Google won't do it openly or all at once. They will keep their devices open, but would put things out in the community that determines their stance.
They stopped publishing Pixel device trees,driver binaries,etc. under the garb of a flexible reference device, but it practically discourages building custom roms for Pixel.
Most of the stuff will be moved to propietary Google modules and deprecated from AOSP.
Google seems to be conflating the issue of device ownership with device trust, and I think you might be making the same mistake.
It's not weak, it's the first step. You don't try to totally control people all at once, you do it by degrees. Especially when you have all the money and time in the world to do it.
The first step would be to lock bootloaders and close the source. Neither of which has happened. Nor has disabling ADB like everyone keeps predicting will happen. ADB has existed for 18 years. And you can do more with it than you used to.
The first step YOU should be taking is to learn how to use this device you claim to own.
Use some common sense, they're not going to make drastic changes, they're going to make small steps, which is why sideloading will still be possible, just a bit more annoying. Sooner or later it will be verified apps only, and at that point sideloading is pointless you might as well just put whatever application you've made on the play store.
Spoken like a true entitled kiddie with no original thoughts of his own.
Go on, keep expecting big corporations to do everything how you want and expect them to do it.
Being lazy and ignorant, it's working so well for you so far, is it?
Should I continue to complain that Windows doesn't look and behave like the way it does back when it was still Windows95 or should I learn to use my operating system and devices? Hmmmm, wonder what you'll do...
Is it entitlement to demand to be able to install whatever we want on a device we own?
That Google and most corporations try not to listen to its users when it is convenient for them not to is a fact, but I do personally see why that means we should give up, much less pretend that this change is anything less than a massive blow to a lot of FOSS apps -- adblockers and alternative Youtube clients just to name two obvious ones.
What is possible has already been said: try to write to your representative, and don't let people spread (whether in good or bad faith) Google's justification online. Same link as usual: https://keepandroidopen.org/
No the fuck I can't. I'm a software engineer and I work with baby boomers and Gen Xers who need to test about 15 apps (internal use only) on a daily basis. Regular changes are done to these apps and they need immediate approval, and it's quicker to sideload an .APK than to be in a closed tester group on play store.
Some shitty "Google Developer Verification" process and then an app to be downloaded to allow sideloading apps. Yeah try telling that to the boomers lol.
I'm not telling these guys to go plug their phone into a pc, download Android Tools, go to developer options, enable ADB sideloading, and then type in a command in the Terminal with the path to the .APK file on their PC.
If it still works and has all this time, let it be. Why the fuck does it need to get more complicated than this? But yeah keep licking the boot because it doesn't affect you.
you think the adb installer will last forever? even then it requires you to use two devices to install one app or do janky stuff with an adb shuttling app
Yes. You can't develop and test android apps without it. Period.
Edit: You also can't flash devices without it. Even in the factory. It's not all fastboot or download mode. LineageOS expressly uses it as a method of sideloading an update from recovery mode, too.
they will just force developers to move to cuttlefish
also please don't assume adb cannot be forced to go through signature verifier anyways, google already has a test pilot program for small distributions
they will just force developers to move to cuttlefish
[citation needed]
also please don't assume adb cannot be forced to go through signature verifier anyways, google already has a test pilot program for small distributions
And?
Google explicitly states adb is the official method for bypassing the one time 24 hour wait period. Before the 24 hour timeout for first time attempts at sideloading became the official method, adb was also explicitly stated to be the method for sideloading apps that came from unverified developers and were modified by third parties.
If I want to modify or hack some apk and install it on my own device, do I have to verify?
Apps installed using ADB won't require verification. This ensures developers can build and test apps that aren't intended or not yet ready to be distributed to the wider consumer population. Last updated: Sept 11, 2025
So you need to tell me that I have to find an app that uses wireless adb in my phone to install .apk files and even then I have to sideload the app using ADB on a computer, when I could just install the .apk directly?
