Google’s Gemini team is apparently sending out emails about an upcoming change to how Gemini interacts with apps on Android devices. The email informs users that, come July 7, 2025, Gemini will be able to “help you use Phone, Messages, WhatsApp, and Utilities on your phone, whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off.” Naturally, this has raised some privacy concerns among those who’ve received the email and those using the AI assistant on their Android devices.
Linux has become good enough to replace desktop operating systems.
Now, we are back at square one. I’ll be the first to inaccurately declare, “This will be the year of the Linux phone.”
All I need is a good enough emulation of android apps to fool them (eg for banking).
Sailfish OS has it.
Unfortunately the project has some closed source bits which, imho, aren’t an issue when you look closer (some parts of the UI). Maybe I’m naive but I trust this EU company.
I use it as my daily driver. It certainly is frugal compared to recent Android versions, but fully functional.
It’s an actual Linux OS (as opposed to any Android version). Things work the same way they do on my laptop & server.
I used Maemo on my N900 <3.
I don’t wanna use Sailfish bcs of the phone support tho, I’m shallow af & I need my hardware :(.
(I also have a few other Sailfish issues, the source code/availability/package, the licencing - but I feel like all of those could/would change with some growth.)I understand. But I think it’s right that they concentrate on a few devices. There’s also something about SONY openly providing firmware and encouraging unlocking, something “Open Devices” iirc.
Ah, the N900…
Yes, I agree.
But Sony has drivers out there for a few more devices.
Do you by chance know if WeChat and Facebook messenger work on it?
Those apps are critical for my work.
Sadly, SailfishOS is region locked. Being from North America, I can’t purchase their phones, or use the trial/emulation option, which really sucks because I like a lot of what I’m seeing there.
There are a few happy US users on the forums. Maybe check out what they have to say.
I’m sure the company is perfectly happy with having these users. AFAIR the reason they don’t sell licenses outside EU is that it would add hassle, mostly sales legalities.
I didn’t know you cannot buy the C2 in the USA, but I would recommend an Xperia X10 II or X10 III anyhow.
Us here in NA finally get to see what its like on the other side of the region locking coin haha.
Yeah, I’d be happy if they had an unsupported version, but I get that could cause negative publicity for those who couldn’t accept that unsupported means exactly that.
Can you get by with web access? That’s what I do and it’s fine.
Yup. I use my bank’s website on my phone. Works plenty fine for me.
Unfortunately banking apps are only going to get harder to run on software uncertified by Google.
Looking at postmarketOS for my phone too, so sick of this shit
PostmarketOS is cool, but as an actual phone replacement it is tough, at least last time I tried.
I haven’t tried, but I took a closer look at their wiki yesterday:
- the Main (official) devices are QEMU, i.e. virtual
- the list of Community devices is long, but whenever I clicked on something there were significant caveats
IMHO they should focus their efforts on getting at least one actual phone working fully.
I want this project to succeed, but until then I use Sailfish OS, btw.
I’m looking at a Volla phone https://volla.online/en/
But I also have no experience of Linux in general yet so I have no idea if this is a good move.
I just really want to get away from android/apple/windows on all of my devices.
I want SteamOS for desktop, because quite frankly gaming is all I really use a desktop for anymore.
Maybe look into Bazzite if you get impatient waiting for SteamOS to become more widely available.
I’m going to second a recommendation for Bazzite. If you’ve used normal Linux before, it takes some getting used to the quirks of an atomic distro, but I’ve been using it for a month or two and love it!
Volla also has a (reliable, judging from reports) community version of SFOS
Behold, the Linux phone:
That looks far too polished with locked in specs for them to not have any prototype. I’d trust companies that have actually made a product that has a janky Linux implementation that’s improving, than one that doesn’t exist yet relying on crowdfunding.
Isn’t Android using a Linux kernel already?
Yes, but everything above it (including drivers) is custom-made and tightly controlled by Google.
Yes. IIRC it’s based on latest LTS kernel with Google patches. So it’s been “year of the Linux phone” for a while now.
It’s unfortunate that the slop they put on top of it is such a privacy nightmare. PostmarketOS is trying to change that and supports Plasma, Gnome, etc. But it’s early days yet and still rough around the edges from what I’ve been reading.
Yeah, but the kernel is a low-level module that handles hardware, memory, and processes—it’s not what users interact with directly, so sharing the same kernel doesn’t make it all that similar as you’d think.
