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.

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 !?

I was waiting for him to post this. I didn't think this phone would withstand all that pressure just from my daily use of it but it did surprisingly decent... just dont bend it the other way lol

> Google Chrome is beginning to roll out the bottom address bar option on Android to the stable channel with...

In today’s post, we will dive deep into many of the issues with Apple’s iOS, what it takes to migrate from iOS to a little-known alternative called GrapheneOS, and why you might want to do so.

> Google Messages gets a new animation for sending and receiving messages, making your conversations more delightful. Check it out!

Are there any recent Android models that have native call recording enabled in EU? I will root the phone if necessary, but considering that Google is closing the platform down even more by making custom/rooted ROMs fail security checks, I would prefer to avoid that.

> Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 redesigns the Settings app with some Material You tweaks and better organization.

I remeber **Moto E 1st Gen** with Snapdragon 200, 1GB RAM ,4 GB (2.1 GB usable) Storage. I have played games on it in 2017 it was some COD AW clone. I could install alot of Apps on just 2.1GB storage. No hang and good multi tasking on 1GB RAM. Again I got a SD 625 + 4GB RAM and it is awesome. I remeber thinking 4GB in phone will be max forever as 8GB in PC/Laptop was good enough for gaming and 16GB in PC for browsing ain't enough. Now in 2026 6GB in Android is considered low-end and Apps crash. Again I got a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 + 8GB RAM. Devs please stop making apps big, CPU/RAM heavy. Apps like Facebook/Instagram should be shamed they are 1GB each. Android OS has no limit on cache. Android OS has no native user-frienly option to control which apps can run in background. Phone/SoC reviews are a scam, they say SD 363 is 50% better than SD 625. I don't think it is a very big leak from SD625 to 7s Gen 2. Reviewers are stuck in 2013, "casual games run OK and COD runs at 60 FPS", it always did for every phone! I think I am going to boycott high tier phones.

So I got an old HTV One (M8) and I wanted to try installing a different OS. The problem is: I cant unlock the bootloader without an account at htcdev but their e-mail service seems unavailable. If I register with an e-mail adress the e-mail never arrives. If I try to register again it says: email allready taken. Can anyone help me out who has allready a htcdev account?

I've written this blog post about moving from rooted Samsung to a Pixel running GrapheneOS. It's a list of every root tool that I used, with a note on whether I'll miss it. I wrote it as a checklist for myself initially, and decided to add links and more comments and publish it. Turns out I don't really need root, which truly surprised me. Do you have any apps or tools that hold you back from leaving root?

> A small change to Google Messages settings moves where you can find who's providing your Rich Communication Services (RCS).

cross-posted from: https://lemdro.id/post/22683886 > [Play Store 3D Pinball Space Cadet Download](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.itch.ksylvestre.spacecadet) > > From the article: > > If you grew up in the Windows XP era, than you probably spent hours playing its iconic free game, “3D Pinball Space Cadet.” Now, “Space Cadet” pinball has been ported to Android, and it’s completely free. > > One of the many things that Windows XP will be remembered for is the pinball game that essentially everyone who ever used the operating system played at some point or another. The game has been immortalized many times, and now it’s available on Android. > > Developer Kyle Sylvertre [used ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1kql66u/space_cadet_pinball/)a decompiled version of Space Cadet Pinball from [k4zmu2a on GitHub](https://github.com/k4zmu2a/SpaceCadetPinball) to bring the game to the Google Play Store for Android users. The game is optimized for touchscreens with the left and right sides of the display acting as the triggers, and you can also tap the far right side to use the ball launcher. The game runs in portrait mode, supports 18 languages, integrates with Google Play Games for a leaderboard, and is less than 5MB in size. > > And it’s all completely free too. > > There are no ads or in-app purchases here, as the developer “[just wanted](https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1kql66u/comment/mt7tkx0/?context=3%5C) to see it on Android with a Google Play leaderboard.” On that note, cheats are disabled to keep the integrity of that leaderboard, but the developer [hints ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1kql66u/comment/mt6y8ar/?context=3%5C)that cheats might come back with an option to turn off the leaderboard. > > In any case, it’s a nice hit of nostalgia. Drop your high score in the comments below.