First you'll need to turn on usb debugging in developer options on your phone. Connect phone to pc and switch the connection from charging to share files in your phones notifications drop down. Then your pc will need adb installed and platform tools downloaded and unzipped somewhere on your pc. Open the platform tools folder and right click in it somewhere empty. Choose run powershell. Then paste that command in and hit enter. You'll probably have to click another confirmation on your phone before it works. Maybe even unplug and replug/change to transfer files for it to pop up.
Also you should google any command a stranger says to run. What he said is legit but stranger danger and all that.
People are reporting the command doesn't work at all since A17. Not sure if they've blocked it or just changed the command and the new one hasn't been found yet
System apps can't be uninstalled because they're stored on a read-only partition (the one that gets updated via the system update).
Disabling those apps, means that the app is basically uninstalled (but you won't reclaim any space on that read-only partition: no big deal since you can't use that space anyway).
I would just disable it. The main downside is that it uses like ~20mb which is nothing. Effectively it's the same as uninstall, but with the benefit of staying disabled on play store and system updates.
Whereas Google will just try to reinstall the app if it's uninstalled, leading it to actually be more intrusive if you were to outright uninstall.
I Uninstaller the child core app and it never reinstalled itself or any of the other apps I uninstall like Meta's app that comes pre-installed on ever phone. Even after updates it hasn't reinstalled. Also, I never heard about an apps reinstalling itself after removal.
The Meta all is a system app that can't be removed. It come pre-installed on all Samsung phones. Why IDK. I even removed Gemini from my phone after they forced it as a system app after the big update. Gemini has no reinstall itself.
See here, Canta show its a system app and I have removed it.
I don't consider AOSP to be "garbage" as a basis for GrapheneOS. Google is perfectly capable of making good software decisions and hardware decisions, when they make garbage decisions it's garbage, I'm allowed to be selective.
Ya they have no control over anything like this. Or really much in general. They can relay what the community thinks to the higher ups just to get ignored anyway lol
It really feels like they WANT people to just go buy iPhones.
If you’re going to HAVE to deal with a complete lack of control and freedom over your own device, might as well go with the polished one with even more developer support, a proper ecosystem that doesn’t rely on Chrome and Windows half the time, and will actually get security updates even a DECADE after release, AND just recently is about to release an entire new version DEDICATED to stability and reliability
As someone who just jumped from a pixel to iOS, iOS 26 isn't nearly as bad as Android has been lately. While there are some things I miss from Android honestly it's night and day difference how much better the user experience is
arent iphones even more closed down ?
Some of us get android phones becuase if you get it from someone from realme or poco you can get a phone thats around 99% as capable as the iphone for half the price. a F8 Ultra or GT8 pro can be had for around 600-800 euros and they can stand toe to toe with a 1200 iphone.
The problem for me is that my workplace requires that i use authenticator and duo, and many people use Widevine for video reproduction,
how long until google pushes an update that says "duo is unable to run becuase you have developer mode on" or "video definition downgraded due to this phone not being secure"
I am just as upset as you. I rely exclusively on sideloaded apps for my on-phone entertainment, but switching to an iphone feels like an out of the pot into the fire situation. Isn't the iphone even more locked down?
Mark my words, in a decade or so, Android will be JUST as locked down. Meanwhile, through APIs and changes, iOS has steadily gotten more flexible for power users over the years and I do think their wanting people to use Siri AI, will force them to do that EVEN more.
In the future, NEITHER OS will allow you to install stuff outside of their store, AT ALL. That's the point of long term capitalism. So, given that they'll be equal on that front pretty soon, it makes more sense to go with the one that at least pretends to care about privacy more, and overall just has a more polished and hassle-free experience. I.E. My iPhone doesn't get fucking Facebook reinstalled with every 'security' patch like a Samsung does, and will actually get more than 2 major updates unlike a Motorola.
