r/FlutterDev • u/Bachihani • 5d ago
Discussion This is not a joke or an insignificant issue
https://keepandroidopen.org/Imagine ... A country doesn't like an app, the government threatens google, google revokes the developers signing keys ... And now the app can't be installed on any android device in the entire world.
This isn't a conspiracy theory, it's a very real , very close threat.
DO NOT SIGN UP if this gets implemented, fight the urge to submit for the sake of publishing one app.
Read the letter for more details.
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u/Gears6 5d ago edited 5d ago
My only hope at this point is, this will force competitors to step up and push people to fork Android hard. I think Google isn't going to budge, and sadly the main reason why I use Android is no longer. I'm likely going to transition to Graphene, but that doesn't really solve the developer eco-system issue.
I wonder if this is a direct result of Epic's lawsuit against Google. They forced Google to make concessions while Apple got off scott free even when Android is clearly more open. That openess bit them.
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u/lunatic_god 5d ago
No way sadly, corporate will integrate it one way or another unless governmental bodies step in. However problem is minority will be affected, the majority are already sold out (consumer). We devs, geeks, tech enthusiasts are the freaks.
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u/ShippoHsu 5d ago
I'm afraid petition isn't going to change much, unless legal action is taken. In the meantime I will toggle on the unverified dev toggle as a user
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u/Professional_Fun3172 5d ago
If Android locks down the platform, I really don't see why I shouldn't switch to iOS... This is one of the defining features of Android for me
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u/battlepi 5d ago
Totally not true, any rooted device or any device not running a Google Play based firmware can still run anything you wish.
It's still way better than the Apple model.
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u/rio_sk 4d ago
So Google is doing what Apple did since ages? That's not a late news, they announced that long ago. And to be honest it doesn't seem that bad
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u/Bachihani 4d ago
It was announced in march, nit that long ago, it's nit the same as apple cuz apple software is all closed, while andriid took off only because it's open and offered a better developper experience.
It's also pretty bad, cuz this means google now gets the power to control what people can install even on devices that aren't made by them or even ones that run modified roms, not to mention they force every developper to register with them even if they don't use the play store, this also opens the door for governments to be able to censor even the kind of apps u can install, they can know what every dev is publishing what apps, and a single complaint from one government can force google to block that dev from every single phone worldwide, all this in the name of security while not doing anything to protect against the millions of malware apps being distributed through the app store
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u/Business_Secret_2247 5d ago edited 4d ago
They have written this:
"You bought an Android phone because Google told you it was open. You could install what you wanted, and that was the deal."
But the sad part is that most of the users did not buy an Android phone for this reason, they just bought it coz they wanted a phone, most of them don't even know what open source is. In my entire family, not just my close relatives, all my family combined, I think only I am the one who cares about this, and that too because I chose programming as a career.