This isn't -bad- news, but I'm still not impressed. They could have just, you know, not done it in the first place. They don't get credit for partially walking back a bad decision. The "advanced flow" is more likely a dark pattern, and will still have a chilling effect on FOSS uptake and distribution, which is still the intended purpose of the change.

Still going to give Linux phones a shot now that the cats out of the bag.

Reminds me of manifest v3

They just delayed it until people got bored being mad

Building a new way does not adequately means giving up on developer verification. In the last paragraph, Google is also promoting the verification for non-GPlay developers.

Out of all possibilities in this universe, there may be a chance that these new flows include user verification instead of developer.

There should also be a rule to rephrase "sideloading" as "installing from non-Google-approved sources" at this point.

Based on this feedback and our ongoing conversations with the community, we are building a new advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn't verified. We are designing this flow specifically to resist coercion, ensuring that users aren't tricked into bypassing these safety checks while under pressure from a scammer. It will also include clear warnings to ensure users fully understand the risks involved, but ultimately, it puts the choice in their hands. We are gathering early feedback on the design of this feature now and will share more details in the coming months.

Amazing, so basically what everyone said: Put all the big red scary warnings you want but don't make it impossible.
Look how much pushback was needed to reach this obvious common sense solution. Truly incredible.
Thanks for nothing Google 👍

Sorry, I'm seeing someone else.

Couldn't handle the blowback, eh? I doubt this will convince the townsfolk to put down the pitchforks. Might need more walk back.

too late. eat shit and go fuck yourself, Google.

Salamitaktik?

a fairphone with murena /e/os is looking pretty good right about now, or maybe whatever grapheneos is cooking up.

Mort and Baileys tactics

This will buy everybody more time to make/refine/try out normal non-google options, before they inevitably kill it permanently in a few years.

They are not easing up anything. They said there will be small scale testing still possible already. What we need is to say Yes, I want to enable Unknown sources install like we did until now.

So they're addressing students and private hobbyists, but not open source and hobbyists willing to publish.

Sounds like it will be a kind of sideloading onto your own devices.

that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn't verified

So for F-Droid, a vetting and curating publisher, users will have to go through this expert process. The announcement that activation under pressure will be prevented makes me thing of a time cooldown, like activate now, and it becomes active by tomorrow, 24 hours later.

Scamming is a real problem, and to a degree, it may end up being a good thing. As long as Google does not take this opportunity to push hidden agenda of increasing accessibility and choice, to seize more control not for security but as market and platform strategy.

F-Droid says they don't want to impersonate other projects in order to be able to publish their projects, arguably decreasing security, which is a valid concern. As long as there's a setting to allow this kind of sideloading and the use of F-Droid like before, I guess it is what it is, and may be acceptable.

If only they had started from where they are now. It's plainly obvious there's these kinds of users and use-cases. Did they really need "the community feedback" to learn about everything outside of their primary "linear" users?

We are building a new advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn't verified.

Isn't this what we wanted?