1 00:00:00,020 --> 00:00:04,800 If you are running a de-Googled phone or a custom ROM, you can literally fail Google's 2 00:00:04,960 --> 00:00:09,280 Are You Human check because now there is a component of the check that can require you 3 00:00:09,320 --> 00:00:12,320 to have to use Google Play services to actually pass it. 4 00:00:12,620 --> 00:00:14,680 If you think this is an isolated thing, it's really not. 5 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:18,060 It's the latest in a pattern that's getting harder to brush off from Google. 6 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:21,640 And after watching this play out the last year, I don't think Google can claim innocence 7 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:22,120 anymore. 8 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:26,840 So I want to share what's going on, the pattern that has happened in the last year, and where 9 00:00:26,860 --> 00:00:29,780 I think the future is headed for mobile operating systems. 10 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:35,400 So just a couple days ago on May 7th, there was this article that was written about Google's next generation reCAPTCHA. 11 00:00:36,210 --> 00:00:42,000 And it's called Google Cloud Fraud Defense, which Google formally announced in April 23 of 2026. 12 00:00:42,300 --> 00:00:43,680 So this is all quite recent stuff. 13 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:47,940 So what this does, for those of you who don't know, you access a website and they ask, oh, are you a human? 14 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,560 It's a way to verify you're not just trying to use bots. 15 00:00:50,710 --> 00:00:54,160 But this new one now relies more on mobile verification. 16 00:00:54,220 --> 00:01:02,560 So now it's going to scan to verify you're human and you need to get your phone and scan this and then verify through your phone. 17 00:01:02,780 --> 00:01:11,800 The catch here is that you have to have Google Play Services version 25.41.30 or higher installed in order to actually do this on your phone. 18 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,800 So you can do this on iOS or Android, but it needs to be supported on your device. 19 00:01:16,020 --> 00:01:30,640 This is already quite concerning, especially when you combine this with things that we've been discussing on the channel, like having to require age verification done on the operating system level, which means now your device is age verified, which now means that's what Google is going to help rely on to verify this kind of stuff on your computer. 20 00:01:30,970 --> 00:01:34,440 It also puts more dependence on mobile devices that not everybody has access to. 21 00:01:34,510 --> 00:01:37,480 And of course, if you're a custom ROM user, this is quite concerning. 22 00:01:38,120 --> 00:01:42,400 But, you know, I could see someone here saying, if you only look at this story, it's pretty narrow. 23 00:01:43,100 --> 00:01:44,980 You know, maybe they're going to figure out a workaround anyway. 24 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,680 but I think when we zoom out, 25 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,020 the story becomes a little harder to deny. 26 00:01:50,310 --> 00:01:51,260 You see, August of last year, 27 00:01:51,370 --> 00:01:52,660 Google came forward and said 28 00:01:52,780 --> 00:01:53,940 that we want to announce this 29 00:01:55,060 --> 00:01:56,340 developer verification process 30 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:58,920 for all apps on Android devices, right? 31 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:00,600 So what this actually requires 32 00:02:00,670 --> 00:02:02,420 is developers who are developing your apps 33 00:02:02,580 --> 00:02:04,660 have to upload their government ID, 34 00:02:05,010 --> 00:02:06,360 pay a $25 fee, 35 00:02:06,660 --> 00:02:07,820 have a verified device, 36 00:02:08,119 --> 00:02:09,160 register package names, 37 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:10,840 and have proof of signing keys 38 00:02:10,890 --> 00:02:11,820 and all of this stuff, 39 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:13,080 all to Google, 40 00:02:13,350 --> 00:02:15,000 even if they want to publish their apps 41 00:02:15,020 --> 00:02:20,340 Google wants full control of that process now. This would literally kill F-Droid. It would kill 42 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:25,100 things like Aurora Store, Optaneum, direct APK downloads, etc. Anything side-lidded would be 43 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:30,500 dramatically hit by this. KeepAndroidOpen.org has been doing amazing, amazing, amazing coverage. 44 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,840 We've been doing coverage for it here and pretty much just relaying stuff that they're doing. 