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.

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 live in Canada. My girlfriend is Chinese (also living in Canada), and while we are able to communicate via SMS, her mobile carrier isn't the best, and so there have often been issues for us with regular texting. She expressed a strong preference to use WeChat, at least as a backup option for when texting fails us. While I have some pretty significant reservations, it's not the hill I want to die on. So my question is: what can be done to use WeChat without compromising my whole phone? I'm okay with it if our conversations aren't private, but I'd like to know that I'm not giving unfettered access to all of my phone's systems and data to the CCP. What can be done to limit the reach of this ubiquitous app on my device?

I’ve been hearing a lot about AI in mobile phones lately, and I’m kind of confused about how it’s different from the usual smart features that Android phones already have. Like, I know Android has stuff like Google Assistant, face unlock, and all those smart options, but then there’s this “AI” term being thrown around everywhere. What’s the actual difference? Is it just a fancy name for features we’ve been using, or does it really add something new? I’m not super tech savvy, so if you guys could explain it in simple terms or share your thoughts, that’d be great. Maybe even some examples of AI in phones?

My xiaomi portable fast charger clearly charges my girlfriend's iPhone faster than my high end android device. Doesn't matter which port, which cable or which android phone. It starts by charging fast but as soon as I plug her phone the fast charging speeds go straight to hers and mine just chargers very very slowly. I've got the impression that this may be on purpose or at least has some clear explanation. Any thoughts?

If you want a easy, reliable and cross-platform way to share files between computers, phones, etc, it may be of your interest.

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.

While we live in a time where smartphones can get prolonged support and usability by way of software updates, it stands to reason that nearly all software and hardware platforms have a finite lifespan. With that in mind, Google recently announced that it will be discontinuing updates for Android version 4.4, otherwise known as “Kitkat”. The announcement was made via Google’s Android Developers blog. A statement from Sarat Tummala, Product Manager at Google Play services reads: The Android KitKat (KK) platform was first released ~10 years ago and since then, we’ve introduced many innovative improvements and features for Android, which are unavailable on KK. As of July 2023, the active device count on KK is below 1% as more and more users update to the latest Android versions. Therefore, we are no longer supporting KK in future releases of Google Play services. KK devices will not receive versions of the Play Services APK beyond 23.30.99. Android KitKat first arrived on the scene back in October of 2013, and brought some pretty significant improvements towards performance, allowing Android to run on devices with less-than-impressive hardware. It also came with the Kitkat logo design, drawn directly from the popular chocolate brand.

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.

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.

apparently I didn't ask the correct question with my last post: I'm looking for a foss messenger I can also send audio and video with and have a conversation over the smartphone not needing to use voip (and not needing a phone number).

> The Google Discover feed is a constantly evolving beast that offers news, updates, and now social media posts right there on your homescreen.

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...

> Qualcomm claims that my Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus' Snapdragon 8 Elite CPU is faster than the Intel Core Ultra 288V chip. My smartphone also has 12GB of RAM and 512GB of solid-state storage. In short, it's more powerful than most of my laptops. So why not use it as a laptop? > Why not, indeed, says Google, which has introduced -- at long last -- a native Linux Terminal application in its March 2025 Pixel Feature Drop.

Does anyone happen to know the reset network connections script or command that runs when I hit the network reset button? Or how I can achieve a similar result?

Hey all, I've been replacing more and more Google and proprietary apps with open source apps from FDroid or downloaded with Obtainium. However it looks like only apps approved for Android Auto and on Google Play will work with Android Auto... for example, only the Google Play version of CoMaps will show up on Android Auto. What are some alternatives to Android Auto? I'm open to anything, I'd like to be able to use my Hyundai Ioniq's infotainment screen but separate hardware is something I'd definitely consider if it was worth the effort!

> Google Play services is responsible for a slew of features on Android devices, and there’s now a way to see how much data is being used.

Ive been using custom roms to greatly extend the lifespan of my phone (still using a xiaomi mi9t from 2019, running smoothly on A15, with lineageOS). Some apps, like banking apps, or gov apps sometimes require a stock android and locked bootloader. But, besides the stock spyware, stock roms become unusable in 2 to 3 years, forcing an upgrade. Im thinking of getting a cheap 2nd phone to keep with stock android to use banking/gov apps and to leave at home. This way i could use my primary phone with a custom rom and have it working for way longer than 3 years, with _less_ spyware, and wasting less money (depending on the price of that 2nd phone). Does this seem like a decent strategy considering how android is moving? **Important question:** If the cheap phone gets outdated, would it be safe to use it for banking considering i wouldnt install other apps or use a browser in that phone? The brands available here (brazil) are mostly motorola, samsung, lg, xiaomi and realme (no pixels, nothings, fairphone, pinephones,...). What would be the best options for these two phones? The 2ndary phone should be cheap and reliable (gonna be used like once a week, but should last as long as possible) and 1ary phone should have unlockable bootloader and have good rom support for many years (i hope this niche wont die soon). Banking on the browser is not an option anymore in my situation. I think it wont be around for long in the rest of the world too.

> 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.

> Chrome for Android already lets you archive inactive tabs, but the browser is getting another handy tab management feature.