E: apparently it needs to be said that I am not suggesting you switch to Linux on your phone today; just that development needs to accelerate. Please don't be one of the 34 people that replied to tell me Linux is not ready.
Android has always been a fairly open platform, especially if you were deliberate about getting it that way, but we've seen in recent months an extremely rapid devolution of the Android ecosystem:
- The closing of development of an increasing number of components in AOSP.
- Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus have removed the option of bootloader unlocking on all of their devices. I suspect Google is not far behind.
- Google implementing Play Integrity API and encouraging developers to implement it. Notably the EU's own identity verification wallet requires this, in stark contrast to their own laws and policies, despite the protest of hundreds on Github.
- And finally, the mandatory implementation of developer verification across Android systems. Yes, if you're running a 3rd-party OS like GOS you won't be directly affected by this, but it will impact 99.9% of devices, and I foresee many open source developers just opting out of developing apps for Android entirely as a result. We've already seen SyncThing simply discontinue development for this reason, citing issues with Google Play Store. They've also repeatedly denied updates for NextCloud with no explanation, only restoring it after mass outcry. And we've already seen Google targeting any software intended to circumvent ads, labeling them in the system as "dangerous" and "untrusted". This will most certainly carry into their new "verification" system.
Google once competed with Apple for customers. But in a world where Google walks away from the biggest antitrust trial since 1998 with yet another slap on the wrist, competition is dead, and Google is taking notes from Apple about what they can legally get away with.
Android as we know it is dead. And/or will be dead very soon. We need an open replacement.
Walking away does not solve the problem. It just makes it no longer your problem. Everyone else still has to deal with it. Not everyone has that privilege.
If we all stopped the world would adapt. The council let the street signs rot because everyone is on gmaps, restaurants stopped having menus just qr codes, places in England were you get kicked out if you insist to pay by cash.
All of it would be reversed if.. we reversed A pipe dream but weirder things happened
Kicked out for using cash? You are serious? That is so backwards... What about old people who don't use smartphones and use the old school landline? And if a restaurant didn't have a paper menu, and wouldn't offer me one, I would just walk right out. Clearly, they don't want people's business. It should be accessible to anyone who is willing to pay. Not just smartphone users. What kind of dystopian fate is this? That's like discrimination for not owning... an algorithmic pushing slot machine. lol
Plus, people use their smartphones everywhere. Even in the bathroom. Then they bring it to the dinner table? That's so gross. Horribly unsanitary.
They did reverse the cash ting at the pub, every day a different customer would have a proper argument about it. Don't ask why I was there everyday tho
It's a pub. I think there should be no questions 🤣
For observing the chaos over that poor decision? 😂
Okay well let me know when you get everyone to stop. Until then...
You keep on supporting it, then it will never change. Just like supporting the smartphone ecosystem still. It has way too much power over people's lives. Sorry, it's not healthy.
People can change things if they really want to. The real issue is that most don’t want to because they are tied to a bunch of mainstream junk on their phones; thanks to those manipulative algorithms. And that is what you need to realize. Until then, you'll never be free.
Yes and no. Some of us actually need our phones to accomplish things. Work, primarily. As people mentioned elsewhere, simple things like accessing their banking accounts. I wish we didn't, but we do.
I’d never do banking on a smartphone; not in a million years. One theft or hack in public, and all your money and data are at risk. Beyond that, people put far too much of their lives into their phones, and that’s the bigger problem. And that's the aspect you want to keep avoiding.
They're not doing it by choice. The phone is used as mandatory authentication to access the account.
...and how do you suppose your laptop is immune from this? Or your desktop, even?
I'm not avoiding anything. What you fail to understand is that not everyone's situation is the same as yours. For some of us, these things are outside of our control.
I have a separate flip phone with a number to get a verification code to access my bank account at home. It's only used for getting codes (and nothing else). So, no chance of a SIM swapping.
I just said I do my online banking at home (with a local only encrypted password manager; KeePassXC). Why would I do online banking in public in general when I do my online banking at home? In public, that's taking a huge risk; regardless of the device you use. I just couldn’t dream of doing anything confidential in public; cafes, trains, anywhere. It’s a huge unnecessary risk, and I choose to avoid it entirely.
And you are avoiding everything I am telling you, choosing to continue to make excuses for yourself. That's why you will forever be where you are.
I don't think you understand how SIM swapping works but that's an irrelevant tangent, so I digress.
You are still not understanding what I'm saying: Many banks require an app to be installed on a mobile device (that is, iOS or Android) for account verification in order to access your account. Nothing at all to do with your SIM. You cannot access your account without this app being installed on a mobile device.
Who said anything about doing banking in public?
No. You are.
We're done here.
Keep on avoiding the issue then, and keep up the good fight with the smartphone ecosystem. It will never end for you. For as long as you defend the smartphone ecosystem, and that you want to avoid the fact that the smartphone controls your life. This is what I mean; tech, like the smartphone isn't serving the user anymore. Instead, the smartphone has become your master. And you, its slave.
Just look around; people walking down the street with their heads buried in their phones. It tells you all you need to know about who is the master and who is the slave.
PS: Use a different bank if they force you to only use an app. Just a thought? Just like restaurants forcing QR codes; walk away. You can make the choice any time you like. 🙂
Over here, banks aren’t allowed to do SMS codes anymore period. So tell me how I should solve the second factor required by law when all „dumb tech“ alternatives aren’t available anymore due to laws and regulations?
What a shitty law. Is this in the UK? If so, figures.
Well, if the bank apps only support Android and iPhone, you're pretty much hooped. Aren't you? A Linux phone won't help you.
So, the only option is to use the smartphone for nothing but the silly app. Or, do things the old way. Go to the bank and do your banking there.
Then just use the flip phone for the everything else.