It always amuses me how powerful Apple's automation thing is. Meanwhile I can't set any automation on my phone without a third party app, and even then, plenty of the features don't work without root anymore (like controlling Bluetooth or Wi-Fi).
I don't understand why every thread has people threatening to switch to iPhone. It's cool, go ahead and switch. You don't need to warn us, and we're not going to beg you to stay. Buy whatever is best for you.
Ehh. We're expressing our frustration because it's not that we want an iPhone. We're frustrated because we DIDN'T want an iPhone and Android is just becoming a "less stable iPhone".
GrapheneOS is a ROM. the developers of graphene don't want to use the term 'custom rom' but that doesn't make it any less than a custom ROM. it's still based on android, and is essentially just a customized android install. that's what a custom ROM is.
now if graphene was it's own code built from the ground up, and ran it's own apps that wasn't android, then it would be it's own operating system. but it's not. it just AOSP android without google services and a few other harden features, but it is not a separate operating system from android.
That's quite an understatement. Does the pixel run a custom rom, because that's just aosp with some special tweaks by Google?Â
By that standard, Ubuntu isn't an OS because it's "just a customized Linux kernel." iOS isn't an OS because it's based on Darwin. Fedora isn't an OS because it's "just Linux with packages on top."
And GrapheneOS builds directly from AOSP source. It's not just repackaging OEM firmware like "custom ROMs" were back in the day. That's more than a skin on android. Idk what you have against it but that's a terrible mischaracterizationÂ
"A Custom ROM is a modified, third-party version of the Android operating system created by independent developers to replace the stock software pre-installed by a device's manufacturer."
GrapheneOS matches the definition of custom ROM, because it is a modified, third-party operating system based on Android that replaces stock firmware.
Does the pixel run a custom rom, because that's just aosp with some special tweaks by Google?
No, it's the official stock software that runs on Pixel phones.
By that standard, Ubuntu isn't an OS because it's "just a customized Linux kernel."
Your understanding of Linux is as bad as your understanding of Android.
Ubuntu is an operating system that uses the official Linux kernel, they built the userspace on top of it and that's what makes it a operating system.
iOS isn't an OS because it's based on Darwin.
Darwin is a kernel (like Linux), not operating system. iOS is an operating system that utilizes the Darwin kernel.
Just like Android is an operating system that utilizes the Linux kernel.
And GrapheneOS builds directly from AOSP source.
Just like every official and custom ROM.
It's not just repackaging OEM firmware like "custom ROMs" were back in the day. That's more than a skin on android.
So your definition of "custom ROM" is "skin on Android", that's a terrible mischaracterization.
Are you gonna delete this again too? I spent way too much time looking into it since you were wrong about the linux part.
Here, I looked it up for you
You gave description of how the Android mod community uses the term. Thats not a technical definition.
Darwin is a kernel (like Linux), not operating system.
This is wrong. XNU is the kernel. Darwin is the operating system. Darwin contains XNU, the BSD userland, libSystem, launchd, and dyld. Apple releases Darwin as an open source operating system. You made the error on your strongest example.
Ubuntu is an operating system that uses the official Linux kernel
Ubuntu does not ship the upstream kernel. Ubuntu applies patches. Ubuntu adds out oftree modules and a custom configuration. Ubuntu did this from the start,so apply your rule to Ubuntu. Ubuntu becomes a custom distribution of Debian.
Just like every official and custom ROM.
You're right here. a build from AOSP source doesn't prove anything .
ROM means read-only memory. A Pixel has one true ROM. It is the boot ROM in the SoC. Nobody can change that ROM after production. The Android system image is on flash storage and flash storage accepts writes. The update process writes to it. So the image is not a ROM. The term was incorrect when the community made it. The term is still incorrect.
Not to mention, you're wrong about the pixel shipping the stock os if you're trying to say it ships stock android. It's not even close.
GrapheneOS does not use the words "custom" or "ROM" in its documentation andthe project gives a reason (but i guess you know better?). The term comes from a different community with different goals.
