Google Proposes JSIR As A High-Level IR For JavaScript
Google engineers have been developing JSIR as a high-level intermediate representation (JSIR) for JavaScript that they are already using in production at the company code code analysis and transforming other code/bytecode to JavaScript as well as for deobfuscating JavaScript code… ⌘ Read more

Chrome 148 Will Start ‘Lazy Loading’ Video and Audio to Improve Performance
“Google has announced that it’s currently testing a new feature for Chrome 148 that could speed up day-to-day browsing,” reports PC World:

[T]he browser can intelligently postpone the loading of certain elements. Why load all images at the start when it can instead load images as you get close to them while scrolling? Chrome and … ⌘ Read more

Top NPM Maintainers Targeted with AI Deepfakes in Massive Supply-Chain Attack, Axios Briefly Compromised
“Hackers briefly turned a widely trusted developer tool into a vehicle for credential-stealing malware that could give attackers ongoing access to infected systems,” the news site Axios.com reported Tuesday, citing security researchers at Google.

The compromised package … ⌘ Read more

Perplexity’s ‘Incognito Mode’ Is a ‘Sham,’ Lawsuit Says
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Perplexity’s AI search engine encourages users to go deeper with their prompts by engaging in chat sessions that a lawsuit has alleged are often shared in their entirety with Google and Meta without users’ knowledge or consent. “This happened to every user regardless of whether or not they signed up for a Perplexity … ⌘ Read more

Google Announces Gemma 4 Open AI Models, Switches To Apache 2.0 License
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google’s Gemini AI models have improved by leaps and bounds over the past year, but you can only use Gemini on Google’s terms. The company’s Gemma open-weight models have provided more freedom, but Gemma 3, which launched over a year ago, is getting a bit long in the tooth. Starti … ⌘ Read more

Google Now Lets You Change Your Gmail Address
Google is rolling out a feature in the U.S. that lets some users change their Gmail address without creating a new account or losing their data. TechCrunch reports: Users who have access to this feature can go to their Google Account settings, navigate to Personal info > Email > Google Account email option. Tap on the “Change Google Account email” button to start the process of chang … ⌘ Read more

Australia Readies Social Media Court Action Citing Teen Ban Breaches
Australia is preparing possible court action against major social media platforms that are failing to enforce the country’s social media ban on under-16s. “Three months after the ban came into effect, the eSafety Commissioner said it was probing Meta’s Instagram and Facebook, Google’s YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok for possible breaches of t … ⌘ Read more

Euro-Office Wants To Replace Google Docs and Microsoft Office
Euro-Office is a new open-source project supported by several European companies that aims to offer a “truly open, transparent and sovereign solution for collaborate document editing,” using OnlyOffice as a starting point. The project is positioned around European digital independence and familiar Office-style editing, though it has already drawn pushback f … ⌘ Read more

Tech CEOs Suddenly Love Blaming AI For Mass Job Cuts
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Sweeping job cuts at Big Tech companies have become an annual tradition. How executives explain those decisions, however, has changed. Out are buzzwords like efficiency, over-hiring, and too many management layers. Today, all explanations stem from artificial intelligence (AI). In recent weeks, giants including Google, Amazon, … ⌘ Read more

Google Moves Post-Quantum Encryption Timeline Up To 2029
Google has moved up its post-quantum encryption migration target to 2029. “This new timeline reflects migration needs for the PQC era in light of progress on quantum computing hardware development, quantum error correction, and quantum factoring resource estimates,” said vice president of security engineering Heather Adkins and senior staff cryptology engineer Sop … ⌘ Read more

Apple Can Create Smaller On-Device AI Models From Google’s Gemini
Apple reportedly has full access to customize Google’s Gemini model, allowing it to distill smaller on-device AI models for Siri and other features that can run locally without an internet connection. MacRumors reports: The Information explains that Apple can ask the main Gemini model to perform a series of tasks that provide high-quality resul … ⌘ Read more

Google’s Android Automotive Is Moving From the Dashboard To the ‘Brain’ of the Car
Google is expanding Android Automotive from the infotainment screen into the broader non-safety “brain” of software-defined vehicles. With its new Android Automotive OS for Software-Defined Vehicles, the in-car experience will feel “much more cohesive and the latest features will reach your driveway faster,” Matt … ⌘ Read more

Wing Expands Its Drone Delivery Service To the Bay Area
Wing is expanding its drone delivery service to the San Francisco Bay Area. “The drone delivery startup has been rapidly expanding to metro areas across the US, but is now targeting the tech-friendly Silicon Valley region,” reports Engadget. From the report: Going back to its inaugural deliveries, Wing ferried office supplies across Google’s Mountain View campus in … ⌘ Read more

