Saw protonmail screenshotted and got triggered. @protonprivacy@mastodon.social refuses to make an fdroid build. It’s one of the reasons I stopped using them (and their CEO supports Trump).
it’s working for some apps
Doesn’t sound like it’s specific to grapheneos. It’s probably on any android.
Don’t be afraid to use grapheneos. Grapheneos works perfectly fine. It’s a normal android just with more control over your phone.
Yeah, the person who opened the case uses CalyxOS. I’m getting the issue on a manufacturer build, OxygenOS **updating is fine but installing a new app is not
GrapheneOS is the ONLY free android build that has an alternative by installing the playstore…
The GrapheneOS team explicitly recommends against installing the aurora store for that exact reason. If you can install the stock play store with a burner email then the aurora store doesn’t actually give much of a privacy benefit (you are still uniquely identified either way) but aurora store is playing a game of whack-a-mole with Google.
The title is misleading, GrapheneOS users are the only ones who have an alternative lol
Most other open source Android builds simply rely on Aurorastore and we see how unreliable that is
/e/OS uses some weird shady appstore that contains a lot of playstore malware (literally anything) and is completely intransparent.
Apkmirror and apkpure rely on other people extracting and uploading APKs.
Tips for everyone
Install the following apps:
VerifiedAppsAndroid (Github) also available through their F-Droid repo
This app contains a growing database of signatures so you can verify that APKs you get are legit. Make sure to submit all the playstore apps you rely on, as those are especially affected!
Signature of the app:
org.privacyguides.verifiedapps 40:5C:6B:D2:CA:7C:3A:AE:8F:46:3C:6F:8B:55:BC:F0:DD:AC:43:1C:5E:D8:EA:FF:65:D1:06:C9:81:7A:20:7FVadhod APK Extractor contains AI code but only updated and well working app I know that can extract split-APKs and regular ones. Also it doesnt need file permission!
Universal Installer allows you to install split-APK files like you might get from extracting Playstore apps.
It might be a good idea to make an F-Droid repo with essential proprietary apps, as the combination with VerifiedApps allows users to not need to trust the repo but be able to verify the App’s origin securely. Android will only allow updates if the signature matches, so you only need to do this once on install.
Note that Obtainium+Apkpure have frequently installed 32bit APKs on recent Android phones that still supported those, which is a security issue. Might not happen if your phone doesnt even support them anymore like recent Pixels do.
Google scared of a little competition, easy lawsuit for being anticompetitive, not the first one either.
Well yes but nobody forces devs to only upload on Playstore, they simply do because they suck. Even quite a few open source projects!
Ignorance is the problem, most people don’t know there are alternatives to the Playstore.
Oh it’s not a me problem this time? I thought my firewall was somehow blocking it but I just did a download both with and without a VPN on, so I guess it is Google banning shit like usual…
It’s still working on my phone.
I get server busy all the time when downloading now
I use obtainium because I’m a big nerd loser but f-droid works fine anyways; you can install all the stores you want, including aurora
The issue isn’t installing the Aurora Store, it’s using it after install.
Aurora Store allows (allowed?) people to download apps from the Play Store without logging in - frankly I’m shocked it lasted this long to begin with. It gives full access to the Play Store library (you still have to log in for paid apps), but it serves a very different service from Obtanium, F-Droid and the rest
Ah I see thanks for the correction
Fix your title. It doesnt match the link’s title
