this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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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.

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:

  1. The closing of development of an increasing number of components in AOSP.
  2. Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus have removed the option of bootloader unlocking on all of their devices. I suspect Google is not far behind.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

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[–] mr_right@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 55 minutes ago

indeed, android has been a shit show for the last couple of months and its not looking good

[–] Tydragon@feddit.it 15 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

Check out postmarketOS, a real Linux distro for phones with a 10-year life cycle goal and mainline kernel support. It’s not daily-driver ready for everyone, but it frees you from Google and OEM lockdowns. If we want an open mobile future, this is the project worth supporting.

[–] StupidBrotherInLaw@lemmy.world 6 points 4 hours ago

This looks great. If we collectively threw some funding behind a few worthy projects, even at 1-10€ per person, it could really accelerate development.

[–] ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 1 points 4 hours ago

Sounds good. I wish there was something for samsung s23s.

[–] wowwoweowza@lemmy.world 10 points 4 hours ago

I’m about a tech zero skill but I am at Lemmy for THIS news. Thank you for resisting complete shitification hegemony. Resist!

[–] mariusafa@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I just hope that this time we go Free Software and not committing the mistake of going Open Source for a 3rd time (BSD/UNIX AT&T; Android/Google). Unless we want to fall with the same stone yet once more.

Android going Open Source allowed Google to close Android once it got mature. It's a Trojan Horse, yet people still go Open Source and then complain when some company closes their source.

[–] smiletolerantly@awful.systems 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

How exactly does Free, non-open-source software prevent that?

[–] bufalo1973@europe.pub 2 points 1 hour ago

Because the license allows the closing of the code whenever a coder wants. BSD has that problem. It gives so much freedom that it can go against freedom itself. Microsoft took Kerberos (BSD), forked it and extended it. The MS fork gained ground against the BSD one and MS closed the source when its fork was the most used, pushing out the original BSD version.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 4 points 5 hours ago

Though we can't use the android name and logo, the software that was open so far is still open for use.

Take that part and continue building from there

[–] jjlinux@lemmy.zip 6 points 5 hours ago

By the way, outside of our brawl down below, I do agree with you 100% that having a fully functional and modern Linux phone would be an amazing thing to have.

[–] Regrettable_incident@lemmy.world 13 points 7 hours ago

I'll switch away from Android when there's a good alternative, but I'm not very technical and need something with a nice GUI and an easy installation process. Hopefully Linux will offer something like that someday, but I don't think it's there yet.

[–] viewports@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 hours ago

It would be cool to see people move beyond the standard smartphone and into some sort of hotspot and linux based palmtop or umpc like setup

I had something like that in the early 2000s with a nokia n800 and it worked well enough I'm sure it would be even better now

[–] Busyvar@jlai.lu 11 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Currently i am looking for a Jolla phone https://commerce.jolla.com/products/jolla-community-phone

They are private company but seems to be very user friendly and carefull with their dev community. What do you think about them folks?

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