Apple Prepares To Add Search Ads To Apple Maps
Apple is reportedly preparing to add search ads to Apple Maps, “and it could start to roll out to users by the summer,” reports AppleInsider, citing sources from Bloomberg (paywalled). From the report: Apple will make an announcement as soon as March. This will bring ads to search queries within the navigation app, which will operate similar to Google’s advertising system. Retail … ⌘ Read more

@bender@twtxt.net both, but neither directly. I know every workaround there is, including those used by developers, to test apps, while working on them. However if “sideloading” becomes so tedious, even the more technical users, cannot be bothered to do it, competing appstores and independent developers, not wanting to send their money and ID to Google, loose users at such rate, they likely won’t be able to justify continuing to maintain their projects, people like me rely on.

Google Search Is Now Sometimes Using AI To Replace Headlines
“Google is beginning to replace news headlines in its search results with ones that are AI-generated,” reports the Verge:

After doing something similar in its Google Discover news feed, it’s starting to mess with headlines in the traditional “10 blue links,” too. We’ve found multiple examples where Google replaced headlines we wrote with ones we did not … ⌘ Read more

Sashiko Now Providing AI Reviews On Rust Code For The Linux Kernel
A few days ago Google engineers went public with Sashiko with their agentic AI code review for the Linux kernel. The Google Gemini Pro powered AI code review service is automatically monitoring the Linux kernel mailing list for new patch submissions and has proven useful already. Interest continues to build by upstream Linux kernel stakeholders around Sashiko and the latest addition is now covering the Rust-For-Linux mailing list submission … ⌘ Read more

In the interest of fairness and hopefully for the last time, I ever have to address this, Google has flip-flopped again and promised “sideloading” will not be removed from their version of Android, but instead have to be enabled in the developer settings, using the following “advanced flow”:

To be perfectly clear, this still falls short of what I wanted, but at this point, it is a compromise I’m willing to take, over further pursuing this, through the various available European courts, myself.

Here is their full statement:
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/android-developer-verification.html

Google Details New 24-Hour Process To Sideload Unverified Android Apps
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google is planning big changes for Android in 2026 aimed at combating malware across the entire device ecosystem. Starting in September, Google will begin restricting application sideloading with its developer verification program, but not everyone is on board. Android Ecosy … ⌘ Read more

Google Is Trying To Make ‘Vibe Design’ Happen
With today’s latest Stitch updates, Google is trying to make “vibe design” happen, reports The Verge’s Jay Peters. The AI-native design platform encourages users to describe goals, feelings, or inspiration in “natural language,” rather than starting with traditional blueprints.

In a blog post, Google Labs Product Manager Rustin Banks says that Stitch can turn those inputs into interac … ⌘ Read more

Google Engineers Launch “Sashiko” For Agentic AI Code Review Of The Linux Kernel
Google engineers have been spending the past number of months developing Sashiko as an agentic AI code review system for the Linux kernel. It’s now open-source and publicly available and will continue to do upstream Linux kernel code review thanks to funding from Google… ⌘ Read more

Microsoft, OpenAI & Others Pony Up $12.5M To Strengthen Open-Source Security
The Linux Foundation announced today that $12.5 million USD in grants from the likes of OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, GitHub, Google, and Microsoft have been collected to invest in strengthening the security of the open-source software ecosystem… ⌘ Read more

Android, Epic, and What’s Really Behind Google’s ‘Existential’ Threat to F-Droid
Starting in September, even Android developers not in Google’s Play Store will still be required to register with Google to distribute their apps in Brazil, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand, with Google continuing “to roll out these requirements globally” four months later. Even developers distributing Android apps on … ⌘ Read more

Will AI Bring ‘the End of Computer Programming As We Know It’?
Long-time tech journalist Clive Thompson interviewed over 70 software developers at Google, Amazon, Microsoft and start-ups for a new article on AI-assisted programming. It’s title?

“Coding After Coders: The End of Computer Programming as We Know It.”

