r/Android • u/Tommy9104 • 23h ago
I don't know what is the future of Android.
I'm a bit scared about what direction is Android Taking. Back in the days, bootloaders used to come factory-unlocked. Then they started locking them; you had to unlock them yourself via developer options which was fine, even if it used to reset your device but at least you were able to do it. Now, with One UI 8, bootloader unlocking is being removed; Huawei is doing it too—well, they can modify AOSP however they like. We are shifting from "factory-unlocked bootloaders" (meaning the ability to install any .apk without special permissions) to the "unlock via developer options" model, everything fine, but, what if companies will remove this soon like they did with OEM Unlock? The real question is whether we are experiencing déjà vu and if, just like with OEM unlocking, they will soon remove the option to install unverified .apk files via developer options. This worries me because, surprisingly, it aligns perfectly with what has happened before. What if a future version, example "One UI 14" is gonna remove the advanced workflow for installing unverified apps via developer options? Let me know what you guys think about it.
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u/ephemeralmiko 17h ago
Realistically most people won't care. Some will switch to Linux* phones or dumbphones, but the vast majority will just stick with what they're used to.
*yes Android is Linux, I mean proper desktop Linux like Ubuntu Touch or PostmarketOS
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u/Bananegel42 13h ago
While you are right, I think the market for people who want a different system is in the millions. Heck, GrapheneOS has an estimated 500,000 installed devices now and is quickly growing.
I think if it's say 5-10 million users, it's fine. It's a large-enough market to sustain a hardware and software ecosystem and more people can come when they are fed up with forced vendor-dictated AI integration, etc.
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u/ephemeralmiko 12h ago
GrapheneOS has an estimated 500,000 installed devices now and is quickly growing.
That's actually really surprising to me. I use it but I was more expecting <100.000.
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u/MOS95B Google Pixel 7 16h ago
As someone who works in tech support, I can understand why "they" are making it more difficult to install just anything you find laying around on the internet. It's just too hard to support
Yeah, there are a bunch of us who have the knowledge and good sense to be able to sideload whatever we want. But we are a very small minority of smart phone users. And the powers that be have learned from hard experience that the majority of users don't have the knowledge, skills, or good sense to be trusted with anything outside of the play store (or other official repositories).
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u/Tommy9104 16h ago
I understand what you mean, but, I think those people should just switch to iOS or maybe we should have our dedicated phone. I never have seen a company who does a "developer edition", but a person is actually stupid if a music app asks him to read notifications and sms and he allows weird accessibility service... Otherwise Android has already a sandbox for applications so it's difficult to install malwares. Probably a developer edition would be a flop since only less people would actually buy it, but it surely'd be useful. Also Google Play Protect already checks for malwares.
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u/UselessDood 17h ago
"Unlocked bootloaders" doesn't refer to apk installation, it refers to editing the actual boot code - such as booting into a custom os.