for enthusiasts since Nokia N900 (which was/is a masterpiece) — yet nothing is remotely close to a mainstream phone.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 7 months ago (1 child)

    When I hear 'mainstream phone', in my mind I picture an iPhone or a Samsung. So yeah, Linux phones are definitely not achieving that this decade. Though personally I don't think they necessarily need to, at all.

    Point 4 is probably not happening any time soon, if ever, either. Rest is slowly being done and progressing, so I'm not seeing any major problems there.

    I don't think anyone realistically expects a Linux phone to compete with an iPhone in terms of ease of use, quality of life features or UI/UX. As far as I've seen, people just want a decent phone with basic functionalities like long battery life, good camera, easy to use and smooth UI, maps and navigation. All while being more private and secure, of course.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    Mainstream phone as in "I don't need to debug it via terminal"

    The issue I'm pointing at: safe, long battery life, snappy maps while driving is what took AOSP more than 5 years.

    It would be very unfortunate to discard all that work and start from scratch.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [+] -53 points 7 months ago (5 children)

    You cannot sideload on Linux, not unless you're some sort of mutant freak who can reverse engineer C code.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 33 points 7 months ago

    Yeah we can do that. What do you think side loading means? Changing the name of an install doesn't make it different. Back in my day we called it installing a program. Things changed. Then we called it downloading an app. Things changed. Now if it's not approved it's called side loading? Blow it out your ass.

    Its a program. Take the training wheels off of the Internet. I grew up when this was a cautionary tale. But up and deal with the consequences or get out.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 16 points 7 months ago

    I guess you are joking? And mean "side-loading" as in injecting custom code via LD_PRELOAD and not the strange definition phone makers use for describing 'installing an app'.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 10 points 7 months ago (2 children)

    How would reverse engineering c code be side loading? You can get .deb, .rpm etc and install them on your distro as long as it supports the format, regardless of who developed the app, and honestly even if it doesn't support the format there are ways. You can even compile the source code of more Linux apps, at least the FOSS ones, with just a few commands. If anything it would be more realistic to say you can ONLY side load on Linux

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •