EIL5: The last API integrity annoucement and its consequences

maximus87

Hello,
Yesterday I saw the annoucement of Android Developers Twitter account about the API integrity and then GrapheneOS saying they are breaking the law to enforce Google monopoly.

But could anyone please explain to me what is that annoucement about abd specially what will happen after May 2025 where they said the old APIs will transition to the new ones? And its impact on end simple users like myself?

Thank you!

GrapheneOS

Nothing is changing.

JollyRancher

GrapheneOS
Not until that lawsuits at least.

And it will take lawsuits/regulatory pressure to change things.

Without a change, Play Integrity is going to effectively kill Android as anything but Google's iOS

DeletedUser69

JollyRancher no, with GrapheneOS you always have control and choice.

JollyRancher

DeletedUser69
And zero ability to use your smartphone for anything except phone calls.

Governments are already effectively requiring apps in the day to day lives of their citizens and enforcing Play Integrity. Financial institutions are doing the same.

Google is strongly encouraging Play Integrity be used by all app developers, and in reality it is probably only a matter of time before it is required to list on the Play Store.

Sure, there will exist apps deliberately outside that system but that will make targeting their users even easier.

What makes GOS so important, and the biggest threat to Google and iOS is that it is secure, easy to use/learn, and (absent Play Integrity BS) basically a drop in replacement for Android.

If Play Integrity gets dealt with then within five to ten years you will see GOS usage explode. If Play Integrity remains, GOS will largely become a dead end outside of very specific use cases.

DeletedUser69

JollyRancher I consider my phone pretty usable. I don't know what sort of apps you are after but my banking app works without Play Services (as a backup I can use Vanadium), E2EE Messenger is available from developer website, NewPipe works better than original, Calendar, mail apps, document viewer and maps are quality and open source. I don't use phone for everything and I am happy with what it does. I hope you can find the right environment to successfully operate in.

JollyRancher

DeletedUser69
Today? I have basically zero issues using GOS as my daily driver.

Tomorrow? Who knows? Just look at what happened with Revolut. They updated the app and suddenly you can no longer use it on GOS. Or the multiple times the same thing has happened with government apps that are essentially required in daily life in various countries.

Google will do basically everything they can to make Android a walled garden. They have massive incentives to keep their apps a root level part of essentially all Android devices and force as much as possible of the "necessary" (as opposed to luxury) apps into reliance on the App store.

Solve the Play Integrity issue and GrapheneOS becomes a fairly easy to recommend daily driver for basically everyone.

Until Play Integrity is resolved though, GOS isn't a suitable daily driver for the vast majority of the populace because critical apps they rely on daily may well irrevocably break at literally anytime.

It is also one of the issues stopping the development of other hardware that can run GOS and a broader market for Google free smart devices.

Bluntly, if it can't connect to the Play Store, download any apps on there the user desires, and have those apps just work then the potential market is miniscule relative to the population.