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Cirrus app dev informing the app will stop working on certified android devices in '26/'27 (discuss.tchncs.de)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) by Akip@discuss.tchncs.de to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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Opening my weather app this morning I was greeted by this warning:

Google has announced that, starting in 2026/2027, all apps on certified Android devices will require the developer to submit personal identity details directly to Google. Since the developers of this app do not agree to this requirement, this app will no longer work on certified Android devices after that time.

It's the first time I hear about this, seems to be about:

Tech crunch article from august, "google will require developer verification for android apps outside the play store"

Cirrus app: Github

Was this a big thing I somehow missed? I hope more devs will follow suit.

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[–] Imad@lemmy.world 1 points 9 minutes ago

I got the same alert on Gmaps WV (google map wrapper found f drood) Google is giving us more reasons to switch to a custom ROM

[–] plyth@feddit.org 12 points 3 hours ago

Was this a big thing I somehow missed?

It's one of the many small things that hide the big thing. In 2027 android will be fully locked down, unnecessarily.

The big thing is whatever the lockdown is for.

[–] Alfredolin@sopuli.xyz 10 points 3 hours ago

This news makes me actually sad. I have had high hopes in the last years in the FOSS world, having myself and three other persons move to use Linux as daily driver on Desktop/Laptop.

My phone has FOSS apps only except for banking, health, transport tickets and 2/3 work rekated stuff. My messaging, files and pictures are handled by FOSS apps installed from third parties (F-Droid, Obtainium) on selfhosted servers... I was finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

This news sound to me like the tunnel ahaead is collapsing.

[–] Ertain@mast.linuxgamecast.com 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

@Akip I got this message the other day. It sucks how the app won't work on certified devices next year.

[–] Akip@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 hour ago

Agreed. Google just didn't consent to you getting an app without ads. My hope is maybe we can circumvent it for a while with PWA or browser website bookmarks. Maybe long enough for alternatives to arrive or consumer protection to kick in. I refuse to give up hope even though I might need to abandon android. For now I guess I will just not buy another phone since androids time seems limited. Really hard to find something to recommend to family and friends that just works. My goto grapheneOS also seems more and more cut down with more and more apps refusing to work outside play store downloads or refusing to work on 3rd party OS.

[–] biotin7@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Where are you linux hardware manufacturers ?

[–] Imad@lemmy.world 1 points 7 minutes ago

Syatem76? The same company that made POP OS are making PCs and laptops They claim that they made the laptop with the longest battery life

[–] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Does anyone know if this will affect Android TV?

[–] Mubelotix@jlai.lu 5 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Wait you could install arbitrary apks on android tv?

[–] polle@feddit.org 3 points 1 hour ago

You have an android tv and not smarttube? Your youtube experience will increase ALOT.

[–] aeternum@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 hours ago

Yup. I’ve installed a few that way

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 9 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (2 children)

How easy is it to convert an Android app to a Linux mobile app of you're the developer? If it's written in JVM languages it shouldn't be that hard right?

[–] Ephera@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 hours ago

End-users can use e.g. waydro.id to run Android apps on Linux.

I'm not deep into Android development, but I doubt it's possible to just port an app without basically a complete rewrite. Android has an own layer on top of the JVM, called Zygote, and there's presumably lots of system libraries which the Android apps implicitly depend on, for handling graphics and whatnot, which make tons of assumptions about running on an Android device.

[–] nomadjoanne@lemmy.world 7 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Just use a custom ROM. This sadly will affect app developers. But if you are on a custom ROM without GMS it will continue to work just fine.

[–] HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml 13 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (2 children)

Google is trying to kill custom ROMs too. Also I thought the majority of modern phones aren't bootloader unlockable.

[–] nomadjoanne@lemmy.world 2 points 1 hour ago

Ehhhh... sorta maybe. Ultimately they can't, but they can make development more difficult.

Also Google has nothing to do with whether or not you're bootloader is unlockable. Get a phone that is.

If you rally want to go down the whole FOSS path it does ultimately become a bit of a lifestyle.

[–] MML@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 hours ago

You can unlock the bootloader on just about every phone, just depends on how much effort you want to spend.

[–] Ugurcan@lemmy.world 42 points 19 hours ago (6 children)

Wording of the message implies it’s possible to have uncertified version of Android… Such a thing possible?

[–] unixcat@lemmy.world 64 points 18 hours ago

Yes, like GrapheneOS

[–] Akip@discuss.tchncs.de 41 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

any version of android that's not vendor or downloaded from the official android website

like https://lineageos.org/
https://e.foundation/e-os/
or the aforementioned GrapheneOS
~~calyxos.org (paused)~~

[–] SoulKaribou@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Adding iodé to the list, cocorico !

https://iode.tech/iodeos/

Why everybody always forget about iodé ?

[–] Akip@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 hour ago

first time I hear about it, seems to be based on lineageOS?

What's with the premium tiers? Seems a bit sketchy to be honest.

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[–] Ulrich@feddit.org 106 points 22 hours ago (20 children)

They're not "pulling" the app from anywhere, it's just simply not going to work on "certified devices". This is the end of Android as we know. It's been a good run.

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[–] FriendOfDeSoto@startrek.website 138 points 1 day ago (18 children)

Yes, you must have missed it. And so it begins.

Google is moving to make Android less open source. I'm not sure more devs following suit is going be good for them or their users. The G doesn't give an F.

What we need is an OS fork that gets maintained. If not that, some other workaround that fools the Google servers. Because you can bet money that nobody made from flesh and blood is going to look at this inside Google.

Maybe devs can band together and form Middle Finger Corp. and designate one willing person as their contact to serve as registered dev for a gazillion apps. Follow the letter of the law, not the misguided spirit of it, in a manner of speaking.

If you are sitting on a mobile OS and you were afraid to fail like Windows, maybe now is the time to give it a go?

[–] cdzero@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 hours ago

Hopefully this leads to a lot more development of and for Ubuntu Touch. Biggest issues it faces are lack of compatibility and lack of apps. I think the core is solid though. I used it for a week when switching from iOS (so no Android background) and enjoyed it, but a few too many minor issues built up and I ended up going to Calyx.

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