45 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,320 They even put out an open letter that we signed back here as well. Google's heard some of that 46 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:43,380 feedback, and now they're doing this advanced flow, which is like this 10-step process for people to 47 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:47,840 just install whatever app they want to install on their device. Now, if you're on a custom ROM, 48 00:02:48,140 --> 00:02:53,480 sure, you get to avoid these Google Play services. That is actually where this takes form. But how 49 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:58,240 many developers are going to want to just keep pushing out updates when a majority of Android 50 00:02:58,420 --> 00:03:03,280 users can't access them? It's hard to know. This is a huge hit to the Android ecosystem. And there's 51 00:03:03,300 --> 00:03:13,360 no denying that, even if individually you might be able to find a workaround for this stuff. But 52 00:03:13,380 --> 00:03:17,540 is based on the Android open source project AOSP. And typically, it's an open source project 53 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:24,540 developed in the open, but they made the main branch of AOSP locked. And it's read only now. 54 00:03:24,900 --> 00:03:29,120 So now public developers have to sync from Android latest release, which gets periodic 55 00:03:29,380 --> 00:03:33,320 stable drops instead of real time visibility. What this means is that custom ROM teams that 56 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:38,220 used to track changes as they happen now have to wait for whatever Google decides to drop. 57 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,040 So Google decides things, they have more control over that, there's less accountability, 58 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,340 us transparency. And this is just more Google. To kind of reiterate this, we now have Google's 59 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,140 CAPTCHA service that is used all around the internet, potentially now require you to have 60 00:03:50,460 --> 00:03:55,900 a, you know, in some ways, KYC device nowadays with age verification in that mix. But either way, 61 00:03:56,180 --> 00:03:59,680 it's going to be much harder to do this on a Google device. We have this new verification 62 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,280 program that is trying to prevent sideloading and allow you to just install whatever app you 63 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:10,119 want to install on your phone. We have their whole AOSP thing that they're trying to do to make the 64 00:04:10,140 --> 00:04:15,440 open source aspect of Android a little bit worse. And also, I didn't even reference how they are 65 00:04:15,620 --> 00:04:21,400 kind of doing some really weird stuff with how they publish pixel code builds. And this could 66 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,900 really hurt open source projects and custom ROMs as well. Each of these seems like a small thing, 67 00:04:25,930 --> 00:04:31,480 but when you stack these patterns together from the last year or so, the trajectory is impossible 68 00:04:31,710 --> 00:04:36,619 to miss. And in my view, it just can't be denied anymore. This has to, in some way, either be 69 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:43,280 intentional or just no longer a lack of care for the open source community that made Android 70 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:47,980 possible in the first place. Now, I think Google's relationship with the open source community was 71 00:04:48,040 --> 00:04:52,980 in some ways always destined to end like this. And I'll touch on that in a second. But I do have a 72 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:57,300 service that is sponsoring this portion of the video that is still friendly to de-gigled operating 73 00:04:57,560 --> 00:05:01,960 systems. This part of the video is sponsored by Proton, and here's why it matters for what we're 74 00:05:01,980 --> 00:05:07,300 covering. We keep talking about these legislative threats like chat control, VPN bans, age verification, 75 00:05:07,820 --> 00:05:11,900 breaking encryption, and if you're still using Gmail, iCloud, or Microsoft for everything, 76 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:17,040 you're just one law away from having that access compromised or surveilled. Proton is here to give 77 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:21,960 you that alternative. It has encrypted email, encrypted cloud storage, an open source VPN that 78 00:05:22,220 --> 00:05:26,420 respects your privacy, and they can't read your content because it's end-to-end encrypted. 79 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:31,139 Switching might feel overwhelming, but Proton even makes that straightforward. Their import tool 80 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:35,940 pulls your Gmail contacts and emails. Proton Drive works very similar to Google Drive in the web. 81 00:05:36,260 --> 00:05:40,780 Proton Pass migrates your existing passwords, and you can do this all in an afternoon at this point. 