by on September 3, 2025
You may have heard that Google will be limiting sideloading in the next few months, which is likely to be enforced through Google Play Services, something that runs on virtually all Android phones. Google plans include blocking sideloading of apps where the developer has not shown their ID to Google. Many people have been asking us how they can support app developers who will not or cannot be involved in a Google-run identity verification program.
In particular, we've been increasingly hearing that Android users want to remove their dependence on Google, for this and many other reasons, including the tracking and surveillance that come with using Google Play Services and other Google apps. As a result, we will be hosting a Q&A session this week, in conjunction with folks from F-Droid, to discuss how to best remove proprietary Google code from your phone, and ensure that you control how your phone operates, and which apps can run on it (and from whom).
We will cover the basics of which Google apps and other code you might be using, which of that you can remove while maintaining the use cases you have for your phone, and how to adapt use cases to potentially further reduce reliance on other non-free tools that prevent you from using your phone as you wish.
Among other options, we'll talk about how to use LineageOS on your phone, or another phone you might have already, what you can expect from alternate OSes in general, and how you can keep doing what you need, while giving yourself more control over what you can do in the future. Alongside participants from F-Droid, we will also discuss the F-Droid project, which hosts free apps that provide alternatives for non-free apps from Google Play, as well as classifying apps by how your data is handled, so you can maintain as much say over your privacy and freedom as possible.
We're excited to chat about how to improve your phone experience through the tools and expertise that software right to repair enthusiasts have created to ensure your phone and what you do on it is truly in your own hands!
Please email any comments on this entry to info@sfconservancy.org.