The discussion I stumbled upon, about this SSH app for Android, is really worrying. Will Google really manage to make it impossible to root your phone?
But there’s more to this, it’s more complicated. In the Big Picture, Google has every incentive to make these changes — they lead to more security, and they’re aligned with Google’s corporate goals as well.
- When talking to users, Google will emphasize control over hackers.
- When talking to stockholders, Google will emphasize control over users.
Edit: I disagree with “they lead to more security”. That’s not “security”, let’s not turn words upside-down.
No they’re making it more secure to protect mainstream users, who are the bulk of Android users, at the cost of niche apps.
It already is. Fuck SafteyNet. It’s DRM for phones.
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If android were GPL 3 the users would be protected from “tivoization” aka locked hardware. Too bad Google don’t want that happen
Commercial maintainers
(Companies like Volla, FXP and Fairphone offer compatible Ubuntu Phones as part of their business. Their reputation rests on preventing any major problems and taking a long view. Some devices can even be bought with Ubuntu Touch already installed!
Does it run android apps?
Not natively, but with help of containers. I found two projects and to be honest I don’t know much about them yet, as I still use Android for device warranty reasons. (But I am eager to try as soon as the warranty expires.)
Anbox (discontinued since this year):
- https://ubports.com/de/blog/ubports-blogs-nachrichten-1/post/android-apps-on-ubuntu-touch-with-anbox-3115
- https://github.com/anbox
Waydroid took over and looks promising. https://waydro.id/
Of course you could also run Android emulators, but such container applications like Waydrois are more efficient.
That has to my understanding been Google’s project all along (making Android crappy that is). IIRC they bought Android, which due to utilizing the Linux kernel was GPL software. The solution was therefore to seperate Android from all the tools that make Android work, splitting core functionality away from the now AOSP and over to Google services. By abuse of market position we are now in the position where stuff like Google push services, safety net and etc are now basically forcing people into their ecosystem. It will not get better, as witnessed with the company’s attempts at making email and most sites on the internet dependant on their ecosystem as well.
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To some extent you are of course right in that the underlying technology of Android has improved. What I was referring to was a design strategy aimed at crippling those who might want to present a Google-free Android alternative.
EDIT: I also want to add that MicroG, though a great project, is to my knowledge not Google free and probably never can be.
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From their main page:
(…) privacy-caring users can reduce or monitor data that is sent to Google (…)
From their dedicated Google connections page:
In general, we obviously try to minimize the connections to Google, but some services strictly rely on them and would just not work without.
I mean, sure you can ask for sources, but maybe take a little less aggressive stance when the information is so readily available. This took me way more time to write than you would have used looking it up yourself.
Will Google really manage to make it impossible to root your phone?
Google has managed this years ago, but it’s optional. There was a fairly short timeframe when most phone makers enforced it, but now most allow power users to disable the security and root their phones. But usually they will disable some security-sensitive features like Samsung Knox. And many security-sensitive apps like banking apps will not let you run them anymore (if yours does, great for you, but that also means your bank’s security is shit, just FYI).
A banking app allowing itself to run on rooted devices isn’t a security issue.
That’s right. And if there is, the issue is the bank, not your phone. Rule number 1 in security is never trust the client.
Have read the thread, since I am currently considering replacing my dinosaur Samsung S5. It still works like a charm and I have zero issue with it doing what I need it to do. I long ago unlocked and rooted it. I was starting to feel like replacing it may be wise before it should suddenly not work out of the blue since it’s so old.
My question is: should I be moving on to iPhone if these sort of issue with newer Androids are going to make them more difficult to use as I want? or do iPhones have the same problems? Forgive my ignorance since I know nothing about iPhones. I am just curious.
A phone will be an appliance, and I’ll just do very basic stuff with it. Real computing will be done at the desktop anyway.
Nah this is changing.
This of course is what they said about tablets. Now people are replacing desktop or laptop workflow with tablets, or alternatively tablets are being designed with removable keyboards so the lines are blurred.
I know scientific researchers who now only travel to conferences with tablets instead of their laptops.
Finally, I predict that we’re moving to cloud computing. It’s the natural way. You VPN into a network and your computing is done on a cluster or on a central computer.
The same is already happening for gaming. People are connecting controllers and glasses like the Xreal Air to phones, then networking into a computer to play a desktop game on their phone.
