patrick.net

Android now forces apps to include proprietary code for push notifications

FOSS messaging apps such as Telegram-FOSS, riot.im, and other free software apps that need push notifications, are facing a wall.

Google started leveraging its de-facto monopoly on Android distributions by forcing all apps to use its proprietary service Firebase for push notifications. Problem: The Firebase Android client library is proprietary, meaning FOSS apps can not use it. Apps that do not comply are reported to the user as "using too much battery".

The Telegram-FOSS team writes "Despite Google's misleading warnings, there is no difference in battery usage [...]". The warning is sure to frighten most users, though, effectively making Android a less open platform.

Google's Captcha in Firefox vs. in Chrome.

I use Firefox, and this morning I've spent quite some time proving to passive-aggressive Google that I'm not a robot.