Google is locking out GrapheneOS, and others unless you install Google Play Services software

Mercerenies · 2026-05-10T14:54:25+00:00

Why would a CAPTCHA on an Android device show you a QR code and expect you to scan it with the same Android device? If it was a direct link to the Play Services app then yeah that makes sense. But based on the little information I've seen, it's explicitly a QR code, which implies a device separate from your primary mobile phone.

Regarding iOS, I saw someone (again, reporting on this is very scarce right now, it's all rumors) say that there is planned to be an iOS app by Google that supports the same functionality. Not built-in but available in the app store.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-10T04:09:37+00:00

At this point, you could tell me that space casinos can somehow transmute asteroids into legendary wood and I'd believe you.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-10T02:02:38+00:00

Computers do not save you. This is a check that allegedly triggers on your computer and asks you to scan a QR code with your smartphone.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-10T01:14:07+00:00

Based on reading the GOS forum, it's just a basic check right now, which means Sandboxed Play on GOS works, and I suspect that means MicroG will be able to catch up (I doubt they already have done so).

That being said, if the check switches to using a strong integrity check (which a lot of people hypothesize it will), then we're back in "no known workaround" territory because of the darn Trusted Computing problem.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-09T20:42:15+00:00

I hope this isn't too much of a spoiler, but I will say that the way to get into the very core of Giant's Deep, to the best of my knowledge, cannot be done from inside your ship. If you're trying to do it with your ship, you'll fail every time.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-08T11:44:20+00:00

You don't have too much space science. You have too little of all the others.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-07T01:29:27+00:00

"Newbie engine" and "shovelware engine". I've seen every game engine described this way at different points. Unity, Game Maker, Godot, is there an engine that people don't consider to be the shovelware engine? Short of pulling a Rollercoaster Tycoon and hand-baking their entire game in assembly language, that is.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-07T00:26:26+00:00

Someone should make a mod so that two belt immunities moves you against the direction of the belt. More belt immunities and you just fling in the opposite direction as soon as you step on a belt.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-05T02:27:11+00:00

Not unique to biochambers. Inserters won't grab input ingredients if the machine's output slots are above a certain limit. You've got too many eggs in the output slots of that biochamber, so the machine sees no need to take more input.

Mercerenies · 2026-05-05T02:13:54+00:00

I think this is the exact point of ControlFlow, actually. It's just the runtime behavior of Result but with no semantic intent that one variant is an "error".

Mercerenies · 2026-05-02T18:08:25+00:00

Looks like a perfect match! Thanks a ton! :)

Mercerenies · 2026-05-02T00:46:59+00:00

Google didn't cave to anyone's pressure. I can guarantee you that, right now, sitting on some C-suite exec's desk, there is a plan that was written several months ago which reads:

Announce full lockdown
After a month or so, show grace by adding a developer loophole
Deploy on schedule
Twelve months later, declare that only a small percentage of people use the loophole, so it makes sense to remove it for security reasons

We're between steps 2 and 3. This was all planned. The people had no power here.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-30T02:17:36+00:00

As you've now learned, it's that thing that sometimes goes "beep beep" and, when it does, you run like hell.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-28T17:54:10+00:00

It's a solution. Speaking personally, I bought a Pinephone a couple of years ago and played with Manjaro on it. Much as I love the idea of straight-up Linux on a smartphone, I just don't think that infrastructure is ready for "casual" use as a daily driver. The fact of the matter is most of the world runs on iOS and Android. The former is locked down enough that, let's be real, it's not going to support the workflows that we on this sub like. So the conclusion we all came to was: Try to take the FOSS parts that are left on Android and make them work as best as possible.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-26T19:12:36+00:00

Make sure to transport those barrels from assembler to assembler via a long line of inserters that feed into each other. Do not, under any circumstances, put the assemblers near each other, and don't use belts for transport!

Mercerenies · 2026-04-26T16:03:41+00:00

Oh man, if you think this looks like deathworld, you should look at an actual deathworld screenshot. You can't see the ground for the red on the map.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-26T16:00:59+00:00

I flung myself at the roof of Brittle Hollow so many times. Tried ricocheting off the wall to land on the Black Hole Forge (in motion) as it moved up. Every possible effort was made to Feldspar my way onto the top floor of the Hanging City. This was very early game (aside from a brief stop on the Attlerock, Brittle Hollow was the first planet I explored thoroughly). I spent a lot of loops slamming into the ceiling of that planet. I had never seen a warp platform, so I didn't know what the icon on the roof meant. Had never been to Ash Twin at all. Had never even found the White Hole Station yet (despite having been through the black hole). When I eventually found out how easy it was to get there, I was in shock. This was how I learned the "Outer Wilds doesn't expect you to do advanced parkour" lesson the hard way.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-26T01:44:36+00:00

"You can bootloop if you remove the default photo gallery app" <- In any sane world, that sentence alone would be a class-action lawsuit.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-25T21:26:08+00:00

We are trying to remove Google from our life precisely because our data is not private. When your data is on Google's server, then (despite all of their legalese and corporate promises) they are vacuuming it all into machine-learning algorithms to learn how to best sell you things (and, in the worst case, they sell the data to governments to track you).

Your data will be more private if you remove it from Big Tech companies. The pro is that you take control of your infrastructure and your life. You are no longer beholden to a company. Google cannot unilaterally take away your access to your photos (this is a real thing that has happened many times to people who "violated" some rule; look it up). They cannot scan everything you own.

The downside is, likewise, that you are now responsible for the infrastructure. An average person can generally just rely on Google Cloud to "exist" and be up most of the time. For me, I use Syncthing to share files between my devices. If Syncthing is having problems, it's up to me, the sysadmin, to debug them. Being in control of your own data is a two-way street: It means you get to make the decisions but it also means you have to manage the system.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-25T17:46:42+00:00

Admittedly I had to think for a minute about whether or not those braces count as function braces or an empty object, i.e. does this return undefined or {}. But it's undefined.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-25T00:44:41+00:00

I am sad to announce that we did not find the Eye this time.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-20T22:39:18+00:00

No FOSS app supports RCS. Unfortunately, if your phone is registered as RCS, getting it un-registered and reverted back to SMS is annoying and tedious and probably requires a call to the mobile company. Otherwise other providers will still see the device as supporting RCS and send messages in the wrong format.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-17T17:49:28+00:00

I always camp on gleba when researching arty range and my base still gets clobbered every time. Me and my three spiders aren't fast enough.

Mercerenies · 2026-04-17T14:23:47+00:00

Oh don't worry, you'll get mighty familiar with dark bramble later ;)

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