Google is systematically dismantling the open Android ecosystem: forcing all developers to register with Google, slowing AOSP releases, and effectively turning Android into a walled garden. Here is what is at stake.
At some point we’re going to want to ditch Google’s services entirely. This is simply a trust/societal problem, not an engineering one. Most proprietary apps rely on Google’s app attestation. The main hurdle I see for an Android fork becoming mainstream without Google is establishing a 3rd party root of trust, like how SSL already works. It is actively against Google’s interest to allow this to happen, so they will push as much closing of their OS as they can without “boiling the frog” so to speak.
At some point we’re going to want to ditch Google’s services entirely. This is simply a trust/societal problem, not an engineering one. Most proprietary apps rely on Google’s app attestation. The main hurdle I see for an Android fork becoming mainstream without Google is establishing a 3rd party root of trust, like how SSL already works. It is actively against Google’s interest to allow this to happen, so they will push as much closing of their OS as they can without “boiling the frog” so to speak.