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Google makes Android development private, will continue open source releases

submitted by colone+(OP) on 2025-03-26 19:21:51 | 236 points 94 comments
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7. Walter+Oh[view] [source] 2025-03-26 20:40:59
>>colone+(OP)
Source: https://www.androidauthority.com/google-android-development-...
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9. ewzimm+ki[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-03-26 20:43:03
>>BeefyS+Sd
You can have a very usable phone with https://f-droid.org/

Obviously, you will be able to find plenty of examples of things that don't work, and you probably have a bank app or some other thing that you need Google for, but alternatives do exist, and I'd argue that you can have a healthier, more productive, and more enjoyable experience if you can have all your needs met by software that isn't treating you as a product.

My opinion is you should use whatever works; I do. But try not to absolutely need software that you can't control.

16. ChrisA+rk[view] [source] 2025-03-26 20:56:43
>>colone+(OP)
[dupe]

Discussion: >>43484927

(Source: >>43482798 )

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20. dangus+Uq[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-03-26 21:35:13
>>bitsan+5i
Ah yes, the most popular mobile operating system in the world is “on life support.”

iOS must not even exist anymore because it’s closed source. I can feel my iPhone disintegrating before my eyes.

Look-but-don’t-touch source, except for how there are multiple successful alternative builds like /e/os, LineageOS, and GrapheneOS

The second largest country in the whole world gets by using Android without Google Play services even being available there, with Android commanding a 77 percent marketshare.

https://microg.org/

Sure, I fully agree that Google isn’t super enthusiastic about open source for Android beyond the ways in which it benefits them, but there’s a lot of hyperbole in your comment.

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31. Lammy+ZC[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-03-26 22:50:04
>>dotanc+Vk
It was closed-source for the entirety of Android 3.x “Honeycomb”, the tablet-only Android version that introduced Holo on the Motorola XOOM etc. Source code for 3.x was retroactively made available when 4.0 resumed its open-sourceness:

https://groups.google.com/g/android-building/c/T4XZJCZnqF8

>>3235926

> This release includes the full history of the Android source code tree, which naturally includes all the source code for the Honeycomb releases. However, since Honeycomb was a little incomplete, we want everyone to focus on Ice Cream Sandwich. So, we haven't created any tags that correspond to the Honeycomb releases (even though the changes are present in the history.)

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50. Barrin+EL[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-03-26 23:54:44
>>everdr+1K
>- Unless you want security updates past a year.

That's not been the status quo any more for a while since the EU started to mandate several years of OS and security updates. Samsung and I believe Google as well have stated they'll do 7 years of udates.

https://security.samsungmobile.com/workScope.smsb

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67. nvllsv+Si1[view] [source] [discussion] 2025-03-27 06:42:37
>>charci+rW
The 2025032500 release of GrapheneOS contains a backported fix from Android 16. https://grapheneos.org/releases#2025032500
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