Google has news on what you will need to do for still being able to sideload apps:

* enable developer options
* confirm that you are not tricked
* restart phone and re-authenticate
* wait one day
* confirm with biometrics that you know what you are doing
* decide if you only want unrestricted installs for 1 week or forever
* confirm that you accept the risks
* enjoy the few apps that still have developers motivated to develop for a user-base willing to put up with this

https://goo.gle/advance-flow

They even have a video up where they try to make this all sound nice and positive:

@grote one year later we've updated our policies

* wait extra day
* enable accelerometer
* wank the phone for 10 minutes
* wait another day

@grote and then

"anonymous statistics shows almost no one using «advanced flow» so we're removing it!"

@grote And this is the *starting position*.

@grote But what about companies that develop their own internal apps to interface with their own internal systems to be installed on company-supplied devices?

@TimWardCam That's not my main concern, but I think there's exceptions for device management solutions. Also they could just register with Google if needed.

@grote @TimWardCam maybe it's time to revive the device owner privileged extension at that point 🤔🙈.

@lkundrak @grote

I double checked the list.
But sadly, it does not involve any wanking. 🙁

@grote

The irony of the biometric requirement.

In many jurisdictions, a PIN is "content of the mind" (legal protection), but your fingerprint is "physical evidence." By forcing biometrics into the sideloading, they are pushing users toward a security method with weaker legal safeguards.

@terminaltilt yeah, i don't like that. i don't even give my phone my fingerprints in the first place.

@grote

@old_angry_queer @terminaltilt @grote the screenshot literally says "or device PIN"

@grote Feels like the first step in the #enshittificaton of #android , harshly said...

@grote 24 hours of not owning my phone is evil. This is stupid. I'm fine with everything but the pointless 24 hour wait and the biometric requirement. Give us your personally identifiable information and wait in phone purgatory for 24 hours to actually be able to own your device? Ridiculous.

@CalcProgrammer1 @grote The 24h waiting sounds the most reasonable part to me...

@itsFriday @grote How so? It's the one that's getting in your way the most. Want to use this app today? Screw you. Why do we cater to idiots getting scammed more than letting people own the devices we bought with our own money?

@grote okay, i need to ask this since i can’t quite seem to find info anywhere

what would happen to the sideloading permission if developer options was disabled?

if sideloading also gets disabled as a result, i presume re-enabling it would require repeating the steps outlined, yes?

if that would be the case, it would still be borderline useless on any daily-use phone, since a considerable number of apps (notably ones to do with Money) would actively refuse to start with developer options enabled

conflating having “unapproved” software installed with having access to more direct system settings is kinda Not Great tbh

and just because it isn’t directly approved doesn’t immediately mean it’s malicious, either (said detection/blocking would also effectively conflate the two)

@CalcProgrammer1 @grote Google is evil. It should have been clear after they change from their "don't be evil" motto.

Not sure what the thing is with PIN or biometrics. Are biometrics now required?

Anyway, if they are not evil, they should allow "sideloading enable" while doing full wipe.

@grote Yeah, "committed to openness", what an ugly lie.

And "one time 24 hour wait" ... I bet that will be a lie, too. I'm pretty sure this will hit me more than once :-(.

Google is evil.

@grote And watch this path become unmaintained and not working within 6 months.

@stw @grote

Pretty much yeah, I grabbed a Pixel 10a for graphene and that'll probably be my last one.

@eestileib @stw @grote

I'm still using my S5. I'm aiming to use it until it's old enough to drink. Not long now!

@grote remember, kids: "sideloading" is just "installing software that isn't on the app store." the corpos are just calling it "sideloading" because it sounds shadier.

@LexYeen @grote little do they know calling it "sideloading" just makes it seem like i'm a hacker and i feel cool for doing it

@LexYeen @grote Should call installing app store apps "Backloading" for how much these companies fuck their customers *and* developers

@nev @grote Yeah it's just whatever your primary authentication method for sensitive configuration actions is.

@grote This is still bad, and I don't want to downplay that, but it's a one-time thing users of F-Droid or other non-Play app sources will do once when setting up their phones and be done with. It's what I expected, and nowhere near as bad as being completely locked out or forced to go thru a waiting period/exemption process each time.

Still, we should continue to push back for a better outcome. Like dropping this nonsense entirely.

@valpackett @old_angry_queer @grote

You're right. I totally missed that.

@terminaltilt @valpackett @old_angry_queer @grote

Am I missing a new Android feature, can one sign into the device with biometrics after rebooting?

@barefootstache @terminaltilt @old_angry_queer @grote no, of course not. they also usually "expire" every once in a while and you have to enter the password if you've only been using biometrics for a couple days

@grote taking the freedom slice by slice.

Somehow reminds me Xiaomi phone "e-waste" laying in the shelf, where I needed to wait 3 weeks, with SIM card in it, but it doesn't unlock anyway because "unknown reason". I'm sure it's intended to make me more safe!

For the first phase, one day wait is good start to get there.

@grote we're voting with our wallets, invest some of your time into checking out alternatives to Android and iOS, look at what mobile Linux can offer, good potral to get overview is https://linmob.net/

If you develop app, there are lot of ways to easily port apps to (mobile) Linux too.

#MobileLinux #LinuxMobile #Mobian #postmarketOS #NixOS

@grote so is not so bad in the end.

@Lioh @grote Well, the 24-hour wait basically means that for a whole day, you're banned from using the device that you own however you like. What's stopping them from extending it to a week? Or a month?

@Razemix sorry, I have waited three month to unlock my Xiaomi. 24hrs is a blessing! @grote

@Lioh
24 hrs is less assholery than 3 months, but it is still assholery.
@Razemix @grote