Published in the prestigious New York Times Magazine, the article even cites long-time programm … ⌘ Read more

Google Now Using AutoFDO To Enhance Android’s Linux Kernel Performance
Google’s Android LLVM toolchain team shared publicly this week that they have begun making use of AutoFDO for automatic feedback directed optimizations of their Linux kernel build used by Android… ⌘ Read more

Meta Delays Rollout of New AI Model After Performance Concerns
Meta has delayed the release of its next major AI model after internal tests showed it lagging behind competing systems from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. The New York Times reports: The model, code-named Avocado, outperformed Meta’s previous A.I. model and did better than Google’s Gemini 2.5 model from March, two of the people said. But it has not … ⌘ Read more

Google Chrome Is Finally Coming To ARM64 Linux
BrianFagioli writes: Google says it will finally release Chrome for ARM64 Linux in the second quarter of 2026, bringing the company’s full browser to a platform that has existed for years without official support. Until now, Linux users running Arm hardware have largely relied on Chromium builds or unofficial packages if they wanted something close to Chrome. Google says the new b … ⌘ Read more

Google To Finally Provide Chrome ARM64 Binaries For Linux
Google has shared exciting news with us today that they are bringing their Chrome web browser to ARM64 Linux devices… ⌘ Read more

Google Maps Gets Its Biggest Navigation Redesign In a Decade, Plus More AI
Google Maps is rolling out its biggest update in more than a decade, introducing a Gemini-powered chatbot and a new “Immersive Navigation” interface. “Ask Maps” lets users plan trips, ask questions, and refine travel suggestions conversationally within the app. “The new chatbot will be accessible via a button up near the search … ⌘ Read more

GFiber and Astound Broadband To Join Forces
GFiber (a.k.a. Google Fiber) and Astound Broadband announced that they plan to merge into a deal backed by infrastructure investor Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The resulting company will be majority owned by Stonepeak, with Alphabet becoming a “significant minority shareholder.” Light Reading reports: Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners teamed with Patriot Media to acquire Astound in … ⌘ Read more

@bender@twtxt.net Yes, really should have chosen my words more wisely. As @movq@www.uninformativ.de mentions, we got a vague promise of an “advanced flow” being implemented, and in my case also a vague promise of a video call, with someone at Google, regarding it. Now when the backlash died down, it does not look like Google plans to follow through, with any of this and they’re completely unwilling to elaborate and get back to us, about if and how any of this will be implemented.

@thecanine@twtxt.net

as things are now in fact even worse

You mean this, right?

Contrary to a vague mention of a possible “advanced flow” that may eventually allow “experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn’t verified”, Google’s description of the program continues to state plainly that:

Starting in September 2026, Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed on certified Android devices

Until such time that they have shown evidence that it will be possible to bypass the verification process without undue friction, we must believe what is stated on their official page: that all apps from non-registered developers will be blocked once their lock-down goes into effect.

Last year, I made a huge mistake. I repeated on here, what multiple sourcea at Google told me, and what is to this day, written on their blog about Android.
I failed to take into consideration, that people who work at Google, often just lie, or present things intentionally vaguely, so they do not have to follow through with their promises.
I would like to apologize to everyone, who took my previous posts here, as assurance software not explicitly approved by Google, will continue working on Android, past this year (or even just a couple months from now) and that everything has been resolved, as things are now in fact even worse, than they were before. To follow the current state of “Open Android”, please check: https://keepandroidopen.org/

Fedora Evaluating New Idea For For Experimental Concepts & Fostering New Innovations
Fedora Project Leader Jef Spaleta announced a new proposal for “A Technology Innovation Lifecycle Process for Fedora.” With the help of Google’s Gemini AI, Spaleta laid out a proposal to help Fedora make greater accommodations for experimental concepts and building more interest around innovative ideas without a firm commitment to integrate them into Fedora proper until they can be assured of sustainability… ⌘ Read more

European Consortium Wants Open-Source Alternative To Google Play Integrity
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Heise: Pay securely with an Android smartphone, completely without Google services: This is the plan being developed by the newly founded industry consortium led by the German Volla Systeme GmbH. It is an open-source alternative to Google Play Integrity. This proprietary interface decid … ⌘ Read more

Apple and Google could be forced to remove sexualised apps
The eSafety Commissioner won’t just chase offshore porn companies – she’ll go after the platforms that distribute apps that can expose children to sexually explicit content. ⌘ Read more

Mozilla Is Working On a Big Firefox Redesign
darwinmac writes: Mozilla is working on a huge redesign for its Firefox browser, codenamed “Nova,” which will bring pastel gradients, a refreshed new tab page, floating “island” UI elements, and more. “From the mockups, it appears Mozilla took some inspiration from Googles Material You (or at least, the dynamic color extraction part of it) because the browser color accent appears influ … ⌘ Read more

