With the upcoming changes to how Google handle’s app verification, the future of the android ecosystem looks pretty grim.
While there are calls to petition and protest, it is long past time to take our phones out of the hands of google and into the community.
With the mass tech layoffs, the ai storm taking jobs,etc, there are more than enough skilled devs with free time to make this happen. We as the community need to support them financially.
Please help spread the message in your various channels. If you’re technically capable enough, start the process!
https://keepandroidopen.org/open-letter/
https://f-droid.org/en/2026/02/24/open-letter-opposing-developer-verification.html
Lets not act like this is an impossible task.
There is a process and actually multiple ways to accomplish this. Looking into, we might not even need to fork android, but just support existing alternatives.
I would think the first step is to fork the Android Open Source Project. use that as a base, start cutting out any links to google, fill in the gaps, etc. This is obviously not my realm of expertise but there is a path.
“170,000 tech workers lost their jobs in the U.S. in the 18 months prior to mid-2025”
Don’t tell me we can’t scrape together a team of experts and make this happen. Yes there will be barriers and push-back, but its either this or we just keep deepthroating google.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/the-fairphone-2-hits-five-years-of-updates-with-some-help-from-lineageos/
https://itsfoss.com/linux-phones/
Thank goodness for existing Android forks (which persist even now), and for projects like the Mecha Comet.
I don’t think unemployed developers have as much free time as you seem to think they do. Do you know how much the mortgage payments would be for a house in silicon valley? Not to mention other bills like their kids’ tuition, car loans, etc.