So, Google is flexing to create the largest e-waste problem. In name of security (aka, force people to upgrade to new phones and trash a perfectly working device), Google is blocking anyone using custom ROMs on their smartphones, even if these ROMs bring latest OS and security patches, long abandoned by the original manufacturer. Apps refuse to work if the device is not seen as “certified” on the Play Store. Apps refuse to work if they are sideloaded. So that leaves you with a device that can run Android, but you can’t use apps that depend on Google Services. Things like push notifications, payments, banking, gone. GrapheneOS has called them out for this move. There is a way to manually add your device to Google Play devices and then you need to use Aurora Store instead of Play Store to install restricted apps. But for how long will this work?
Time to port postmarketOS and Linux to my Hisense A9.