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.

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 !?

Previously on Lemmy: - [Buying Guide: Low End](https://lemmy.world/post/4846313) - [Buying Guide: Midrange](https://lemmy.world/post/4021671) - [Buying Guide: High End](https://lemmy.world/post/5720634) 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) Now that our buying guide (or a first draft of it) is done, let's get back to our usual discussions. This week's topic is emulators, by request of u/AlmightySnoo. As emulators could not be loaded on iPhones without jumping through many hoops, Android remains the preferred OS for emulation on smartphones. (Reminder, rule 2 is in effect, so please don't give out links to ROM sites.) Now, as we all know, the mobile gaming landscape in 2023 is not great exactly. Most of the games in twr Play Store are designed for frustration instead of fun, littered with microtransactions, timegating, and of course, ads. Even the good games have terrible monitization practices, and there are a lot more bad games than good. But emulated games are a way to get away from that, and let us remember a time when games on the go are simply games that are fun and nothing else, the nights when you are sitting in the backseat of your parents car with only the glow of your GameBoy and the passing streetlight as you play Pokemon. Nostalgia from a time when we didn't have grownup things to worry about. But of course, many emulators didn't only aim to "emulate" the original console, but to enhance them into the modern age: Save states, rewind, enhanced graphics, texture replacements, easy cheats, touchscreen and gamepads. Things we could only dream of as kids are now reality. So, please share your experiences with emulation on Android and give out some cool tips and tricks here. (A special shoutout to RetroArch for having the (dis)honor of staying as one of the most frustrating software that I have ever used.)

I'm searching an android app to mark the locations of multiple parked cars. It should be possible to mark different cars somehow to identify them. It would also be cool if there is a feature to share the location with someone on another devica (like a sync between users, **NOT copy of coordinates or link on maps** In other words, I need an app to tag multiple locations on a map. It doesn't require to be designed for parked car locations. The app must have these features: - GPS Tracker with map - support to tag multiple locations - mark them somehow uniquely (like note, category, color, icon, ...) The following features would be nice to have: - sync with other devices, for example family - history of locations - set date/time since location is active (can be timestamp) _I'm ok with paying/ ads or require to self host._

I removed all Google services from my phones. On my second phone i need to share files with peoples. So this is a problem as Quick share doesn't work without Google play. I don't want MicrG. Any alternative??

(Picture alt text: a screenshot of my phone's call log, with numbers redacted (just in case). The phone numbers (except for one) are all spam calls) I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this, but I am at my limit with these. Constantly throughout the day I get spam call after spam call. I constantly report them to Google (I've got a Pixel 5, if it matters), yet nothing changes. This has been happening for months. These calls will also leave the exact same, completely silent, 4-second voicemails. I will block and report spam, but you know how it is. There's no way to turn voice mail notifications off, and I wouldn't necessarily want to, because I know I'd miss something genuine or important. What do I do? Is there anything I can do, beyond changing numbers? Even then, I'm sure a new number would exist in some database somewhere and be victim to more spam calls. This is heinous. Thanks for reading. I'm just so frustrated. Edit: this got a lot more attention than I anticipated. I appreciate the suggestions for different spam blockers and settings! It's also nice knowing I'm not alone. Hopefully, at least in the US, we'll get some real legislation eventually that will kill these spam calls once and for all.

The phone app (by Google) has 700 mb of data on the phone. What is that? Call history? Contacts? Then what is in the contacts app? Is it safe to delete? *Stock Pixel 6a*

Is there a way to manually change GNSS Networks (Galileo, GLONASS, Navstar, BeiDou) on android? Or at least deactivate a specific one? Maybe with root access?

Shelter may have been taken down a while ago, not sure if by Google or the developer. According to the Island developer Island was removed because it's not supposed to use REQUEST_INSTALL_PACKAGES, so it's probably the same for Shelter. They're appealing but if/when it returns it might be "with limited functionality" which one would be able to restore with an "extension" downloaded on github but at that point why not just install the apk from github in the first place. As for Shelter and Insular (fork of Island), they're also available on F-Droid. Wonder if they're cracking down on these "hacks" to leverage the work profile on purpose, like they do local VPNs that block ads.

Curious if any folks here have a Unihertz phone (Jelly/Atom/etc.) and how they've been for them. Knowing their constraints, I've still been tempted to get one because I *think* I'd like the more compact sizes, and they're not super expensive. However, they are also still budget phones and despite being small, a tad thick, so...

