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Dear Undersigned,

I have an APK I would like you to install on your personal phones. No, I won't tell you who I am.

Please let me know when you are comfortable with this.



If I want to run a piece of software on my phone, I shouldn't need to go ask google whether they're cool with it


This is already true if you want to run a piece of software on an iPhone, on MacOS, on Windows, on any video game console.


And a less incompetent government interested in protecting the environment, citizen's rights, and finite resources will have outlawed artificially locked computing machinery for the same reasons as single-use Lithium e-cigarettes.

Somebody had to die of cancer at the FAB to give you that CPU, only for the manufacturer to brick it with an eFuse N years after sale. All to protect an unsustainable business model, underpricing the hardware and rent-seeking on zero-cost distribution.

Oh and in both cases, whose rights does the DRM protect?


You can run whatever you want on macOS and windows


Sure thing, as long as it doesn't require any permissions. I have installed multiple apks on my phone from unknown people. Note that Google's requirement is also for completely permissionless apps like games.


Nice strawman. People want the ability to decide for themselves whether or not to install some APK, they are not saying every APK under the sun is trustworthy.


It is a simplification, not a strawman.

If you want to make the decision to install Hay Day, the user should be able to know that it is the Hay Day from Supercell or from Sketchy McMalwareson.

99.9% of apps should have no issue with their name being associated with their work. If you genuinely need to use an anonymously published app, you will still be able to do that as a user.


> If you genuinely need to use an anonymously published app, you will still be able to do that as a user.

I'm pretty sure the goal of Google's changes is to make it so you can't


Android already tells users when they're installing software from outside the Play Store and shows big scary warnings if Play Protect is turned off. What else do you want? If I want to install something from Sketchy McMalwareson after all that, that's my phone and my business.


sure, point me to the fdroid page for it


Or at point me to a git repo.


No.




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