What makes Linux feel like ‘Linux’ to users is the stuff on top: the userland—bash, coreutils, package managers, X11/Wayland, etc. Android replaces almost all of that, so even though it uses the Linux kernel, it doesn’t feel like Linux.
This is my fourth comment shilling SFOS here, but it just might be what you’re looking for. It is my daily driver.
That’s pretty cool, I’m working now, but I’m checking out its Android app compatibility.
If it can run my work stuff, I’ll be so happy.
The forum has a thread specifically about banking apps.
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Android is Linux… sure.
But it’s not what anyone means when they say they want a Linux phone.
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Its a vexingly pedantic point.
Android… is a Linux phone…?
Not really.
I use Linux since debian 3.0 and I don’t think Linux is ready to replace desktop os yet. The universe has come up with bigger and more powerful idiots.
Linux had reached idiot parity with windows at least. Idiot proof OS is a fable that cannot be reached.
Maybe in “appliances” like the steam deck. There are still driver and software support issues. There’s a big “familiarity” gap. There’s a lack of pre-installed systems. We are not at parity yet.
You think there aren’t driver and software support issues in windows 11?
Not what I said.
What you said only makes sense if you believe that to be true.
Nope.
Dear tech bros,
We, the people, don’t want to use your AI shit. Please stop shoving it down our throats. Thank you.
Sincerely,
-The people
Hahahahhshahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahaha.
Sincerely,
Tech bros.
yes but what if a company has the ability to create billions of close friends who can recommend sponsored products to you? why would it care about whether you want that or not?
also bard was a way better name for google’s LLM. it has its origins in an isaac asimov story about a robot who is programmed to tell random stories.
Is it really the people or just a subset of people that use Lemmy, the vast majority of people seemingly don’t care as is evidenced by the sheer number of people using things like social media.
What might be important to use in this echo chamber isn’t reflective of society on the whole.
It’s mainly tech savy people who don’t use it. Tons of people in companies use this shit. The number of people who use “ai” to take auto notes in meetings is insane. It’s a massive security risk but they do it anyways thinking it won’t be stored.
Obligatory Lemmy is social media response
Yes, with the key difference being that it’s anonymous. Publicly viewable but the users can be as anonymous as they like.
It’s mostly lemmy. In real life people go from amused to indifferent. I have never met anyone as hostile as the lemmy consensus seems to be. If a feature is useful people will use it, be it AI or not AI. Some AI features are gimmicks and they largely get ignored, unless very intrusive (in which case the intrusivity, not the AI, is the problem).
If a feature is useful people will use it, be it AI or not AI.
People will also use it if it’s not useful, if it’s the default.
A friend of mine did a search the other day to find the hour of something, and google’s AI lied to her. Top of the page, just completely wrong.
Luckily I said, “That doesn’t sound right” and checked the official site, where we found the truth.
Google is definitely forcing this out, even when it’s inferior to other products. Hell, it’s inferior to their own, existing product.
But people will keep using AI, because it’s there, and it’s right most of the time.
Google sucks. They should be broken up, and their leadership barred from working in tech. We could have had a better future. Instead we have this hallucinatory hellhole.
They need a tech ethics board, and people need a license to operate or work in decision-making capacities. Also, anyone above the person’s head making an unethical decision loses their license, too. License should be cheap to prevent monopoly, but you have to have one to handle data. Don’t have a license. Don’t have a company. Plant shitty surveillance without separate, noticeable, succinctly presented agreements that are clear and understandable, with warnings about currently misunderstood uses, then you lose license. First offense.
Edit: Also mandatory audits with preformulated and separate, and succint notifications are applied. “This company sells your info to the government and police forces. Any private information, even sexual in nature, can be used against you. Your information will be used by several companies to build your complete psychological profile to sell you things you wouldn’t normally purchase and predict crimes you might commit.”
How are you evaluating inferior? I like the AI search. It’s my opinion. You have yours.
Well, in this example, the information provided by the AI was simply wrong. If it had done the traditional search method of pointing to the organization’s website where they had the hours listed, it would have worked fine.
This idea that “we’re all entitled to our opinion” is nonsense. That’s for when you’re a child and the topic is what flavor Jelly Bean you like. It’s not for like policy or things that matter. You can’t just “it’s my opinion” your way through “this algorithm is O(n^2) but I like it better than O(n) so I’m going to use it for my big website”. Or more on topic, you can’t use it for “these results are wrong but I like them better”
Traditional search often is also wrong, showing some 3rd party website or a link farm.