I was looking at some new phones recently and phones made in Asia (Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung) seem to have the same design to me. They all seem to have lots of padding on UI elements, seem to use the same fonts, and seem to resemble a shared design language. They seem to look different from something like stock Android or a Pixel. Is there a reason for this, or am I just crazy? Edit: The settings app seems almost the same in those phones (I think), for example.

Some reports of emails coming through this morning! Wonder if reviews will start popping up soon?

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've got a tablet with way more storage space than my phone. I'd like to be able to access all the files on it from my phone, just for viewing, without having to manually set up both devices for something cumbersome like TeamViewer. But also without having to use cloud storage. Is there any way to do this?

I hope it's ok to post this here. The Androidbeta community doesn't seem to have much activity, and while i don't miss Reddit that much, I'm a bit sad there's not much beta news over here...

Lizard insurance app mandates you give location permission, refusing access to the rest of the app otherwise. I have 0 intention of giving them this but so far have failed to find a phone number to call them (their mobile website tells me to use the app). Until I find a different company run by living, real people, my current intention is to use the app to manage my insurance in the meantime. I don't want to give them my location, even if it's only while using the app, so how do I get the app to think it has my location when it actually doesn't? inb4 just use a computer: nah. It's about spite at this point.

> The Android 15 QPR1 Settings app redesign on Pixel prioritizes the “Google” menu. A Material You overhaul of “Google services" now seeing a big Material You overhaul of “Google services.”

Does anyone have any experience with it? I understand it has outdated hardware but, how is its build quality overall?

Funny, that my blackberry key2 has a indicator LED, 3.5mm jack, sd card, a special app for all messages incoming, a fingerprint sensor in the spacebar, touch sensetive keys etc... I think the communicator will my phone after the key2

**Pros** - IP54-rated dual-glass design, beautiful colors. - Outstanding display of high-resolution, brightness, refresh rate, HDR10 support. - Excellent battery life, plenty fast charging. - Loud and balanced Dolby Atmos speakers. - Flagship-grade performance. - Reliable photo and video quality from all cameras but macro. - Fluid OxygenOS. **Cons** - No EIS in 4K resolution. - The selfie camera is basic, macro shots are poor. - No high frame rate gaming, GPU could be prone to throttling.

> It’s no secret that Gemini is coming to Android Auto soon, but it’s not here just yet. Ahead of the...

So I finally got my preorder of the EU version and activated it without needing support by using the esim transfer on my old pixel. After close to a week now I've had 0 issues!

It was announced back in June but I haven't heard anything about it since.

In order to get an Android-only app working on a desktop computer I installed Weston and Waydroid which worked, but as I (and the target machine) run Mint 21 it's not as simple as just running Waydroid and having it work, plus there is no way to close out Waydroid from within itself. In order to make it easier to start and stop I made this little script, run it once to start and again to stop. Edit as needed obviously but this should work as-is. *Edit: the `&amp;` is not correct, lemmy is doing that, edit it to remove the amp; parts* ``` #!/bin/bash PID=$(pgrep "weston") if [ "$?" -eq "0" ]; then waydroid session stop kill $PID exit fi weston --width=1920 --height=1080 --socket=wayland-1 &amp;>/dev/null &amp; sleep 5 WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-1 XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland waydroid show-full-ui ```

“OnePlus has announced a new system that limits who can unlock the bootloader on their phones. Stating reasons such as “data security” and an enhanced “system stability” […]. OnePlus has introduced a new procedure where anyone wanting to unlock the bootloader on their devices must first fill out an online request form for “Deep Testing””. Even if it is for one region, it is still enshitification preventing phones to have custom ROM 🤦‍♂️

I have a Pixel 9 Pro XL, on Android 16 (beta 3). When attaching to USB in my car, the Android Auto feature won't play my music, the vast majority of the time. I use Power Amp and music is fine over Bluetooth. It's *not* the wire. Also, my GF's iPhone works fine. So, definitely an OS/software glitch. I make sure that Total Adblock is turned off and restart my phone before attaching to USB. The music may actually work about 2/10 times. However, I can't determine the exact situation during the moments it works. Any ideas? TIA. # Fixed! believe or not, I just need to hit the play/pause button, even though it SEEMS like the music is playing, just need to tap play/pause until it actually starts.

