Google has news on what you will need to do for still being able to sideload apps:

[argv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.org]

@nazokiyoubinbou

Apparently this is how you unlock the boot loader on a phone in order to install a different OS:

How to unlock the bootloader of an Android Phone

Unlocking the Bootloader allows you to install custom firmware on your Android phone and gives you full access privileges to make modifications to...

iFixit (www.ifixit.com)

And I thought having to turn off UEFI Secure Boot was offensive. Yikes! That's an awful lot of hoops to jump through, can't be done without first agreeing to the stock OS terms and conditions (my inner Stallman is very upset with that), and it requires a whole separate computer to do it with!

@FifiSch @grote

[epic_null@infosec.exchange]

@nazokiyoubinbou @FifiSch @grote Consider the failure state. If a user fails to set up installing outside programs, they can still use their phone and make calls. If a user fails to install a new OS, they have no phone until they succeed.

[lexinova@cyberplace.social]

@nazokiyoubinbou @FifiSch @grote sadly we don't have any other credible alternative.

bank and country already have great difficulty accepting the very hardened graphene os.

so don't expect linux phone or lineage to be allowed anytime soon

[snejpro@digitalcourage.social]

@woosh @grote

Yeah, the only problem i have with this approach: when I get a new phone I have to wait 24h until I can install my apps.

[harisont@mstdn.social]

@grote "sideloading", "power user"... all expressions that deliberately make it sound like installing a program of your choice on your computing device is this strange thing that hackers do

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@argv_minus_one @FifiSch @grote Well, they made it more complicated than it seems. Running adb reboot bootloader is the fastest, most universal way to get to the bootloader, but every phone has a button combo you can use while turning it on. LineageOS instructions usually just tell you to do that I think.

The instructions do also make it sound more complicated than it actually is. When you get down to it, it really is "tap a few things, then copy and paste a couple of commands."

[roughnecks@mastodon.social]

@grote

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

(www.youtube.com)

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@Epic_Null @FifiSch @grote That's the assumption, yes.

Two things.

First, you can just flash again if you for some reason did something stupid like yanking out the cord while it was transferring.

Second, modern Android devices usually use two separate partitions. When you flash it goes to whichever it's not currently using. So if you render it broken and for some reason can't flash again, you can still just boot the first.

Again, people have let themselves be convinced to be scared of things rather than trying them.

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@lexinova @FifiSch @grote I mean, when I said "we need something open" I didn't mean I expected it to happen. I only mean that it's what we need.

I need about three medical operations. Not going to happen. Because this is the kind of society we live in. Money rules all.

[lexinova@cyberplace.social]

@nazokiyoubinbou @FifiSch @grote just hope EU DSA wake up and make a stop to that in EU at minimum, could like GDPR trigger other block to do the same.

[pelle@mastodon.ie]

I wonder if by doing this you set out a flag that could trigger security alarms or block access to bank apps and DRM apps as Netflix, the same way as having the phone rooted or with a custom ROM

[nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social]

@lexinova @FifiSch @grote Yes, that sort of thing would be great.

But... seeing age gate stuff still happening despite being a violation of the GDPR, I wonder even for stuff like that these days. *Sigh*

[elrohir@mastodon.gal]

@grote It would be very important to find out if banks and other critical apps will have the liberty to block users who have changed this setting, too.

It would be one thing to go through this whole ordeal once forever. And it would be another thing to do all of this, install my desired app, and then disable it again to get my bank app working on the daily, and then rinse and repeat for every new install I want to make a few weeks later.

[kdude@mastodon.social]

@grote @thornbill …for now, until they dictate some new hoops to jump through

[calcprogrammer1@mastodon.social]

@grote 24 hours of not owning my phone is evil. This is stupid. I'm fine with everything but the pointless 24 hour wait and the biometric requirement. Give us your personally identifiable information and wait in phone purgatory for 24 hours to actually be able to own your device? Ridiculous.

[tedmielczarek@mastodon.social]

@tehstu @grote bold of you to assume that multibillion-dollar companies play by the same rules as average developers. If Apple locked down macOS installation to the App Store Google would just call them up and negotiate an exception (if Apple didn't just build one in from the outset).

[razemix@mamutovo.cz]

@nazokiyoubinbou @FifiSch @grote First problem: The user needs to know what an OS even is and that they're using one.
Second problem: The user needs to realize that they can use a different OS.
Third problem: The user needs to know the exact model/codename of their phone, find a suitable OS, unlock bootloader, probably install adb and/or other tools (if there is no WebUSB option), etc.

Should I continue?

[windofchange@mastodon.online]

@grote burn Google, burn Android. They are no longer useful to a human race.

[gorgon_zola@digitalcourage.social]

@grote 🤮🤮🤮 Fuck #Google!
#digitalsovereignty

[itsfriday@toot.community]

@Kdude @grote @thornbill Jep, it will change. We can bet on how long it will take until the new normal gets worse.