With AI search I get a summary AND the result list, so I have more info to make a decision.
Well, yes, Google has been becoming shittier for years as they prioritize ads and fail to deal with SEO slop. You have to know what’s a good source, but that was true even when we were doing research in libraries.
The AI summary is making the problem worse. The information it provides is not trustworthy. It also deprives site owners from traffic. It’s really bad on like every metric.
I’ve been trying to tell people for 15 years. It hasn’t worked a single bit. It’s frustrating that people think they have nothing to hide when their carelessness and lack of tech knowledge is ruining the future of the next generations. I just can’t try to explain it to everyone. They don’t link the relation at all. I thought maybe eventually, they would just get it, but here we still are…
But the AI people that the tech bros can now create outnumber real people by ♾️:1. The opinions of real people have ceased to matter even the tiny amount that they once did. So open wide and try not to gag.
The problem is there’s a fair amount of tech CEOs that insist this is the future and everyone needs to hop on which between the hype train, the amount of software peeps out of a job because of layoffs and the amount of snake oils salesmen out of a job because this eats google’s lunch this bubble is just ballooning. You have a lot of people hitching on this bandwagon hoping to sell shovels to the next gold rush.
And for awhile everything is just gonna get shittier.
You don’t want to use it.
The companies keep preloading it on new tech, updating old tech so its there, preventing the option from disabling it from even being there, and disabling tech that can’t use it.
This. Shit. Can. Fuck. All. The. Way. Off!
“oh didn we make it not just an automatic update, but you can’t even opt out? Oops! Hee hee don’t worry, you’ll love it in no time. Which is why we’re forcing it on you. You’re welcome.”
Pretty sure I disabled Gemini as one of the first things I did when I got my phone. But, yes when I read that, to me it did seem like a serious overreach for something that was going to be “on by default” for most users.
How, its baked in? Gemini isnt installed on my phone but its there. Like the circle to search.
Gemini is an app, I disabled that. I also shut off the key press and there’s some other places you can turn off some of the automatic AI features, and also there’s a setting to disable the “online” AI in general.
But that’s why in another comment I said, I am still not sure I turned it all off (or even if it is possible to).
You might be thinking of the normal Google Assistant
Didn’t Google replace the normal Google Assistant with Gemini on newer phones?
At least on my pixel 7, they rolled out Gemini replacement but you could revert it to the classic assistant. It was slow, none of my normal commands worked, and it wouldn’t find anything I was looking for just “answer my question”. I asked it how to disable itself and it couldn’t answer that though. You can probably find documentation online if you use an actual search engine
You can remove most apps using ADB. Universal Android Debloater is helpful for this, just make sure you read the comments for each app so you dont remove something you need.
Have you a link? This sounds like I would need root?
You just need developer mode enabled
https://github.com/Universal-Debloater-Alliance/universal-android-debloater-next-generation
Laughs in GrapheneOS
but for how long https://x.com/GrapheneOS/status/1933177989480456365
X is blocked on network level here, could you please copy&paste?
GrapheneOS @GrapheneOS We’re going to be moving forward under the expectation that future Pixel devices may not meet the requirements to run GrapheneOS (https://grapheneos.org/faq#future-devices ) and may not support using another OS. We’ve been in talks with a couple OEMs about making devices and what it would cost. 1:02 AM · Jun 13, 2025
Thanks!
https://xcancel.com/GrapheneOS/status/1933177989480456365
GrapheneOS @GrapheneOS Jun 12 We’re going to be moving forward under the expectation that future Pixel devices may not meet the requirements to run GrapheneOS (grapheneos.org/faq#future-de…) and may not support using another OS. We’ve been in talks with a couple OEMs about making devices and what it would cost.
Jun 12, 2025 · 3:02 PM UTC
Same entire thread on Mastodon: https://grapheneos.social/@GrapheneOS/114670995130379882
Long enough for GOS to port Android 16 or get their own OEM, I hope
i hope so too :/
Nervously chuckles “im in danger” while clicking through to the Graphene rom.
Why is this a Google Pixel only ROM? Anything special with the Google Pixel?
I even consider Chinese phones a better hardware dela than what Google does, and I know Google software (I mainly use AOSP ROMs, Pixel OS in this case) but if we are swapping right away the ROM of the Pixel and the hardware is subpar what’s the deal with it?
Pixel phones have an extra security chip in them called the Titan. Other manufacturers lack this.
Check out this thread. They go into detail about it.
I guess my next phone is going to run NixOS.
