I have been steady researching this and I have stumbbled upon what lloks like an unfinshed doc for the [Developer Verification Progra](https://developer.android.com/developer-verification/guides/limited-distribution)m Key notes - still no rollout schedule - Fee can be found in FAQ. Says it will be $25 - That you will have to provide a state-issued ID even for the now free "Limited Distribution" that has a 20 device maximum - In the FAQ it shows that this is covering all devices Android 7.0 and up and admits that the Advanced Flow in Google Play Services. - still does not address how they are justifying this at all They have stolen a free product and are now activity locking out the people who built it. [ASOP does not belong to them it belongs to us](https://disintermedia.net.nz/android-time-to-stop-hunting-the-replicants-decker/). Time to get it back I think.

Starting in August, installing APKs from unverified developers will require a new procedure called Advanced Flow. It involves enabling developer mode, rebooting the device, and waiting 24 hours with biometric verification. After that, you choose: allow the APK installation for 7 days or indefinitely. The procedure is a one-time process and applies to all versions of Android. Will the 24-hour wait stop you from installing APKs outside the store?

Over the years I've tested out pretty much all the Android keyboards, but swipe typing always kept me on GBoard, even though GBoard did not support voice typing for anything except Google, so I had to switch keyboards for that. Recently I learned that HeliBoard has support for gesture typing with the Google library. But I couldn't find any instructions on where to get the necessary files or how to do it. Well, someone posted a link to the file elsewhere so I'll [share it here](https://github.com/erkserkserks/openboard/blob/46fdf2b550035ca69299ce312fa158e7ade36967/app/src/main/jniLibs/arm64-v8a/libjni_latinimegoogle.so). And it works! Extremely well. I can also pin a button for voice typing and then select Transcribro for that (which uses OpenAI Whisper locally and works super well. Another gripe I had with GBoard was the cursor moves way too fast when swiping on the space bar. Not so with Heliboard. You can also swipe backwards from the backspace key and it will highlight text and then delete it when you let go.

I just updated my 2025 Moto G Stylus 5G to Android 16 only to discover the only feature I updated for doesn't work on my device thanks to Qualcomm.

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.

Trust me, I push Signal _hard_ and even donate to it monthly. As I'm sure many of you know, there are always a few contacts who unfortunately refuse to use it. In this case: do you prefer to use insecure SMS in something like QUIK SMS or Fossify Messages, or do you prefer to bite the Google bullet to get end-to-end encrypted messages (even if the metadata isn't encrypted)? I can see good arguments for both sides, so I am curious what Lemmy's take is.

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

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

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?

are there like any ROMs that Support being rooted and still lock the Bootloader? i have tried LineageOS and CalyxOS but neither of them worked, Lineage just refused to lock, and calyx startet bootlooping with the Message "no operating system found" better yet is there any ROM that comes pre-rooted? cause i need a locked Bootloader or otherweise WhatsApp (which i unfortunately need) wont work, but coming from a rooted rom, unrooted android is unbearable

I’m thinking of logging travel expenditures with a group of people, where different ones can pay bills for the group (or maybe part of the group). It would be the best if you can see how much the group or a person spent, how much you need to pay whom back at the end of a trip. Bonus if it is FOSS. Bonus as well if it supports different currencies but if you can log just numerical values and create multiple tracks of record, it is also fine. Thanks!

> Android 16 may add an audio input switcher feature that lets you choose which audio device to use as the microphone for all apps.

I have been convinced to switch from apple, and i am soon purchasing a pixel 7 pro. I would then like to put a custom rom on it because i would: 1) like to use foss more 2) like to maintain better privacy than apple offers 3) would enjoy the control over the system 4) not like to ever touch google chrome There are some limitations to what i can choose though, as i need the following to work: 1) google apps like sheets/docs/classroom/youtube 2) banking app (usaa specifically) 3) play store (could be replaced) Additionally i would like to keep the flashy camera stuff google talks about with the camera as i use the camera a fair bit. I have also heard that androids can have different UIs, so i would appreciate a nice looking one (i use gnome on my desktop for this reason alone). What ROMs would you guys recommend i choose?

Whenever I go to my homescreen or otherwise load another app the previous one closes. If I'm browsing Lemmy and I open a page linked on a post to read it, my app will have reset itself when I close the tab and I either have to give up or root around for the post. This OS is borderline unusable in this state. It even evicts my homescreen app so there's a 5-10 second lag when tapping the circle button. Any tips? I have 8GB of RAM, which should be more than enough for a dozen apps.

Are thay removing this setting?

I was wondering if it was possible to upgrade my phone to Android 11 (god for bid Android 13/14) on my Samsung S9. I remember back when I did this, back in 2020 I somehow installed Android 11, it must of been an update Samsung rolled out and I didn't noticed until in December of 2021, I accidentally factory reset, yes, ask me how I managed to do that. Just wondering if this is possible, as I know its not, and I know that the S9 is EOL.