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/7710-changing-imei/8 > A phone doesnt need a sim to connect to the network towers. Sim is only for billing. The network can see your imei and triangulate your location as long as your radio is on. I have read this on https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/7710-changing-imei/8, but I'm bit confused. Does this mean our IMEI is identified by cell tower as long as the airplane mode is off? What exact setting is "Radio" referring to? thanks a lot thanks [@[email protected]](https://lemmy.world/u/rowinxavier) and [@[email protected]](https://lemmy.world/u/9tr6gyp3) Short answer: Yes The network can see your IMEI and triangulate your location even though no SIM is installed. and theoretically with airplane mode off no radio is on

Wanted: * large screen * good battery life * great camera * long device lifetime, i.e. repairability, software and security updates, swappable battery, ... * enough RAM (8GB) and built-in storage (256GB) * SD card slot and 3.5mm won't hurt (but we use wireless headphones all the time) The competition are (from my POV): * Samsung S23+ (or similar) * Motorola Edge 40 Pro (or similar) * Google Pixel 8 Pro I ruled out all other vendors due to disappointing update promises. Motorola with 4 years security updates promised (out of which the first year has already passed if the model is not brand new) is the minimum. All phones are stretching the budget; must be really good to justify the expense. Benchmark for "great" is better than the previous generation (S10).

> Google released a new Android 16 beta earlier this week and, hiding beneath the scenes, there are more new features...

Android 15 (code named Vanilla Ice Cream) is set to revolutionize user experiences, promising enhanced productivity, superior media capabilities, optimized battery impact

I am using neo backup often i run into storage issues so i am wondering if there is a possibility of backing data with git, root, Termux, Tasker . Edit: solved some issues - storage issue was fixed by not enabling unnecessary backup options. It created massive difference for most applications, eg anki was over 1 GB, now its 9 KB. - Some application's backups were not working( After restoring applications were crashing), for them, rather than backing up whole data, we can copy relevant data. Eg for element, we can backup by `cp /data/data/im.vector.app/shared_prefs/im.vector.app_preferences.xml %ConfigBackupLocation/element` # you need root for this

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21184378 >The longevity of Android updates has always been a problem, but one that’s been getting better with time. Google has, behind the scenes, introduced some big changes for Android manufacturers that will make it easier for more Android phones to offer support for up to 7 years, just like Pixel.

so I finally got the motivation to install lineage os to my phone after thinking about it like year. and now that I finally modified this phone I started thinking about ricing this phone a bit. I'm looking for a launcher that isn't too minimalistic and with a decent amount of customization. kinda like kde bit you know... stable. any suggestions?

cross-posted from: https://thelemmy.club/post/44940960 > https://www.poweredbymediatek.com/device?search=Clicks > > If true this is great. It will have more than enough power for 99% of tasks and will be able to do it all smoothly. The Clicks Communicator, if you haven't heard of it, is an upcoming Android phone with a physical keyboard.  It currently has pre-orders open however a working prototype hasn't been shown yet, with one coming Q2 according to the company. Release is expected Q4 this year. They have successfully released keyboard cases for other phones in the past.

See the title. Any suggestions? I have a lot music favorited on Spotify but I want to switch over to apple music as it is included with my phone plan.

Hi all, so as per title, when I use browser app to make a pwa or 'add to homescreen' it works, but then opens the home page not the actual link I had created. From memory there was a hack where you would put your phone offline, airplane mode I think' and then it would save the link. But doesn't work anymore. Any1 have any solutions? Tx Here is the link https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nwXAECO43ND2zjX9jzu5s3QiapGKlHKzs Solved: see u/DerisionConsulting comments with steps. No need for tinyurl. Ty u all who helped. ❤️

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.

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