I agree it would be concerning if I allowed Gemini access to my phone. Fuck that. This shit is exactly why I am on GrapheneOS.
Can you tell me about Graphene?
I got bank and government ID apps (manditory. Denmark uses MitID for all government related things), but they require things like locked bootloaders and Google security features.
Would those apps be functional on GrapheneOS?
ew. Tell your government to stop mandating spyware.
Graphene does let you re-lock the bootloader. IIRC, whether an app works depends on whether they require SafetyNet full, or just basic. I have so far only found one app that refuses to work. However… it looks like MitID was recently updated and no longer works.
https://gist.github.com/lbschenkel/4199be415f2a139b64688ae74c92a7fc
Starting on 2024-06-12, MitID have started using Google Play Integrity API during activation. This means that new installations will no longer work in GrapheneOS nor any other non-stock Android, as they are not certified by Google and will not pass the required checks. The app still works (for now) if you managed to get it activated before that date.
Maybe? It depends on what exactly the app checks for. Some apps don’t work because they check if it’s running on the original ROM. It’s hit or miss.
If you can access what you need through the web, you can go that route instead.
I can also recommend CalyxOS. Locked bootloaders, open source emulation of all Google’s play services (meaning an open source binary running on your phone, filtering requests to Google’s servers with absolutely minimal/random info).
Basically I have anonymized access to the play store, and any apps I install other than Google pay work, no issue. ~~I believe even Google’s secure features work. There’s a reddit post about MitID: https://www.reddit.com/r/CalyxOS/comments/w2ordg/a_proven_way_to_use_calyxos_and_banking_apps_etc/~~
E: having read through the technical comments on graphene’s forums, looks like play integrity prevents MitID from running. The service offers free code generators which hang on your keys though.
Do you happen to use android auto? Does that work OK? I could go without, but that’s one integration that’s just got it’s hooks on me hard.
Android auto works on an ungoogled phone last i tried, it does take some tinkering though
how do they make it mandatory? what happens if you don’t have a smartphone?
is it strictly mandatory, or is the alternative intentionally very inconvenient?
I’m asking because it is very weird to me. but also, in my country also in the EU, there’s this misunderstanding that it is mandatory, while actually it can be replaced with any 2FA code generator app. and then it has a bunch of administrative features in one place for convenience
MitID is hard-required to sign into anything government or personal information required. Previously people would be handed a key-card (a white, fold-out card with a bunch of numbers on it. The numbers were one-time use, so the card would eventually run out, requiring a replacement after a few months).
These key-cards have been completely phased out. Now there is the MitID app or a key-device that is almost impossible to get (you’ll basically have to prove that you don’t have/can’t use a smart phone).
The MitID app has almost no features at all. It’s specifically used for authentication. You log into the gooberment website or bank website, then a encrypted, constantly changing QR code pops up. You open the MitID app on your phone, scan the QR code, and then you gain access.
This is all run through the private security company the Danish government has hired, called “NETS”.
I’m sorry you have to deal with this shit
Something must have changed since I got my physical code display then, because I simply went to their webpage and ordered a free code display device a while ago. https://www.mitid.dk/bestil-mitid-identifikationsmiddel/
It’s best to never use any apps or accounts for your business life on your personal device. I have two phones for this purpose.
Pls break Google up. Kthx
Let’s not stop at Google. Break them all up!
Seize the means of production
Yes take over the Google factory!
So there’s an opt-out.
The article seems concerned that the email announcing this doesn’t include a specific path to the opt-out right in the email (which is a weird concern, considering the email provides two links to… presumably that information)?
I’m not sure what this means, either, but it seems the “whether your Gemini Apps Activity is on or off” line is saying that you can still have Gemini send texts for you even if you disable Google storing your apps usage server-side? I don’t use Gemini as an assistant, so I’m not sure, but looking at the Gemini settings menu on my Android phone that’s what it seems to map to.
My interpretation is that you can leave activity off i.e., your interactions are not saved. I may be wrong, but as I’m not interested in it for now, I’m not going to check either.
Right. They have an opt-out for Gemini storing your in-app activity, which I believe is a requirement to get the assistant to be able to do things in the app. This seems to say you may be able to interact with some messaging apps even if you opt out (presumably they would have a rebuilt way to interact with those that doesn’t store any of your data?).
If this is the case, it’s (apparently) good for privacy.
Less bad, maybe?
Either way it’s definitely a good example of why you should write good emails to your customers that explain things properly.
