If you haven't seen this yet, Google is planning to require mandatory developer identity verification for all Android apps, including apps distributed outside the Play Store, taking effect September 2026. This affects every independent and open source Android developer directly. This is not just about the Play Store. After September 2026, on any certified Android device, applications from unverified developers will be blocked by default. The only proposed bypass, the "advanced flow", exists only as a blog post and has not appeared in any beta, dev preview, or canary release. No one outside Google has seen it. The community has been fighting back at keepandroidopen.org: - Read the full breakdown of what this means - Sign the open letter (organisations only) - Contact your national regulators — contacts listed by country on the site - Add the countdown banner to your project September 2026 is closer than it looks. The time to push back is now.

I'm using e/os and I want to be sure that, when connected to my local network, my local dns server is used, however, no matter what I do, my phone always use google's one. Is there any way to fix this?

Quote from Proton VPN: > Google has known about a bug that breaks VPN apps for 7 months, leaving users exposed with no warning or error, just a VPN app that stopped working in the background. > > If you're using ANY VPN on Android, you can help us by getting Google's attention to fix it. > > We first reported this bug to Google in September 2025. > > Others like Mullvad and Wireguard reported it even earlier, in August. > > Google's response? "I don't see anything unusual." > > The bug corrupts Android's network stack at the system level after a VPN update, causing users to blame their VPN provider. > > Restarting the app doesn't help, with the only fix being a full device reboot or VPN app reinstall, something which most users never figure out. > > This affects several VPN providers on Android 16, and only Google has the access to diagnose it properly. > > After 7 months of waiting, we're now asking publicly: Google, when are you fixing this? > > Issue Tracker Links: > > https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/441315112 > > https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/4474331

Screenshots:  and Gesture navigation is now enabled by default

Trying to remove the FRP on my phone, but so far just able to get it to load google.com cannot sign in, or install any apps. https://i.imgur.com/Pa1pRkR.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/AHXKLAy.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/U9vnMII.jpeg Any tips

Link to the app: <https://f-droid.org/packages/com.jksalcedo.librefind/>

Hi everyone, ::: spoiler Genesis I have an unused [Xiaomi redmi note 6 pro](https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/bdca4cb9) that was standing in a drawer and I wanted to re-use it. This phone was already running with a custom ROM lineageOS but they do not support it any longer and they've also deleted all the ROM files relative to it 🤯 so no way to download again those ROM ! So I tried few other stuff and I landed in bricking my phone. Too bad as it was still in a great shape and condition. What a waste/pollution !! I'am myself an IT guy, but the unnecessary complexity of the Android phone and what the brands does.. etc. make too many steps and I cannot spend ~two weeks to unbrick it. And additionally to that, when I see what Google planned for us https://keepandroidopen.org/ oh my God. 🤮 ::: So I am looking for a phone[^Floss]: - around 100-150€/$ - screen ~6.50' - a mini jack 🎧 - Easy to install/Flash another ROM ! ( let's dream, maybe the vendor itself guide/help in order to do so ) - Bootloader not locked !? - Easy to be the root [^root] - Not need to be the newer model [^Floss]: Floss \ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_open-source_software [^root]: And by the way, why we should struggle and trick so much just to gain **root** access? Do are we not the owner of our phones? Why not a simple option that asks to be root? And the user will take its own responsibility for it !?

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/50874223 > Hey everyone, > I am currently in the market for a tablet. My requirements are that it has pen support(either proprietary or usi I don't care), an unlockable bootloader, and a fairly powerful snapdragon processor (preferably 8 gen 3 or 8 elite or something). I would like it to be around 10 inches closer to 9 would be better. I don't know if that's possible though. If anyone has any ideas then that would be extremely helpful. > > Edit: I forgot to say what I would use it for lol. I would mainly be using it for note taking since I'm in college but I might also do some switch or PC emulation on it as well.

As you can see in the picture, version **code** looks apparently different from version number. So how do I find?

This is my first post on here, and the title tells it all, I have debloated my phone but I kinda wanna go the extra mile. And if there is no custom rom or way to install roms I might sell my Galaxy for something else (like a pixel 5 or something.) Or maybe a Thinkpad.

