Apps can now block sideloading more easily and force downloads through Google Play
https://www.androidauthority.com/play-integrity-sideloading-detection-3480639/Open linkView original on lemm.ee303
Comments92https://www.androidauthority.com/play-integrity-sideloading-detection-3480639/Open linkView original on lemm.ee
Well, the issue will be developers of other apps would force us to re-google since any build of the app would be useless unless installed from the play store...
MicroG devs are working on fakeing play integrity api since 2023: https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/issues/2050
Are they? Other comments in different PRs seem to indicate they have no intention of trying to subvert play integrity. Is there something more recent than this that indicates they're trying?
Yeah, maybe "working on" was too generous, "aware of the issue and some preliminary work was already done" would have been more correct
Here is some recent discussion if it's feasible at all: https://github.com/microg/GmsCore/pull/2077
ReVanced patching will become more common
For every single app where the developer tries this?
Yeah right. That's unsustainable.
They'll also just increase ways for the integrity to verify it hasn't been patched. This announcement already says they're checking the app's binary for tampering.
"
Lifehackers findsa way"You can degoogle on Android you know. Takes some effort, but the end result is better than moving into a walled garden.
Lineage OS supports a few hundred devices
Explain. I'm tired of hearing this boogeyman, tell me exactly how Lineage is "not secure" but Graphene is?
Then maybe give me some examples of cases where that difference has actually been a problem.
Because it feels like a lot of these "unsecure" things people hand-wring over are really just user freedoms they may use to hurt themselves, not actual vulnerabilities that can't be avoided with common sense.
Those are really quite rare. Most have workarounds these days or just work outright.
I mean, you can be as snotty about this as you like, but it doesn't change the fact this "choice" is basically between participate in the same digital world as most people do with the most popular, most supported, and highest value apps, vs only what you can use in F Droid or something?
You're calling them slaves but can you give them anything more appealing outside the walled garden than "privacy"? It's not like everything on the play store has an F-Droid corollary. You're basically telling them to dramatically reduce their own use case. Does that make them a slave?
Something AOSP like Lineage OS
You can install MicroG if you need play compatibility
No play store no problems
You asked how to degoogle
Well that's an easy fix. I just won't use those apps.
So no banking apps for you? I agree that this is shit, but pretending we are not hit by this is not helping.
Also, I don't really use banking apps anyway because they already pull similar shit and I can get around it. For now.
Fortunately so far I haven't come across a bank here in the Netherlands that wouldn't work because my phone was rooted or because I'm running grapheneos. Hope it stays that way too.
True, but that just means no more contactless. They don't entirely block you out of the app afaik, like many other foreign banks I've seen do.
Correct. I've never used banking apps in the first place anyway. If my bank doesnt have a functional website then I would change banks.
And i say this not to be difficult or contrarian. I just really hate using apps for every business in existence and simply refuse to do so. Yes I have absolutely sacrificed convenience on many occasions due to this principal.
Very good. I don't like using apps for every little shitty website like discord or WebEx either.
Just know that this is a step forward in the direction of making it technically possible to force people to usw the app. Ask yourself if you trust them to not try and profit from this.
I disagree. There is nothing stopping that as it is. What this really does is remove one more level of control from the end user on their device.
Im not sure what you are getting at here. Of course i don't trust "them". Nor do i trust any corp. It's those reasons among others why i have completely removed google from my computing life and almost exclusively use open source software as well as self host functionally all network services.
That is exactly what I meant with that. Less control for you means more control for the banks/app creators.
I myself also want to let go of the likes of Google. It's a pretty bumpy ride, but better than a future where the Tech Bros are in control.
I don't know what you mean by that. Do you mean you rather use google pay?
Oh! With "get around it" I meant cash, not outdated software.
You do you
There are, unfortunately, some features banks make mobile app exclusive (e.g. Zelle sometimes, check deposit).
I have a spare phone I keep in my drawer for when I really need a banking app.
My bank doesn't have a web browser interaction ;(
I found the problem
I don't.
I've seen people pay with something like that, but mostly it's like an electronic checkbook. But yeah, browser is sufficient.
Banking on the phone is absurd concept that I will never use
Let's hope we don't have to.
With banking apps in particular this lock down is ultra-stupid.
Like, I have to use your super secure app, or I can just... visit your page in a web browser running on god-knows-what with whatever extensions in any computing environment or OS of my choosing? But not using Google Play is where they draw the line.
Not a single app on my phone was installed through Google Play, it's all Aurora. Guess if apps really do this i'll just have to stop using them, cause I'm not installing the play store.
I wish i can degoogle my phone but its a few months old so no rom support and its a samsung :<
I love you.
I already use shizuku and savertuner they are soo good
Samsung isn't one of the best for roms. Anyway you could stop using it while you port Lineage OS
Yeah but it might be hard
How is it being a samsung making things worse? I've never flashed a samsung phone before so I may be very wrong, but isn't unlocking the bootloader easy?
And now that I think about, does samsung have their own system file format or something? Is that the issue?
its bcs they use their own flashing method which got leaked
Omg I completely forgot they had a proprietary flasher, yeah that makes it much worse.
E: wasn't there an open source implementation called Heimdall?
I Would rather use Heimdall then the leaked odin flasher honestly
Quick question: what is the advantage of using Aurora to get apps instead of the Play Store?
I have Aurora but i don't understand that, afaik both use the same APKs and can update interchangeably?
