{
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  "path": "/t/google-will-require-developer-verification-to-install-android-apps-including-sideloading/33123?page=27#post_556",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-13T06:20:34.000Z",
  "site": "https://forum.f-droid.org",
  "tags": [
    "E Foundation",
    "Libre 5 has been available for sale for years now",
    "Liberty Phone"
  ],
  "textContent": "cliffcoggin:\n\n> Most people do not know or do not care about the predations of the major tech companies, leaving too few of us who do care to be a viable market for any manufacturer to produce an economical phone\n\nI’m not sure that’s ever been entirely true, and it’s certainly not true now. Many people no longer trust US technofascists like Goggle and grApple and would love to have a libre mobile option. But it’s a collective action problem; devs don’t want to port their apps to a new OS until device manufacturers commit to shipping devices. They can’t do that until they’re sure people will buy them. People can’t commit to buying it if they don’t know whether there will be apps for them, etc.\n\nThe iThing monopoly was broken by organising device manufacturers and devs around the Android/Linux platform, using the Open Handset Alliance. This is the sort of thing we need to do again, but this time as a genuine commons, not controlled and run in the interests of Goggle. Something more like the E Foundation. But maybe built around mobile GNU/Linux instead of an Android/Linux fork.\n\ncliffcoggin:\n\n> Look at the disastrous mess that was the Librem 5. Over priced, over due, and clunky. I am not sure even now if it is selling.\n\nLibre 5 has been available for sale for years now. As for overdue, when you’re developing your own mobile device for the consumer market, aiming to use only 100% Free Code software, I’ll watch with interest to see whether you meet every single one of your delivery milestones without a hitch ; )\n\nA brand new Libre 5 is US$800. If you compare that to a new iPhone, it’s a pretty competitive price. That’s the market Purism decided to go for, because they’re a new company with R&D costs to pay off, expecting to sell a small number of devices at first. If increased demand can be shown, then Purism and other companies can develop cheaper models for a mass market.\n\nAs a precedent, look at the difference in price between the first car Telsa put on the market, and the cheaper mass market models it sells now. Or the even cheaper mass market models sold by old and richer car companies, once Tesla had proved the existence of mass demand for EVs.\n\nSide note: Purism are now also offering the Liberty Phone, which was manufactured 100% in the US. Despite avoiding tariffs it still costs more than twice was the Libre 5 costs, which illustrates the degree to which sweatshot labour by Chinese workers subsidises the cheap purchase price of most electronic hardware.",
  "title": "Google will require developer verification to install Android apps, including sideloading"
}