I used to have no issue with this, just like the person from this reddit post, where my music app would resume playing if it was the last app with media playing via Bluetooth and I did not actively close the app since the last time it played. I am having this same issue, with this same phone, running (I assume) the same Android version. Ever since I got my Pixel 7, I've had no problems with Bluetooth resuming in my car. I'd listen to Deezer on my way to work, my way from work, and as long as it was the app of choice, it would start playback as soon as it connected back to my car. I received a few updates recently and now that doesn't happen. Now it just shows me what it **was** playing, but never starts it, and I have to go into the app, itself, just to "wake it up" to play. Anyone seen similar? I've unchecked all things that I know of which could stop an app from running in the background, or with loss of connection to devices. It's not set to close at all for any reason, yet it almost seems like it does. No one has responded to the OP of the cross-post so I figured I'd extend this post to Lemmy and see if anyone has an answer or suggestion. Soon as my phone is paid off I'm going to Graphene or some other alternative to Google's trash.

Edit: I found the culprit! It is an app I've been using for years called "Notification Toggle" that has sadly been abandoned, and that seems to have a bug on Android 14 where it's icon will be stuck at 1 instead of showing the current date. I completely forgot it even had this function, because it was a default on all my phones for a looooooing time without me ever opening it or fiddling with the settings. Sad to see it abandoned, with no hope of getting this bug fixed, but what can I do... I switched phones recently, and am very satisfied with my Xperia, but there's this one useless icon in the taskbar that annoys me a bit and that is like to hide, but I can't identify it, could someone help? I tried SystemUI tuner, but it doesn't list it as one you can blacklist in the list of toggles, and I don't know how to find it's key to add it as a custom one. Tried turning off calendar notifications, but that's not it - it still shows. Does anyone know what it is and how to hide it? It's a minor annoyance to be sure, but it's completely useless, and I'd like it gone if possible. Thanks in advance for any help!

Hi, this is the last week before I will return my Pixel 7 Pro for a refund, after owning it for a year. My replacement is the 15 Pro Max, and I thought I'd post here in case anyone has any questions regarding these two devices. I know it's not best comparison as the Pixel 8 Pro is out, but in any case.. I can take pictures, run benchmarks, answer other questions etc.

Hello, mostly-PC person here who still doesn't understand much. I recently upgraded my old unlocked phone to an unlocked one with LineageOS (in case the Android ROM matters for this). Want to set up the most important things such as banking apps for this, and I'm hitting a knowledge block. Back in my time, we used **Magisk** for customizing phone modules and most importantly for hiding root and custom ROM status from apps that demand a "Google experience". For the newer phone I wanted to do this, but I'm finding extremely conflicting information on what is the current status of Magisk and if it should be used. On one side, Magisk seems to still exist and still to be the recommended way for installing modules on phone, and it's still available on F-Droid. On the other one, I find verifiable information that the developer of Magisk went to work *with Google* of all companies, plus indications that they removed the hide root mechanic from the program and that other stuff might be removed or the software abandoned outright. So, in light of that I thought of asking here. Is Magisk still "legit" for custom ROMs? If it's not / if it's been enshittified, what is the current way to hide root from eg.: banking apps? Thanks in advance.

If anyone could point me to some information or guide about this I'd really appreciate that. I think the official com.android.gsm and friends need to be uninstalled first. I've tried that with adb, console reports "success", Google Play Services is no longer listed in Settings > Apps. But... if I try to install MicroG via Fdroid or Droid-ify it goes through the install process, there's no error, but MicroG Core is not shown as "installed". If I try to install the apk with adb it says the currently installed version is newer than the one I'm trying to install? microg.org seems to just assume you know how to install. I read something about signature spoofing but I thought that was only for older devices. Any insights / suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Edit: I think this is the answer: https://xdaforums.com/t/guide-degoogle-any-device-and-install-microg.4058743/

Hi, I would like to forward automatically [Text messages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sms). A couples of years before, I was doing it easily with some [FLOSS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free/libre_and_open-source_software) apps But none of those apps (I keep the apk ;) ) works anymore on "recent" AOSP[^1] phone 🤨 ( Thanks to g**gle, to not take care of retro-compatibility ).. So, I lost time to dig for new apps (FLOSS and not) - https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.pierreduchemin.smsforward/ The GUI is launching, but nothing happen.... not even an error message. - https://apkpure.com/sms-forwarder/com.frzinapps.smsforward in addition do not be FLOSS it weight 70MB XD !!! , no thank you. I'm willing to write a "Shell" script to run under Android, to just do that (I've never developed for Android, so if you have any advice I'm all ears ) or any other solution like - Linux phone ROM ( without systemd ) - or maybe a simcard dongle, to allow my Linux computer to receive/send text ? [^1]: a ROM that use [AOSP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Open_Source_Project) is generally [gapps](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Workspace) free 😍