OpenAI Releases New ChatGPT Model For Working In Excel and Google Sheets
OpenAI today released GPT-5.4, an upgraded ChatGPT model designed to be faster, cheaper, and more accurate for workplace tasks. The update also introduces tools that let ChatGPT work directly inside Excel and Google Sheets. Axios reports: GPT-5.4 is designed to be less error-prone, more efficient and better at workplace tasks like draf … ⌘ Read more

Tim Sweeney Signed Away His Right To Criticize Google Until 2032
As part of Epic’s settlement with Google over the Play Store, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney agreed to stop criticizing Google’s app store practices until 2032 and even publicly support the revised policies. The deal also prohibits Epic from pushing for further changes to Google’s platform rules. The Verge reports: On March 3rd, he not only signed away Epic … ⌘ Read more

US Tech Firms Pledge At White House To Bear Costs of Energy For Datacenters
Major tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta pledged at the White House to pay for new power generation and grid upgrades needed to support their rapidly expanding datacenters. The Guardian reports: The agreement is meant to help mitigate concerns that big tech’s datacenters are driving up US electricity … ⌘ Read more

Father Sues Google, Claiming Gemini Chatbot Drove Son Into Fatal Delusion
A father is suing Google and Alphabet for wrongful death, alleging Gemini reinforced his son Jonathan Gavalas’ escalating delusions until he died by suicide in October 2025. “Jonathan Gavalas, 36, started using Google’s Gemini AI chatbot in August 2025 for shopping help, writing support, and trip planning,” reports TechCrunch. “On … ⌘ Read more

Google Ends Its 30% App Store Fee, Welcomes Third-Party App Stores
Google is eliminating its traditional 30% Play Store fee and introducing lower commissions, while at the same time allowing alternative billing systems and making it easier for third-party app stores to operate on Android. The changes stem largely from Google’s settlement with Epic Games. Engadget reports: The biggest change is to how Goo … ⌘ Read more

Google Chrome Is Switching To a Two-Week Release Cycle
Google is accelerating Chrome’s major release cadence from four weeks to two starting with version 153 on September 8th. “…our goal is to ensure developers and users have immediate access to the latest performance improvements, fixes and new capabilities,” says Google. “Building on our history of adapting our release process to match the demands of a modern web, C … ⌘ Read more

Google Chrome Moving To A Two-Week Release Cycle
Google announced today that beginning later this year they are moving the Chrome web browser from its four week release cycle down to a two week release cadence… ⌘ Read more

Apple Might Use Google Servers To Store Data For Its Upgraded AI Siri
Apple has reportedly asked Google to look into “seting up servers” for a Gemini-powered upgrade to Siri that meets Apple’s privacy standards. The Verge reports: Apple had already announced in January that Google’s Gemini AI models would help power the upgraded version of Siri it delayed last year, but The Information’s report indicates … ⌘ Read more

Motorola Partners With GrapheneOS
At MWC 2026, Motorola announced a partnership with the GrapheneOS Foundation to bring the hardened, Google-free Android variant to future devices. Until now, the OS had been designed exclusively for Google Pixel phones. “We are thrilled to be partnering with Motorola to bring GrapheneOS’s industry-leading privacy and security-focused mobile operating system to their next-generation smartphone,” a GrapheneOS … ⌘ Read more

‘World’s Largest Battery’ Soon At Google Data Center: 100-Hour Iron-Air Storage
Interesting Engineering reports:

US tech giant Google announced on Tuesday that it will build a new data center in Pine Island, Minnesota. The new facility will be powered by 1.9 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy from wind and solar, coupled with a 300-megawatt battery, claimed to be the ‘world’s largest’, with a 30-gi … ⌘ Read more

Google Quantum-Proofs HTTPS
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Google on Friday unveiled its plan for its Chrome browser to secure HTTPS certificates against quantum computer attacks without breaking the Internet. The objective is a tall order. The quantum-resistant cryptographic data needed to transparently publish TLS certificates is roughly 40 times bigger than the classical cryptographic material used today. Today’s X.509 c … ⌘ Read more

South Korea Set To Get a Fully Functioning Google Maps
South Korea has reversed a two-decade policy and approved the export of high-precision map data, paving the way for a fully functional Google Maps in the country. Reuters reports: The approval was made “on the condition that strict security requirements are met,” the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement. Those conditions include blurrin … ⌘ Read more

Sam Altman Says OpenAI Shares Anthropic’s Red Lines in Pentagon Fight
An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a memo to staff that he will draw the same red lines that sparked a high-stakes fight between rival Anthropic and the Pentagon: no AI for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons. If other leading firms like Google follow suit, this could massively complicate the Pentag … ⌘ Read more