Edit Official announcement link https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2024/02/first-developer-preview-android15.html

I'm looking for an Android app that allows my household to easily share and edit a grocery/pantry list. It would be great if the app could: - Allow multiple people to view and edit grocery and pantry lists - Automatically add items to the grocery list when they drop below a set minimum quantity in the pantry list - Send notifications when the list is updated by someone - Allow users to add expiration dates for fridge/pantry items, and provide reminders when items are close to expiring Some other useful features would be: - Barcode scanning to quickly add items - Categorization for where items are stored (pantry, fridge, freezer etc) Does an app like this exist for Android? I haven't been able to find one that has all the functions I'm looking for. If you know of one, please let me know! Or if there are any that come close I'd love to check them out. Making grocery lists and keeping the kitchen stocked feels like a constant chore, so anything to make it smoother would be great. Previously I used a Matrix group chat and currently I'm using Our Groceries Shopping List.

I have an app which polls a remote server by sending to it its *cache* GPS location. Sometimes a remote server will ask for live location and an app must send it to it. --- ``` object MyLocationManager { val providers = listOf( LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER, "fused", LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER, LocationManager.PASSIVE_PROVIDER, ) fun getCached(ctx: Context, locationManager: LocationManager): Location? { for (provider in providers) { when (provider) { "fused" -> { val fusedLocationClient = LocationServices.getFusedLocationProviderClient(ctx) val fusedLocationTask = fusedLocationClient.lastLocation val fusedLocation = getTaskResult(fusedLocationTask) if (fusedLocation != null) { return fusedLocation } } else -> { if (locationManager.isProviderEnabled(provider)) { val lastKnownLocation = locationManager.getLastKnownLocation(provider) Log.d( TAG, "Provider: $provider, Last Known Location: $lastKnownLocation" ) if (lastKnownLocation != null) { return lastKnownLocation } } } } } return null } fun getLive(ctx: Context, locationManager: LocationManager): Location? { val locationListener = object : LocationListener { override fun onLocationChanged(location: Location) { //This works correctly! // //1) how to save its result? How to save it into cache? //2) or how to return it from here? Log.d(TAG, "onLocationChanged: ${location.latitude}, ${location.longitude}") stopLocationUpdates() } private fun stopLocationUpdates() { val fusedLocationClient = LocationServices.getFusedLocationProviderClient(ctx) try { // Stop location updates fusedLocationClient.removeLocationUpdates(locationCallback) Log.d(TAG, "Location updates stopped") } catch (e: SecurityException) { Log.e(TAG, "SecurityException while stopping location updates: ${e.message}") } } private val locationCallback = object : LocationCallback() { override fun onLocationResult(locationResult: LocationResult) { super.onLocationResult(locationResult) val location = locationResult.lastLocation if (location != null) { onLocationChanged(location) } else { Log.e(TAG, "Received null location in onLocationResult") } } } } for (provider in providers) { when (provider) { LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER -> { //obsolete, in the last Android versions val _locationRequest = LocationRequest.create() .setPriority(LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY) .setInterval(0) .setFastestInterval(0) val fusedLocationClient = LocationServices.getFusedLocationProviderClient(ctx) val locationResult: Task = fusedLocationClient.getLocationAvailability() if (!Tasks.await(locationResult).isLocationAvailable) { return null } val locationTask: Task = fusedLocationClient.getCurrentLocation( LocationRequest.PRIORITY_HIGH_ACCURACY, null ) return Tasks.await(locationTask) } "fused" -> { val apiAvailability = GoogleApiAvailability.getInstance() val resultCode = apiAvailability.isGooglePlayServicesAvailable(ctx) if (resultCode == ConnectionResult.SUCCESS) { val fusedLocationClient = LocationServices.getFusedLocationProviderClient(ctx) val fusedLocationTask = fusedLocationClient.lastLocation val fusedLocation = getTaskResult(fusedLocationTask) if (fusedLocation != null) { return fusedLocation } } else { Log.w(TAG, " Google Play Services aren't available, can't use fused") } } else -> { if (locationManager.isProviderEnabled(provider)) { locationManager.requestSingleUpdate( provider, locationListener, Looper.getMainLooper() ) val lastKnownLocation = locationManager.getLastKnownLocation(provider) if (lastKnownLocation != null) { return lastKnownLocation } } } } } return null } } ``` --- An issue is that the code for obtaining GPS location doesn't work properly. Firstly, I don't know whether the approach in the code is correct. Secondly, I don't know how to properly to return the GPS coordinates from a callback -- see the comments. Thirdly, I don't know how to force it to store the latest coordinates that it's obtained into cache. And there're some functions that's been derprecated in the latest versions of Android, particularly in Android 10. How to do all of this? My device is rooted.