Hey guys, a week ago I started working on a lemmy app like many others as an excuse to learn flutter. Along the way I found an old app that was abandoned but very well built. After a couple of days I was able to get things running and semi-useable again. Including posting this post from the app! The main effort being updating to 0.17.x. Here's some screenshots:    I'll be renaming the app (so I can republish it), tentatively under the name "Lem".. but really open to ideas here.

I'm having trouble finding a good WiFi or Bluetooth walkie app. Both of them on f droid are too old to run on android 16

> The Google Play Store has a Nearby Share-powered method for sending apps on your device to others, but this is now going away...

All media, including articles, videos, and images, from the following sources are not allowed to be posted on [email protected] due to known malicious behaviors. (Spam, vote manipulation, etc.) 1. WCCFTech This list will be continuously updated based on community feedback.

I am sure this wasn't the intended use - but I discovered a useful trick on Android. Just recently, Google released a [Reading Mode](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.accessibility.reader) app that takes text and removes the clutter, images, etc - and allows you to read in a high contrast easy to view format. There are options on how to toggle it on, but I chose to use the hold volume up/down at the same time. I was viewing a local paywalled newspaper, and had surpassed my 3 free articles/month. For the heck of it, while the popup blocked me from reading it, I tried the reading mode shortcut. It pulled in all the text and I was able to read the entire story. I then tried another news site and it worked the same way. I even tried some of the big new sites like the Washington Post - and it worked. I am sure its a bit dependent on how the website is built, but its worth a try if you find yourself running into those paywalls. You lose the photos, but its worth it.

The first Android 15 beta has busted my tap and pay. Anyone else lose NFC?

Previously on Lemmy: - [Foldables](https://lemmy.world/post/2436246) Past Discussions: - [Samsung](https://lemmy.world/post/2075289) - [Sony](https://lemmy.world/post/910303) - [OnePlus](https://lemmy.world/post/706987) - [Motorola](https://lemmy.world/post/214784) Sorry for the delay for the weekly. Server's not that stable right now, maybe we should start the thread on Sundays instead. I always like to switch things up once in a while because it's fun. So, let's get back to the brand discussion this week for the Google Pixel. We'll do a discussion on repairability next week. Again, ideas are always welcome here. I've never used a Pixel, but people around here should know that I've been very critical of Google's product decisions over the years, and the Pixel is no exception. In my point of view, discontinuing the Nexus series, buying out the talents from the remains of HTC and starting an official "made by Google" phone is the equivalent of reddit buying out Alien Blue to make the official reddit app. I think it's the event that scared big Android manufacturers like Samsung enough to start making their own ecosystem away from Google, as they are concerned that Google may start locking software features to their own phones instead of improving Android overall (rightfully so, I might add). It really makes no business sense at all to turn your manufacturing partners into your competitors, but then again, it's Google. With that being said, the first years of the Pixels has been marred with growing pains. Whereas the Nexus line has always been barebones, no frills development devices, it seemed to me that the people who made Pixels don't even use Android and are insistent on turning Pixel into iPhones, removing the headphone jack on the Pixel 2 despite the antagonistic ad from the original Pixel, Pixel exclusive software features like Google camera that necessitating the need of rom mods, as well as the quality issues that seems to be inherited from the Nexus days just really soured me from considering Pixels, as I think it's against the spirit of openness that made Android great. But it seems like in recent years, they finally figured out that a large percentage of people who bought Androids not because they can't afford iPhones, but because they like Android, and I see the introduction of the "a" series as progress. The recent Pixel ad campaign also made me think that they finally figuring it out: people want different things, trying to turn Android into worse versions of iPhones was not going to work, so they should be trying to make the best Android for Android users instead. (It's also the reason I think all the previous reddit clones failed, but Lemmy will be the one that finally succeeds.)

It's time for the annual "look how much weight I gained over the holidays 😞", and New Year's resolution to lose weight. Does anyone use a food and exercise tracker app on their Android device? How is your experience with it?

