Android users in S’pore to be blocked from installing unverified apps as part of anti-scam trial

Thanks for the heads-up, just disabled Google Play Protect.

Singapore is probably the ideal test case for Google to start normalizing walling off their garden, thanks to how passive locals are, and the ability to point to scams as the justification (a real problem, though not something that justifies this power grab IMO).

I wonder how Chinese Android smartphones will be handled, especially since some large fraction of the old folks who are susceptible to scams might use those. It would be ironic if Chinese phones, falling outside direct Google control, turn into standard bearers for open software ecosystems because of this.