Linux phones are more important now than ever - feddit.org
## 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: 1. The closing of
development of an increasing number of components in AOSP.
[https://9to5google.com/2025/03/26/google-android-aosp-developement-private/] 2.
Samsung [https://trendslife.in/samsung-one-ui-removed-bootloader-unlock/],
Xiaomi
[https://droidwin.com/xiaomi-might-no-longer-allow-bootloader-unlocking-on-miui/]
and OnePlus [https://droidwin.com/now-oneplus-restricts-bootloader-unlocking/]
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, which prevents apps from the Google Play
Store from being downloaded without a system-wide OS-level account login.
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.
[https://github.com/eu-digital-identity-wallet/eudi-app-android-wallet-ui/issues/287]
4. And finally, the mandatory implementation of developer verification across
Android systems
[https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/25/google-will-require-developer-verification-for-android-apps-outside-the-play-store/].
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
[https://forum.syncthing.net/t/discontinuing-syncthing-android/23002] for this
reason, citing issues with Google Play Store. They’ve also repeatedly denied
updates for NextCloud with no explanation
[https://www.howtogeek.com/nextcloud-says-google-is-hurting-its-android-app/],
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. E2: thank you to everyone
stopping by from Hacker News, Reddit, etc. to check out the threadiverse. I hope
you’ll stick around for a while. Check out https://phtn.app/ [https://phtn.app/]
and the Voyager and Blorp apps for a nicer UI. Fuck Spez!
