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this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2026
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https://keepandroidopen.org/
Google says "power users" can "still install" unverified apps. Here's what that actually looks like:
Delve into System Settings, find About Phone
Tap the build number seven times to enable Developer Mode
Dismiss scare screens about coercion
Enter your PIN
Restart the device
Wait 24 hours
Come back, dismiss more scare screens
Pick "allow temporarily" (7 days) or "allow indefinitely"
Confirm, again, that you understand "the risks"
Nine steps. A mandatory 24-hour cooling-off period. For installing software on a device you own.
Worse: this flow runs entirely through Google Play Services, not the Android OS. Google can change it, tighten it, or kill it at any time, with no OS update required and no consent needed.
It won't be a problem on a de-googled phone. Get it running LineageOS or GrapheneOS. Then install F-Droid (and probably Aurora store too). Some Google junk won't work, but you'll soon be more limited by having Google services on your phone than not having it.
Hardly the point though. For us this is a bother at most, but we can cope because we're already doing our own thing and know what we want. Imagine trying to get your non tech-savvy friends to "sideload" (install) an app from outside the Play Store. Right now it's not a big deal, so if they're interested in the app, they'll likely install it. But this amount of friction and scary warnings is way more likely to stop them.
If one looks at the supported devices pages (which I do regularly hoping that it supports mine) it's easy to see that 99% of devices on the market simply can't use them.
Yeah, it's been getting harder as time goes on. It's basically only pixels that are supported and still on the shelf.
MicroG too, though.
Worse - that 24 hour timer? You only have a short window of time once it finishes to continue, otherwise you have to wait another 24 hours.
This happened to me :(
Under the assumption this is a non negotiable thing...
They should at least let you alter the timer if you know you might not be able to
Like if in the post 24h window you know you'll be busy, let you make it 28h instead of 24h
i hadnt thought about it before but i just had the realization that im not even gonna be able to have 3rd party apps AND my banking app in the same phone (cuz it doesnt like developer options being enabled). uhm shit
I unlocked my phone's bootloader. I'm on the oem OS, up to date, no root, just unlocked the bootloader. Now my device is "not certified" and a lot of apps that have no business caring about my "certification status" don't work (like my phone operator app). That's if the playstore lets me download it in the first place: "this app is not compatible with your device"
Latest Android update will hide developer options supposedly from apps. However, it's on Android 17
The worst part is for non tech savvy people.
Non-tech savvy people don't even care, don't even think about this, and don't know anything about it.
No, some of they do care, but just have problems learning tech stuff or were excluded from digital education at the critical age, or have in general learning difficulties.
My mom wants to still be able to install and uninstall anything she wants on her phone, but she's elder (and is neurodivergent, too, as me) and has difficulties understanding and learning about tech stuff.
You're making a hasty generalization based on just a composition fallacy (some non tech savvy people don't care at all, yes, but those are not all of the non tech savvy people).
You shouldn't be conflating both things as if it were the same, and even if they were the same (which they're NOT), that wouldn't make your comment less bad. They're still victims of the Big Tech propaganda and marketing and of their massive social, cultural and political influence campaigns.
Please, don't be such a dickhead.
Show me one non-tech savvy person that is installing anything that isn't in the Android Play Store already. And that person has to have come up with this on their own and it wasn't somebody like you who maybe tech savvy showing them how to do this I've been in IT for 21 years and I can guarantee no one is doing that.
A non tech-savvy person may not be aware of the extent of digital surveillance and the rights they give up on their data unless someone who is aware tells them about it.
Even after becoming aware - the inconvenience of switching to something else forces them to stay in that ecosystem unless someone helps them out of it. Many of them care enough to want to stop or limit their exposure to big tech, but without someone tech savvy to help they won't know where to start.
Why is this a requirement?
Plenty of people who would use privacy-respecting, free software that a tech-savvy friend likes and uses will now have to go through this process and probably decide it isn't worth it.
... and are probably already happy with the factory installed apps.
This is why rooting is great and if you re worried about banking apps, KernelSU is very good at blocking detection and keyboxs for the hardware attestation get leaked weekly.
This is why antitrust law is great... or would be, if we fucking had it anymore!
Technological workarounds are not the same thing as actual solutions.
I don't have hope for a solution.
https://github.com/tiann/KernelSU
what????
also, what do you do with the leaked keyboxes? does kernelsu handle them too, or do you use a different tool for that?
I use play integrity fix and tricky store. Everytime it is revoked, I change it to an unrevoked one. KernelSu hide the root and modules.
We don't hear this enough. Google doesn't hear this enough.
Also, no autoupdates!
I recently learned that this setting actually persist after migrating to another phone.
that would be only if you chose to backup and restore your android settings
Which is perfect for them to keep tying your profile information across the board in yet another way. Fuck that.
Do you create a new Google account every time you change phones? They're already tying everything to you
I have 1 Google account use specifically for spammy shit. That account is tied to a completely fictional person and lives inside 1 chromium browser.
My phones and computers have never seen a Google account other than inside the VM that runs that browser.
The same procedure applies if you want to unlock the bootloader?
Edit: OK nvm it must be done to unlock the developer's option