Google Makes It Easier To Flash Android Open-Source Project On Phones

[cynical]

Google play services are awful from a privacy standpoint, but one of the reasons for its ever increasing penetration is that it has become their only mechanism to update older devices.

The Google -> Manufacturer -> Carrier cycle is just way too slow, and you are providing all of these convenient features anyway, so why not expand it and bypass this process to get critical things like the webview updated in a timely fashion?

So it’s alarming but also common sense at the same time, and I can’t fault them for doing it, even if it makes their platform look more and more like Apple’s.

[Space Beer]

Try to go to https://flash.android.com using Firefox.

https://i.imgur.com/8dKf3dD.png

F-U Google. Can't wait official Pinephone release. I don't care about available apps

[jntesteves]

I see this online fastboot as just a toy (a cool toy, I gotta admit) to show off a new Web capability. It's core is probably cross-compiled directly from fastboot's source-code. This has zero utility for real Android or app developers, as using fastboot from the command line is too easy, literally one command away, and probably faster than this online version, and any developer should already be acquainted with the command line anyways.

EDIT: to be fair, it might lower the entry barrier for newcomer Windows users.

[skeevy420]

I see this online fastboot as just a toy (a cool toy, I gotta admit) to show off a new Web capability. It's core is probably cross-compiled directly from fastboot's source-code. This has zero utility for real Android or app developers, as using fastboot from the command line is too easy, literally one command away, and probably faster than this online version, and any developer should already be acquainted with the command line anyways.

EDIT: to be fair, it might lower the entry barrier for newcomer Windows users.

It lowers the entry for Google employed device refurbishers and fixers when the issue is software only. Now they have an easy-to-use GUI. Plug the phone in, click-click-click, phone is fixed. Instead of teaching "fastboot flash system system.img", the real developer can teach click-click-click because damn-near anyone can figure out click-click-click...unless they're my Dad and you say "click that" so they right click...30 minutes and he never got past clicking the Start menu of Windows 98 because left and right click was a difficult concept

[Vistaus]

flashing a different firmware requires unlocking bootloader, and either that or flashing non-stock firmware voids your warranty.

Also for Google devices.

Unless the bootloader is already unlocked, like on my Cosmo Communicator or the Gemini PDA. Planet *officially* supports (besides the default Android ROM that ships with theur devices) rooted Android, LineageOS, Sailfish OS and Linux, so no matter what you do, your warranty is never voided because they officially support other options.

[fazalmajid]

Try to go to https://flash.android.com using Firefox.

https://i.imgur.com/8dKf3dD.png

F-U Google. Can't wait official Pinephone release. I don't care about available apps

The article explains why. The installer uses WebUSB, which is presumably only implemented by Chrome because it is such a spectacularly bad idea.

[jntesteves]

The article explains why. The installer uses WebUSB, which is presumably only implemented by Chrome because it is such a spectacularly bad idea.

It is a upcoming Web standard and should be in every browser soon enough. Google have abandoned every effort to push non-standard APIs into Chrome and nowadays they are great contributors to the standardization processes. They've already deprecated Chrome Apps, PPAPI, basically everything non-conformant in Chrome will be removed by the end of this year, and late 2022 for ChromeOS.

I can't see any reason why you would say it's a bad idea for software to be able to communicate with periferal devices on a computer through the standard protocol already in use everywhere. Your OS already does that in the most insecure way possible. The Web platform at least have learned the basic capability-based security model the current OSes are to old to learn now. Google's Fuchsia being the exception that will (hopefully) soon replace Linux for desktop/mobile use.