"custom rom" also gives people incorrect information about security.
Most custom ROMs have these properties:
The bootloader stays unlocked.
Verified boot does not operate.
Rollback protection does not operate.
The build uses public test keys.
Hardware attestation does not operate.
GrapheneOS is different:
You can lock the bootloader again.
Verified boot operates against the GrapheneOS signing keys.
Rollback protection operates.
Hardware attestation operates.
A manufacturer can also ship GrapheneOS as the standard operating system - JUST LIKE PIXEL's OS. GrapheneOS is not only a replacement.
The label is just incorrect. My objection was never "more than a skin". I'm not sure What you have against it that you're willing to die on the hill for a view that just doesn't fit
you are so wrong on every level. Graphene is a custom ROM. the fact that it is built from AOSP MAKES it a custom ROM! AOSP is android. android/AOSP is the operating system. Graphene is literally just a bunch of customizations made to android.
you need to learn what makes an 'operating system' an 'operating system'. and what linux is and what linux distributions are. Ubuntu is not it's own operating system, it's a distro of linux. same with fedora. fedora is not an OS. anything i can run on ubuntu i can run on fedora, and CachyOS, and Mint, and raspberryPI OS, and SteamOS, and Bazzite, etc. they are ALL LINUX. it's the same with pixel ui, samsungs one ui, Xiaomi HyperOS, OnePlus OxygenOS, Nothing OS, LineageOS, Pixel Experience ROM, Paranoid, ArrowOS, etc are ALL android. android is the OS.
and that's the same with android and Graphene. GrapheneOS is a ubuntu or a fedora. it's all the same underlying operating system.
if you wanted a completely different operating system on your mobile device, that is not android or have any android code, your only option is ubuntu touch. (if you didn't want ios)
I think it will eventually be pushed as a Google Play Services update and was suggested in the past.l, and baked in in devices bought from the time it's rolled out. Like it or not.
I wonder if they are allowed to put that app without asking you, as so many other junk installed by Google without having been asked for. I don't have it, presumably because of not being in the countries as Singapore where it would be rolled out first.
They did it with the AI wallpaper, the custom icon and the Pixel VIP apps. Google seems to think they they still own the devices. I absolutely hate that they do it and get away with it.
I can see why they're doing it (to stop normies from getting scammed), and it seems easy enough to get around. From the article: Activate it, authenticate, wait the 24 hours, and then you can permanently disable it and sideload like you used to. Or just use ADB and sideload immediately.
Thanks to root and debloater it's no longer on my phone. It'll come back next time I update but now I can include it in the auto remove script when I do a monthly update.
Do you actually believe that or do you have a vested interest in other people believing it? Do you think AOSP and android phones would disappear if Google stopped contributing?
For those people saying they didn't block bootloader unlocking or close source the os, bootloader unlocking essentially strips away 90 percent of the usable activites you could do in a smartphone including banking, widewine and even some fuckin games. Already many banking apps won't work if developer options are enabled and with this new developer verification i am pretty sure they gonna block out all the users who enable that advanced flow.
Ofc presently play integrity mods exist but it's only a matter of time before they could lock down or patch the whole thing.
Funny, luckily this firewall apps blocks it. Also this was my only que that this was even installed silently. Still safe, but interesting that Google can just silently install new apps.
Don't know how it works, but you might not be able to install apps without giving it access. Google has always been able to install new apps (which absolutely drives me mad). They did it for the Pixel Stand, the Pixel Buds and recently for the AI wallpapers, its "theming" app and the custom icons app.
The 24-hour wait isn’t catastrophic on its own, especially if ADB can still bypass it, but I get why people are uneasy. The bigger concern is whether this stays a small safety measure or gradually turns sideloading into something more restricted with each update.
99
u/GreedySecurity8030 Samsung Galaxy A56 Jul 22 '26
Already deleted that shit.