82 00:05:41,220 --> 00:05:45,820 We use ProtonMail and Proton Pass and many other Proton products back here to run Techlore and even 83 00:05:45,980 --> 00:05:49,960 make some of these videos because the threats that we cover aren't just abstract threats. They're 84 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,640 real, and moving to services that can't be compromised anywhere near as easily is one of 85 00:05:54,640 --> 00:06:01,120 the most effective actions that you can take. Links to Proton are in the description. Thank 86 00:06:01,340 --> 00:06:03,020 And now let's continue to talk about these threads. 87 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:04,100 So here's the thing. 88 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:06,240 Android's roots are in open source. 89 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:11,980 So far on mobile, the only way to escape a company and actually have some kind of ownership 90 00:06:12,130 --> 00:06:17,100 if you value open source, if you value independence, has been to go with some kind of de-Googled 91 00:06:17,500 --> 00:06:18,320 version of Android. 92 00:06:18,540 --> 00:06:22,400 But, you know, Android as the open source project was always kind of a Google thing. 93 00:06:22,570 --> 00:06:26,820 And so for the last decade, I've been pointing people towards these because they've been the 94 00:06:26,980 --> 00:06:27,460 best option. 95 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,360 And Linux devices, in my view, just aren't ready for most people. 96 00:06:30,460 --> 00:06:33,440 I know because I have them and I've tried using them. 97 00:06:33,860 --> 00:06:37,340 I have every major Linux phone that has ever been debuted back here, 98 00:06:37,500 --> 00:06:39,160 and they're just not ready for most people. 99 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,040 Now, this is before my time, before I was following technology. 100 00:06:42,300 --> 00:06:47,760 But in November 5th, 2007, Google announced the open handset alliance 101 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:52,900 between HTC, Motorola, T-Mobile, Qualcomm, and other 30 companies. 102 00:06:53,500 --> 00:06:55,280 So you can read into this stuff. 103 00:06:55,460 --> 00:07:01,920 And Android was supposed to be the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. 104 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:11,100 The reason why I think they made this open and what I've heard from other people is that Apple had just launched the iPhone a few months earlier and Google didn't have anything. 105 00:07:11,140 --> 00:07:12,220 They didn't have hardware. 106 00:07:12,580 --> 00:07:15,220 They needed a coalition and they needed that kind of movement. 107 00:07:15,680 --> 00:07:18,640 And openness was actually a recruiting pitch to help them catch up. 108 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:20,680 So openness wasn't even a principle. 109 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,360 It was a strategy so that they could eventually catch up with Apple. 110 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,380 But I think the community evangelized Android. 111 00:07:26,580 --> 00:07:28,300 They fixed bugs and AOSP for free. 112 00:07:28,390 --> 00:07:29,620 They built custom ROMs. 113 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:33,780 We had the Nexus devices back in the day that were very developer and ROM friendly. 114 00:07:34,170 --> 00:07:36,640 And I think Google really did a good job catering to this audience. 115 00:07:37,110 --> 00:07:38,820 And it made Android worth using. 116 00:07:40,100 --> 00:07:42,800 But Google's alignments and their positions have shifted. 117 00:07:43,060 --> 00:07:44,200 The alignment is breaking. 118 00:07:44,410 --> 00:07:49,820 And I think we're getting our first real look at what Google actually wants out of Android. 119 00:07:50,260 --> 00:07:52,240 Because they don't need the open source world anymore. 120 00:07:52,620 --> 00:08:05,100 And that puts me in a really sad place because I don't know what the future looks like. At minimum, this is just plain disrespect. Like Google would have never gotten Android to the place it is today if it wasn't for the open source community, if it wasn't for the people. 121 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:13,740 These custom ROMs, many of these custom ROMs have contributed code upstream to AOSP to fix bugs, to fix security issues, to fix privacy concerns. 122 00:08:14,100 --> 00:08:26,640 And so Google taking this approach is extremely disrespectful to the projects, but also to all the users and all the people who committed to Android to get away from Apple's ecosystem for one reason or another. 123 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,800 So this is plain disrespectful, I think. 124 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:41,780 But I think the more controversial, even cynical take is that I think this is, you know, Google is telling us very loud and very directly that they no longer want to serve this audience. 125 00:08:42,090 --> 00:08:43,760 They don't want to serve the OEMs. 126 00:08:43,770 --> 00:08:45,500 They don't want to serve the open source developers. 