I need some advice, and the amount of marketing spam had made sorting the wheat from the chaff annoyingly difficult. Hopefully you can help. I've a young daughter, who uses an old tablet of mine to watch netflix etc. unfortunately, it was old in the tooth when she was born, and it's now become extremely annoying to use. She currently has a Samsung Galaxy Tab A (2016). The size (10") works well, but it's gotten slow as sin, and only has 16Gb of internal memory. Preferences wise: * 10" screen (±2") * 64Gb+ storage. * Long expected lifespan (inc security updates). * Headphone socket (adapters are asking to get broken, Bluetooth go flat) * Decent WiFi (more than just 2.4Ghz). * USB C charging preferred. * Wireless charging would be very helpful but not required. * Lower budget preferred (£200 range). What would people recommend?

It has much less bloatware than the stock Samsung ROM, the thing is that I feel it's unstable. You do get Galaxy AI as well, and the Vulcan Updates app is a bit broken (at least in my case). Good ROM? Yes.

> A new Android Auto update is hinting that, at some point, the platform may feature temperature controls of some sort....

As noted by the [news release from CalyxOS](https://calyxos.org/news/2025/06/11/android-16-plans/) and [Mastodon thread from GrapheneOS](https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114661914197695338), Google did not release the Pixel device-specific source code alongside their Android 16 AOSP release like they usually do. I think many of us, including myself, are hoping this will be published in the near future, but considering they [moved AOSP development behind closed doors earlier this year](https://9to5google.com/2025/03/26/google-android-aosp-developement-private/), it's more likely Google has stopped publishing this section or their code altogether, making development of custom ROMs for Pixel devices significantly more difficult. Sad news for the Android ecosystem, and for open source in general.

> Building bridges without blue bubbles.

Just upgraded, and now some things are huge, and other things are small, and it's a pain in the backside, frankly. Also, wtf is with that battery icon? It's MASSIVE, and ugly, and the only way to make it smaller is to adjust text scaling, which then makes all other text much too small. FFS Google.

I'm having some problems with a dirty flash ROM on my phone, want to clean flash it what is the recommended way to backup my phone , I don't have root.

> Google Messages is working on a "Unsubscribe" option that lets you categorize the reason why you're unsubbing from an RCS Business Message.

> Late last year, Google widely rolled out “profile sharing” wherein you set what name and contact photo other people see in the Messages app.

Google will appeal the decision: https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/11/23996902/google-will-appeal-the-epic-v-google-verdict

Yeah... Sorry this is a week late. Too busy funposting elsewhere on Lemmy this week. Previously on Lemmy: - [Buying Guide: Midrange](https://lemmy.world/post/4021671) Past Discussions: - [iPhones](https://lemmy.world/post/3666684) - [Repairability/Build Quality](https://lemmy.world/post/3213947) - [Google Pixel](https://lemmy.world/post/2826903) - [Foldables](https://lemmy.world/post/2436246) - [Samsung](https://lemmy.world/post/2075289) - [Sony](https://lemmy.world/post/910303) - [OnePlus](https://lemmy.world/post/706987) - [Motorola](https://lemmy.world/post/214784) Not much to write about, rules are the same as the one for midrange guide. Price range would be 0-300 USD for the States, and use your local currency as appropriate. I would like to see people list some interesting budget models that we don't usually talk about here this week for sure.

Hey folks. Got a pixel 7 pro, and it's been alright, except suddenly, if I press the fingerprint sensor on the lock screen for just a split second, it makes the WHOLE SCREEN go full-brightness, with a green tinge. I know it's always lit up the scanner area, which is all it lights up if I hold the sensor, but if I release it early it's actually very uncomfortable. Any suggestions besides the obvious "don't let go 5head"? Is this an android version bug, a hardware issue? Anyone else had this happen? Edit: autocorrect Edit 2: 

Basically the title. I would rather not get scammed.. :) The idea is to move to GrapheneOs as my next step, but I don't necessarily need the newest device. Edit: yeah I was being too generic, Austria is were I am.

The One UI 6 beta, which is based on Android 14 and was supposed to go live today for Galaxy S23 phones, got delayed again, according to [Android Authority](https://www.androidauthority.com/one-ui-6-beta-android-14-3353809/): >Update: August 10, 2023 (5:46 AM ET): It looks like Samsung has once again delayed the One UI 6 beta. Industry sources tell us the decision to delay the beta was taken last minute, which is why we didn’t hear about it before publishing our original post below. The company has even deleted its One UI 6 announcement post that went up a while back and the beta is not yet live. We’ve reached out to Samsung for an update about the final release date for the beta.

I'm not sure if i'm cross-posting this properly from Jerboa but we'll see. Anyways, any recommendations for a 3D scanner app?

Hi all, I am trying to run a VM with internet access on my Pixel 6a on Android 14. I am using crosvm to successfully boot debian on the Pixel, but unfortunately I am not able to get internet access (or any communication to the host). So far, I followed the [crosvm documentation](https://crosvm.dev/book/devices/net.html) and set up the TAP device... Has someone already played with crosvm and has some experiences to share on how to get the network devices to work on Android? Thanks

Y'all know of any other FOSS clients for Spotify other than Spotube? It's rather slow for me the times I've used it, so here I am asking for alternatives. Would be using it on my Android phone. Cheers!