Comment by 💎 pista
Re: "I have seen *perfect* summary, for google "sideloading"…"
The fun times are definitely coming to an end. Hang onto your old tech because that’s the last bastion of freedom.
Pre-2008 laptops are the only ones that pre-date when the government started mandating silicon-level backdoors into everything. Save and collect them while you can.
2025-08-27 · 8 months ago
2 Later Comments ↓
🚀 jsreed5 · 2025-08-27 at 21:25:
I don't object to the term "sideloading" per se. It long predates smartphones, and it's always referred to loading data in a way that differed from some "standard" method. What I find ludicrous is Google's assertion that anonymous sideloading is so dangerous, we need to end the entire concept of sideloading anything that's not signed by Google. It's a power grab, pure and simple.
Be aware: Google can only enforce this change on Android devices that are Play Protect-certified. The vast majority of phones are certified these days--I think it's required for official Play Store access--but some phones still aren't. You'll need to look for a phone that is not certified, or look for phones that can run custom ROMs like Lineage or Graphene.
@pista You're absolutely right. Hold on to old tech, repair it as much as you can, and if you must switch to newer devices, do your research and gut them of anything proprietary.
🦔 bsj38381 · 2025-08-28 at 01:20:
Good thing I have an old ThinkPad tablet, I still want to give it more memory and hard drive space, since it still uses Windows 7 Ultimate. I also have an old Macbook OS X as well too.
Original Post
I have seen *perfect* summary, for google "sideloading" drama. [https link] Eugen Rochko on mastodon.social