At first I thought Aurora remove some of the app's tracking beacons but that's not the case.
At least for me, Play Store impulsively updates itself. I would even say that some apps got updated even though I'd disabled auto updates.
I installed Aurora and disabled Play Store altogether. So I update apps manually whenever I want to.
What if I sideload purely to downgrade a bugged app? Just seems like yet another kick in the teeth by Google.
I thought you could not downgrade non-debuggable apps?
But you can uninstall them and install a lower version
You can always uninstall and install an older apk.
Google's only providing the option, it's up to individual devs to enable it on their app. If the app developer has chosen to block sideloading, then they probably have a reason for going out of their way to do so. Whatever you find that reason to be should inform your decision whether or not to continue using their app.
Their reasons mean nothing. It's my device. I shouldn't have to worry about an application installed on my device being policed because the developer got a hair up their ass about people downgrading.
The phrase "more secure" is becoming meaningless as it keeps being used as a blanket excuse for literally every user hostile change.
Sure, it's your device. But it's their app. Ultimately, it's the developer's call to make. You don't have to use their app.
We can still use their app with a little help from my reverse engineering tools.
Cool, sounds like it ain't a problem for you then. As I imagine it's not a problem for most people.
Explain to me what would be the good reasons McDonald's has to block their app from running on a rooted device because it doesn't pass SafetyNet or whatever Google is calling it now
Because it is spyware?
Why would I explain something that has nothing to do with this discussion? This has nothing to do with rooted devices.
It's the same system, it's all part of play integrity. And that also applies to this bullshit, why does McDonald's care if I didn't install their app from the play store?
Can't you use the website instead? Is the MCDonalds app necessary for orders? I use hermit to sandbox webapps for services which do not require a app.
Oh I don't know if mcdonald's specifically does this, I've never used the app, I just used it as an example because that's what the guy above was talking about as well.
IIRC they did coupons exclusively in their app a few years ago where I lived (haven't checked since), and they hiked the price of everything, so if you don't install the app, you get a 20% surcharge in effect.
That goes for every single shitty chain store as well.
Why should I know? I'm not a McDeveloper.
If I had to guess, I'd assume it's because there's a payment system in their app and they don't want people monkeying around with it and stealing food.
McDonald's was just an example, the point is most apps don't need to do that at all.
I do happen to know how payment systems like that work, and thankfully those are all cloud-based, the only thing the app does is start transactions and check with the server if they're paid. If they implemented it well, as I suspect a big corpo like McDonald's probably would, their own order screen also checks server-side if orders are paid. Not much you can do from the app side to mess with that.
Yeah, but the whole PCI DSS thing means that the app must still be secured. That doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be tied to Google Play, but explain it to them.
BOOOOO!
YOUR DECISIONS ARE BAD AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD.
google, not op
time to demand apps in other repositories. Bonus if it's f-droid compatible
Aw shit, it says this is supposed to detect when an app's binary has been tampered with... That means it's probably gonna be used to block stuff like ReVanced. I hope they can find a way around this that doesn't require root.
Nah, revanced will just patch that out too!
I guess Revanced would eventually have a patch to skip this check. It can already spoof the client and such, why not this as well. I hope so
The whole tech world saw Microsoft Palladium as a nightmare scenario, but was quiet ten years later when Apple and Google did the same thing to our phones. That was a mistake.
Maybe everyone was just OK with mobile devices being locked down heavily from the start, and now it's more or less the same level for most
We had several years of Android that mostly wasn't. Now it's hard work to get Android that isn't.
idk tbh, SafetyNet / Play Integrity have existed for a while
Since 2014, but Android had already been out for six years at that point.
Can we also sue Google for the same shit as apple? Sideloading isn't enough.
This is the individual app's fault and not Googles. It's like getting mad at Steam for allowing apps with DRM. Is feature is entirely optional and requires extra effort to implement.
Also didn't Google already get sued in the USA for Android not being open enough or something like that.
Google Play IS my "sideloading" app repository.
Google Pixel
I've disabled what I can while I wait for my carrier to unlock it. Graphene awaits.
Some paid apps actually prevents the user from using it if it's not paid from Google play
Are you suggesting such an app can be purchased outside Google play but not used?
Having an app check a license server isn't exactly new. Google play is simply a third party license server.
No, but you can download the APKs anyways. Which is most likely exactly why this is being implemented. I doubt many developers of free apps are going to turn this feature on.
Yes they will. This tool would force users to always use the Play Store which would increase the download count on their app, which would help its ranking in the Play Store. Every last single developer is incentivized to use this.
On the other hand though, the amount of people who sideload free apps is very small because that’s only really interesting for people with degoogled smartphones.
The App Lounge from /e/OS has access to the play store if you choose to log in to Google. It is possible (but not recommended because of a possible ban) to purchase stuff, I haven't done that yet, but some apps want to talk to Google to see if it was purchased and that gives an error.
For example, Wavelet can't unlock paid status, All-In-One Calculator gives the option to link an email so it can restore paid status, Nova Launcher uses a different app to restore paid status so it works as well.
Kinda makes sense. A paid app on Google Play is a license to download the .apk file(s). Then a user could make copies, and without DRM, it'd be the same situation as with copyrighted movies and whatnot.
I'm not saying I support them, it's just that they are like this for a reason
That's fine I rarely download apps that want to be on the Play store anyway