127 00:08:45,590 --> 00:08:47,240 They don't want to serve the ROM maintainers. 128 00:08:47,270 --> 00:08:50,520 They don't want to serve the people who patched AOSP for free for a decade. 129 00:08:50,890 --> 00:08:56,260 They don't want to even serve the users who wanted the openness that Android originally promised them. 130 00:08:56,340 --> 00:09:00,620 even basic things like being able to install apps away from the default app store. 131 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,160 On desktop, we have a solution to this, which is Linux. 132 00:09:03,430 --> 00:09:06,480 It runs on whatever pretty much hardware you want it to run under. 133 00:09:06,530 --> 00:09:10,420 There's no central company that decides what you can do with it that's steering its direction. 134 00:09:11,020 --> 00:09:12,600 Mobile, though, never quite got there. 135 00:09:12,610 --> 00:09:13,760 We have PostMarketOS. 136 00:09:13,790 --> 00:09:15,280 We have Mobian or Mobian. 137 00:09:15,590 --> 00:09:16,480 We have the PinePhone. 138 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,880 We have other Linux devices, and they've gotten better over the years, 139 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:24,560 but it's not anywhere near a prominent enough third option 140 00:09:24,750 --> 00:09:26,580 to influence the rest of the space yet. 141 00:09:26,690 --> 00:09:27,400 So what do I think? 142 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:28,840 You know, especially if you're on an Android device. 143 00:09:29,030 --> 00:09:29,940 I think as of right now, 144 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:31,000 especially if you're on a custom ROM, 145 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:32,360 obviously that's fine for now. 146 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:34,860 But I'm looking at this for the next 10 years, right? 147 00:09:35,020 --> 00:09:36,720 So I'm looking at this decades at a time. 148 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:39,980 I think in the next decade of this conversation 149 00:09:40,660 --> 00:09:43,340 is not going to end with Google or Android. 150 00:09:43,630 --> 00:09:44,680 And I think there's a real opportunity 151 00:09:44,850 --> 00:09:47,640 to either maybe like have a new community run 152 00:09:48,150 --> 00:09:49,199 Android open source project 153 00:09:49,220 --> 00:09:51,280 that maybe forks AOSP, 154 00:09:51,420 --> 00:09:52,740 but now makes it community maintained 155 00:09:53,660 --> 00:09:55,860 or just something that's Linux-based from the get-go. 156 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:56,640 I don't know. 157 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:57,800 Obviously, I'm not a developer, 158 00:09:57,890 --> 00:09:59,820 but these are just ideas that I'm grappling with. 159 00:09:59,930 --> 00:10:02,620 I just don't think that it's ever going to be sustainable 160 00:10:02,730 --> 00:10:04,520 to have a central company in charge 161 00:10:04,630 --> 00:10:06,600 of what's supposed to be open for the community. 162 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:07,800 If you have an Android device right now, 163 00:10:07,980 --> 00:10:09,260 I don't think the point of this video 164 00:10:09,260 --> 00:10:10,640 is to make you throw it in a lake 165 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:11,640 and be scared or anything. 166 00:10:11,750 --> 00:10:13,540 I think these are all still wonderful projects. 167 00:10:13,630 --> 00:10:14,700 I still recommend them, right? 168 00:10:14,900 --> 00:10:16,280 But I'm just looking at this 169 00:10:16,380 --> 00:10:17,680 from a really long-term perspective 170 00:10:17,830 --> 00:10:18,740 and I'm seeing this pattern. 171 00:10:19,020 --> 00:10:20,420 And it is quite concerning. 172 00:10:20,500 --> 00:10:23,360 I think it would be reckless to not be concerned about this. 173 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:24,780 So make sure you make yourself heard. 174 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:27,140 Check out keepandroidopen.org. 175 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:29,000 It is a phenomenal resource right now. 176 00:10:29,260 --> 00:10:31,960 I want to give a huge thank you to Proton for sponsoring this video. 177 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,180 If this stuff matters to you, make sure to share it. 178 00:10:34,580 --> 00:10:36,680 Make people know what's happening out there. 179 00:10:36,900 --> 00:10:38,740 So it's not just us nerds who are following this. 180 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:46,100 Because if Google does this to Android, then there's no more open ecosystem to hold any company accountable, which impacts everybody's devices. 181 00:10:46,540 --> 00:10:48,780 If you like what we're doing, you can become a Techlorian down in the description. 182 00:10:49,090 --> 00:10:51,980 We have a fun little signal group that you can become a part of with some other perks. 183 00:10:52,420 --> 00:10:55,720 Other than that, I'll see you all next time on Techlore and make sure to get involved in this somehow.