| layout | post | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| title | Google will lock-down Android in September 2026 | ||
| short | Google will lock-down Android | ||
| date | 2026-02-23 21:00:00 + 01:00 | ||
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| author | <a href="https://github.com/poolitzer">@poolitzer</a> | ||
| image | altered_deal | ||
| excerpt_separator | <!-- more --> |
As you have no doubt noticed, we have a banner with an ominous countdown now prominent on our website: Google will lock-down Android, and we need to raise awareness.
Coinciding with this blog posts, we released a new update to NewPipe, where we introduced a pop up also notifying users there that they will need to take steps in order to keep using NewPipe.
This is not a fun blog post to write, believe me. Androids future is dear to our heart, and we believe that one of its main aspects was its openness, clearly separating it from Apple's iOS as the better choice for every tinkerer and developer. For the past few years Google has continuously taken steps to remove this openness, and now it hit us.
To make a long story short: We will not enroll in this privacy violating program and give up the anonymity of our developers. We do not want to be at the mercy of Google to allow our app to work. And you should not be content with this restriction either. Follow the steps outlined at keepandroidopen.com and resist this further lock-down of your device.
If you like the app enough to want to make it even better, or you noticed some glaring error that you can't help but want to fix, you can read our contribution guidelines and do a Fix-It Felix.
Or, if you're bilingual (or even multilingual), you could help translate the app.
Feature additions to the old codebase have been put on hold for now. We're pretty swamped as it is, and are working to clear our large (and critical) backlog first. Our next priority is to finish the rewrite of the codebase. We are making progress - slowly, but steadily - and you can help out on that too (and learn modern Android development practices along the way).