In parallel, Google has rolled out its Play Integrity API, which allows developers to limit app functionality when sideloaded, effectively pushing users to install apps only through the Google Play Store.

All of this while EU forbids Apple to do the same, what is the idea here? Measuring how EU reacts?

The article says it only applied to apps requesting certain permissions. I agree I'm an ideal world it would be nice to get f-droid directly from the Play store but at least according to the article the ability to install it isn't being blocked here.

This is my immediate first thought seeing this. This fucking sucks. Part of the whole benefit of something like LineageOS or e (OS?) was being able to use Fdroid to stay away from Google as much as possible. Now this is going to potentially make things weird.

That doesnt appear to be true, the restriction seems to be on apps being installed from file managers, web browsers, messaging, etc.

F-droid and the like are not part of that list.

This still isn't good, but it doesnt stop you from having F-droid manage your messaging apps it would seem.

Edit: If you're down voting because you think its using the same method as a file manager as the user that replied to me, this is incorrect. This is also an issue going back several versions.

F-Droid uses a session installer method for 3rd party app stores, it does not use the same method as a file manager.

For an article about a similar issue brought up by similar restrictions in previous updates, you can refer to this article:

Android 15 cracks down on sideloaded apps even harder to protect users

Android 15 places new restrictions on what permissions sideloaded apps can be easily granted. Here's what you need to know.

Android Authority (www.androidauthority.com)

You can also refer to this thread in the F-Droid forums which covers this as well, from 2 1/2 years ago:

Sideloading restrictions or removal in future, how it effects fdroid?

recently there is rumour or fact about sideloading apps in android 14. google is making mandatory of minimum api or os version for all apps on google play store [ gps ] and perhaps it will give toast message [ warnin…

F-Droid Forum (forum.f-droid.org)

Which also includes a merged discussion from the last time this came up 9 months ago.

F-Droid has been using the session installer method for quite some time.

Is it the same though? Google is allowing the developers to choose to prevent sideloading. I thought Apple's issue was that they prevented side loading completely.

One of the reasons why I got a Android over ios

I hope f-droid has nothing to do with Google play store, thought they are their own store without connection to Google.

So you can't use banking apps, or you mean like you cant even use F-Droid FOSS apps at all?

one could argue that installing packages is a dangerous permission

From what I can tell, all of this shit is on Google versions of Android. If you are on AOSP such as lineage or graphene, from what I understand this has no effect whatsoever.

I haven't seen proper reporting but the Play Integrity install source thing is accurate. There's a reasonably good overview straight from the devil himself.

Lots of things that have very valid reasons on paper that also just happen to give Google a stupid amount of control and will backfire for a somewhat small percentage of people in very bad ways. We've been at "you can't use pretty much any bank unless you agree to either Google or Apple terms" for quite some years now, now we're giving those same app developers ways to detect if their device has accessibility APIs enabled (useful to protect against bot farms, but also a functional check for "you're able-bodied") or is in security support (also a functional check for "not reliant on hand-me-downs").

But this is not the only aspect of Google's autocratization; Apps who's developers have enabled the Google Play Integrity APIs will not run on custom roms.

doesn't do anything to f-droid, but probably kills aurora a bit. the developer can prevent their app from being sideloaded. why would one prevent that if they are distributing via f-droid too?

cool, any dev who requires that is acting in bad faith against my privacy and doesn't deserve my support.

The problem comes when it's not an app you're using for the app's sake, but because it's the app of some company you have a real-world relationship with. Your bank's app being the most important one that comes to my mind, considering I've already heard about some banks trying to restrict users to only Google's flavour of Android before this.

Fortunately I haven't had to do this for anything like my bank app or its multifactor code app, but yeah it would be like that. For apps not published on the play store, they continue working.

F-Droid uses the same way to install packages as the file manager does.

Never had an issue with them. Writing from my Librem 5

I'm sorry, but in that case, it wasn't worth running the app to begin with. You can either find a third-party app that lets you access the same content, such as Newpipe and YouTube, or you can use it from a web browser, such as your bank, and if you can't do either of those, then just don't fucking use that service.

I was willing to totally switch banks because my previous bank required me to use a mobile app and I did not want to do so. If I must go through some annoyance to use something that works properly, I will.

For me at least, running as much open source as I can possibly do is worth more than the inconvenience caused by not being able to use these shit services.

and that's important why? pick a different bank, or don't use the app at all.

I get that some folks think using the app is a requirement. that may be true for some but not all.

don't support shitty services and these companies won't continue to abuse us.