I am surprised that Google spends so much time tackling custom ROMs via it’s Play Integrity API. If only they paid that much attention to say, curating the Play Store more, it had be much better for everyone
I think the main reason third-party ROMs aren’t more popular is that Google and certain app developers fuck with people who use them. The article addresses the difficulties later on, but comes up short in my view on just how much of a hassle it is for someone who isn’t a tech enthusiast who wants, for example to keep an older phone up to date for security reasons.
I think the main motivation for Google is limiting user control over the experience. More user control leads to unprofitable behaviors like blocking ads and tracking, which is also the motivation for recent changes to the Chrome web browser that make content blocking extensions less effective. In all cases, companies that try to take away user control claim the motivation is security, usually for the benefit of the user.
Got so tired of google pay breaking on crdroid that I got a credit card just to use my watch instead.
Still rocking a op7 pro on android 14.
There are different types of workaround but every single one of them is playing same cat and mouse game with Google. It works for a while, then it doesn’t, workaround is updated, it works, then it doesn’t, rinse and repeat.
I’m using a custom ROM but it’s so fucking tiring if I want to keep Google Wallet working. Fucking Google.
“This is why I <lukewarm take> in <current year>”
Didn’t read the article, but I hate this style of headlines with a passion. Using custom ROMs isn’t even something controversial, yet they go out of their way to make it sound like they’re breaking some social taboo or something. Why not a simple and concise title like “Advantages of custom ROMs” or “Consider installing a custom ROM”. It sounds like a meme speech pattern straight out of 4chan, except they’re using it with zero self awareness or irony. How about an actual hot take: journos who write like this are pretentious pricks that deserve to get replaced by chatgpt.
This is why I brush my teeth in 2024. This is why I still wear jeans in 2024.
So radical, man
The Play Integrity API is less about security and more about Google asserting their monopoly.
They do not want truly open source Android platforms to gain popularity, because there would be a high chance people would want ad blocking, which is a direct threat to their profit margins.
I hope EU takes regulative action to force Google to allow GrapheneOS, LineageOS etc. to be able to run the same apps without issues.
Magisk can bypass most of those issues. Might as well root if you’re using a custom rom.
Magisk is a godsend. I just wish you could add a password protection to the bootloader and the recovery rom (like the TWRP). That is the one downside to unlock your bootloader. And you can’t like unlock when you need and relock it because to unlock it erases everything. I know that is one more dark pattern from Google to make you keep your phone locked. If they cared about security they would enable a way to put a password to the bootloader
Some of us like to tinker. We really get satisfaction of having a weird niche filled and even if it comes at the cost of stability and other issues. Heck my Custom Roms used to be more up to date with security updates than phones that were older than one year.
I could use kernels that undervolts my processor to give me better battery life. It allowed features that even 5 years ago were on the custom ROM scene still very absent from modern phones.
But the most important part for me was learning, discovering. If I tried a new ROM I would spend hours going through certain roms settings. If there is a glitch, learn how to diagnose and try to fix it, or learn to send a logcat to the developer.
It was like a fun hobby. I learned how to fix some of my old phones, like screen replacement, and learned how to cure uv reactive glue. So many other things and I was just a noob.
But it gave freedom. I understand iPhone and the other high brands are easy to use, have gimmicky features and all, but dammit I have freedom to have my weird niche phone, with multiple breaking features and I loved it because it just worked.
If Google truly did hold security as its main concern, it would have opened the play Store, yet we know now they only wish to protect their monopoly
This is what i motivates me, too, though you go in more than i. I love having my degoogled pixel 2xl on Android 14 and running almost as snappy as my pixel 6.
I finally gave up on my moto x 2013 about 2 years ago, but i still have it. It’s like holding a river stone that perfectly firs my hand.
This is a very complex topic that is very hard to draw the line on.
As a technical person who follows hacking and security news i can understand google introduced the api and warnings, as phones are getting hacked and unlocked bootloader or root can be abused to keep your malware going, and has been abused in the past.
But as a user of fairphone/lineageOS, who tells google, apple, meta, … all of them to fuck off when i can, this scares me. The lockdown of devices can and is going too far. Hell, i even consider samsung’s android ui changes to be going too far, as it changes a shit ton of stuff and really is not a stock android experience. It locks users in their environment…
I find it funny that Google and some banks are so worried about security on Android that I have to have up to date system, app and can’t be custom ROM, can’t be rooted and whatnot. And then they’ll allow you to login to their bank from Internet Explorer on XP or some shit.
This. This, this, this, this!
My linux computers are rooted. I can get root any time i need it and nobody is refusing to offer their sevices on linux because it is vulnerable.
Nobody ever points out that when any app wants root, you get a dialog to ask if it can have it. If you don’t know why it’s asking, say no. It ain’t rocket science.
Now, if you are going through customs and you don’t want them to copy your phone and read all your personal documents, that is a different situation. Lock your bootloader unrooted and encryped to the nines. Preferably use a phone with almost nothing on it.
nobody is refusing to offer their sevices on linux because it is vulnerable
That’s not quite true, though in that case it’s about the service provider being unable to verify that the user isn’t running a operating system configured or modified to work against the interests of the service provider.
Can you cite examples of rooted smartphones leading to significant data breaches or financial losses? When the topic comes up, I always see hypotheticals, never examples of it actually happening.
It seems to me a good middle ground would be to make it reasonably easy (i.e. a magic button combination at boot followed by dire warnings and maybe manually typing in a couple dozen characters from a key signature) for users to add keys so that they can have a verified OS of their choice. Of course, there’s very little profit motive to do such a thing.
Pre-locked bootloader times ive had multiple android devices be passed to me that were malware infected that changed the rom in a way that even a factory reset would not remove the malware. Locked bootloaders made it so the rom needed to be signed and unaltered on boot, fixing this. Root access also means apps can use and access api’s in android that it normally cant, changing settings and things inside android it shouldnt. What do you think happens when malware comes in? :p
Imo, i agree what you said. bootloaders should remain locked but you should be able to somehow, in the bootloader, be able to add the os’ signature/keys to the bootloader’s trusted stuff like how secure boot on a pc keeps os signing keys and verification stuff inside the tpm.
This way you can install lineage os for example, tell bootloader to trust it, and lock bootloader again so nothing can be changed anymore.
I wouldnt take this from user input, as that is controlable by malware, but rather come from the OS itself. Maybe even during installation, idk
Stock android experience is the exception, not the norm, sadly. Some manufactures like Motorola or HMD have a light touch and close to stock but other ones don’t. The worst offenders are Chinese brands who twist it so much and without much benefit(Atleast, Samsung’s ONE UI is customizable as heck, can’t say the same for Realme’s).