If this is what they’re saying I’m assuming they didn’t want to be too clear about what info they’re storing if you don’t opt out and ended up making an email that sounds like a threat.
Either way I won’t be using Gemini as an assistant any time soon. Or any other voice assistant, for that matter.
You’re right. Anyeay, my google account is just a placeholder, let’s say. Everything is disable and I don’t actively use it to store anything, not even my calendar.
I’ve not received any mails or notifications. Though I don’t use Gemini at all. Or Google Assistant. Or any assistant.
I don’t use them either, but still got the email.
Same. My only use is accidental.
Guess I’m should get around to disabling it.
I thought I had disabled it, and I don’t have the app, but I can’t see any way to remove it from any of the settings mentioned in the email 🤷🏻♂️
“Google is making it easier for Google to pry into your personal data.”
“Water is making it easier for water to make you wet.”
Laughs in eu
Laughs in degoogled android
Cries in non-eu, non-degoogled android
“We spent a lot of money on this, so you’re going to have it.”
I swear all of this was predicted to happen by open source advocates of the 80s and they’d be called alarmists/whatever and then 30 years later you had Snowden leaks and all the surveillance bills and now Microsoft, Google, and Apple are all advertisement companies mining data through the software and devices they sell
The best people can do is just keep using and advocating for Linux adoption. Try out degoogled Android or a more traditional Linux phone device. Need more users and funding to get the software kinks worked out. They’re not as good as the high end Android and Apple stuff, but it’s a process
I’ve been struggling with figuring out how to get google off my phone. I don’t know if I’m doing a bad job of searching or if I’m just dumb, but are there any good communities in Lemmy you can recommend on the topic?
Just searched degoogle in Lemmy
https://lemmy.world/c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
There are levels to it. The advanced level is using a custom Android ROM for your phone that has no Google play services/apps on it and that’ll depend on what’s available for your phone from community ROM makers. You can see if any of these support your phone or plan any future phone of yours around these
https://itsfoss.com/android-distributions-roms/
An easier first step is just starting with non-Google apps. You can start with replacing Google apps like replace Maps with Organic Maps or something similar. Replace Gmail with something like Proton Mail. Same with calendar and cloud storage. Proton has alternatives. They even have an okay Google docs feature. Use a different search engine like duckduckgo rather than Google.
F-droid as an app store. Instead of Google authenticator use Aegis. Instead of Chrome use Firefox or a fork of it.
It’s difficult so a process over time of lessening dependency on Google applications
But what about banking apps and surch?
That is an issue that I imagine only being solved with a larger user base that banks don’t feel like they can ignore anymore
As the other guy mentioned, the website. All these apps are usually web wrappers anyways or some sort of cross platform software dev framework that does web/mobile so the website is usually pretty much the same as the apps
I’d imagine you can do everything on the website, which can likely be made into an ‘app’ on Firefox via the “Add to Home screen” option.
banking apps partially work
Do you have any good material to degoogle Android??
Just saw there’s a sort of large Lemmy degoogle community
https://lemmy.world/c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
Personally I think it’s a good start to just replace Google applications. Organic Maps over Google Maps. Proton Mail/Drive/VPN/Calendar over Google stuff. Firefox and forks over Chrome. Duckduckgo over Google search. After that you can maybe find an old old Google Pixel phone and then start flashing ROMs off XDA forums as practice before you try a newer more expensive phone
So is Gemini on there as an app? It isn’t listed as such on my phone
Yes, it’s on there. I have a phone, never downloaded or installed Gemini, but because it’s a motorola with a special extra button… I can push that button and up pops Gemini.
The only way I can stop it is by disabling the Google app, then the button becomes innert again (which is how I like it).
So yes, it’s embedded in the Google app. Disabling the Google app may aslo cause other issues (such as Google Home/Chromecast not working).
Doesn’t the motorola phone have a settings screen for defining what the button does? For Samsung they like to re-purpose the power button.
First of all, it brought up bixby. I turned it back to powering off the phone and disabled bixby.
Then, with the new update they re-assigned the power button to gemini. So, I turned it back to powering off the phone and disabled gemini too.
However, the problem these days is that I’m never completely sure I’ve turned off all of the AI nonsense on my phone.
Yeah, but the question was as to whether Gemini is listed as an app. The answer is no, Google have snuck it in whether you like it or not.
It’s in the app list for me. I set it to disabled.
Phone is Samsung s24 ultra.
Thank you. I disabled the google app (which I tbh low key don’t know what it even does)
Remember when Google+ was the future?