I've been wanting to Curb my Doom Scrolling Habits as of Recent as I've been wasting waaaay to much time opening the Same Apps 5 Times in 10 Minutes. One Method thats been Said to Work wonders in that Regard is to have Apps only be accessible after typing in a Password. After doing a bit of Light research it seems I'll need an App for this as I don't wanna deal with Samsungs "Safe Folder" needing a Samsung Account stuff. Do any of you have Suggestions for Trust Worthy Apps for this?

> Google Messages' sent text editing feature has now begun rolling out to beta users, indicating that stable rollout is around the corner.

Things like the cool new lemmy apps and the fold phones like the Galaxy Z Flip make me really want to change but it's tough. Any so much of a mention of leaving iOS for android around my normie friends or family leads to weirdly aggressive responses. They want to by able to react my messages and rename the group chats in their normie iMessage. They want to be able to stalk me with their normie Find My Friends app. They react like taking that away from them is basically stabbing them in the back. It's like I just told a hardcore Trump supporter that Biden is #1 to their face. Normies are brainwashed. It feels like I'm trying to leave a cult. It's like I'm trying to leave the Mormon religion. It's like I'm trying to get off drugs when everyone I know uses. I just want you techies to know I'm jealous of your freedom. Maybe one of these days I can get clean.

I’m still in the saga of trying to switch to android and hit another roadblock lol. I’m looking for a web browser that implements gesture navigation with linear animations like on iOS. The closest browser I’ve found is opera GX, but the PC/MacOS version of opera runs like shit with 30fps animations for all the UI elements.

cross-posted from: https://thelemmy.club/post/45175566

One of my favorite aspects of folding phones is the return of the fingerprint sensors built directly into the power button. This is objectively the ideal design, for reasons I assume I don't have to explain. Lately, however, the novelty of folding phones is wearing off and I'm starting to think I'd just like something lighter and sleeker. Are there any recommendations for a phone with a power-button sensor that still has good specs and cameras? Edit: for the purposes of this post, physical sensors on the back of the phone also count, since they can wake the phone and unlock it simultaneously. And to clarify (I thought this was a thing everyone just inherently agreed on), the benefits of physical sensors are: 1) accuracy. A physical sensors will always be more accurate (and thus have fewer issues) because it doesn't have to work THROUGH the screen. This has been improved a lot with newer technologies like ultrasonic readers, but it is literally impossible to be better than the same technology utilized without a screen in the way. 2) wake/unlock in one motion. Since it's also a button, it can wake the phone and unlock it in one motion, rather than 2 separate ones. Again, newer tech has sort of worked around this with things like lift to wake or just having the sensor area ALWAYS scanning so you can unlock it from sleep regardless, but these are clunky software implementations that rely on your phone constantly actively trying to to figure out whether you're doing the thing or not, so it again can't be as efficient as just a normal button. Battery impact for these is also pretty minimal for the most part, but it's still not zero. 3) tactility. You can feel the button, and manufacturers can put it where your hand naturally rests, meaning that you can unlock the phone BEFORE you have even taken it out of your pocket. 4) cost. Physical sensors are hella cheap y'all. The technology to read the ridges on your finger through a sheet of plastic and glass is (turns out) kind of expensive. We're all being forced to pay for this dumb gimmick. 5) durability. Screens get scratched and dinged up, which compromises the sensors ability to read. Physical sensors on the other hand are basically the most durable part of the phone. Again, mostly a non issue on newer phones, but it's yet another thing manufacturers have had to dump money into working around (and thus charging you more for). 6) not impacted by screen protectors, rain on the screen, etc.

Back in the day - rooting Android phones and installing custom ROMs were such a big part of Android. I remember so well using titanium backup and Greenify and Cyanogenmod and the list goes on. Is it still necessary to root in 2023 though? I have been on vanilla Android without root access for the past couple of years and at this point most root features have made it into the vanilla Android OS. What are your thoughts?

I don't know what it is with this display, but I've never experienced something like this despite owning multiple amoled and oled phones. The whites are blindingly white even at low brightness. On a more balanced image, the displays seems not bright enough even at max. Since text is often white, it hurts to read text. And outside, the display is barely readable. Am I the only one having difficulty with this display? I used to have an iPhone 13 Pro Max and a Note9 before this phone, both running always at full brightness too. Now I don't venture above 20% indoors.