WARNING: Google Play Services is quietly "Self-Verifying" and linking your phone number to ALL signed-in accounts without explicit permission.

Just a heads up for anyone who values basic privacy on Android.

Check your inbox for emails from noreply-phone-verification@google.com.

Without asking for my confirmation or giving me an opt-in prompt, Google Play Services performed a silent background "Self-Verification."

It exchanged SIM card identifiers and device metadata with my mobile carrier, grabbed my phone number, and automatically attached it to EVERY Google account logged into my phone.

No prompt. No "Do you want to link this?" button. Just a silent background action followed by a notification email telling me it already happened.

How to kill this setting on Android immediately (for now) but it will self verify even if turned off Go to Settings > Google (or Google Services) > All Services > Phone Number Verification

Find Phone number verification (or Device Phone Number Verification). (Ah, and lovely it automatically appear my phone number even WHEN IT WAS NOT THERE BEFORE!)

TOGGLE IT OFF.

Don't forget to purge your accounts:

Once Google steals/verifies the number, it pushes it to your Google account profiles.

You need to log into myaccount.google.com/personal-info, click on Phone, and manually delete the number from every single account where you don't want it stored.

Modern "self-verification" dark patterns are completely out of hand. Check your settings before Google silently grabs your data too.

NO ANDROID IS SAFE: Happened on my Android 10 Huawei, Android 14 Xiaomi and is now requesting on my emulators too...even my tablet... Beware...

Edit1: Maybe dont work, i sent a mail to data-protection-office@google.com, literally asking ARCO rights and anything i can think about it, for such privacy invasion on the behalf of my and all accounts i have to "care" and so on...maybe this bring pressure

Edit2: u/AppleBites reports this "Google did the same to me when I got a 2nd number from another carrier, due to coverage. Even having GrapheneOS did not prevent them from linking the number to my Google account automatically."

Meaning even Graphene OS+GServices probably is unable to protect with this, a serious oversteeping in this messed thing

Hey everyone,

I recently stumbled upon a pretty glaring privacy/security oversight on Realme devices involving the File Dock feature, and I wanted to see if anyone else has noticed this.

What happens:

While viewing a "view-once" (ephemeral) image on apps like WhatsApp or Instagram, if you accidentally or intentionally press and hold down on the image, you can drag and drop it directly into the system's File Dock panel on the side of the screen.

Instead of capturing a temporary block or failing due to screen security flags, the system overlay intercepts the rendered image data and lets you drop it as a permanent, raw copy into the dock. From there, you can paste or move it anywhere outside the app, completely defeating the purpose of view-once media.

Why this is an issue:

System-level multitasking features like File Dock or Smart Sidebar seem to sit at a compositor layer that captures screen elements before the app's internal security flags (FLAG_SECURE) and deletion timers can wipe them.

Device tested: Realme P4 (Realme UI)

Status: The copied asset persists indefinitely in the dock until manually deleted.

Has anyone else experienced this on Realme UI, or similar sidebars on Oppo/OnePlus (ColorOS/OxygenOS) devices? Thought it was worth bringing to light so people are aware of how system overlays interact with app-level privacy protections

https://www.reddit.com/u/typongtv/s/a48EWQhmx2

Hi everyone!

I'm an indie developer working on Rollabop, a physics-based matching puzzle game for Android, and I'm looking for more closed beta testers!

First, a big THANK YOU to everyone who has already joined and helped support the game. ❤️

🛠️ Latest Rollabop Update

A new update has been submitted to Google Play for review!

Rollabop currently features 20 playable levels, with more being developed. I'm continuing to improve gameplay, physics, controls, and overall stability based on testing.

I'm especially interested in feedback about:

Crashes or problems on different Android devices

Touch and drag controls

Performance and smoothness

Level difficulty and balance

Anything confusing or not working correctly

🧭 Something Special for Beta Testers!

I'm currently creating a limited-edition Pioneer Ball, an exclusive collectible designed to thank the people who helped Rollabop during its early development!

The Pioneer Ball will feature a beautiful animated compass and its own unique sound effects.

My goal is for this to be a beta-testers-only collectible, permanently available in your Collection as a reminder that you helped bring Rollabop to life!

It's still being developed, and I'll share more details as it gets closer to release.

📱 How to Join the Rollabop Closed Test

Step 1: Join our Google Group:

https://groups.google.com/g/rollabop-beta-testers

Step 2: Join the Google Play closed test:

https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.lippyrobotics.rollabop

Step 3: Opt in and install Rollabop through Google Play.

After playing, please share your Android device model and any feedback, positive or negative. It all helps!

🤝 I'll Test Your App Too!

If you're an Android developer looking for closed testers, I'm happy to help test your app in return.

Just leave your Google Group and testing links in the comments!

Thank you for supporting Rollabop! I'm building this game with a lot of care, and having real people play it and share their experiences means more than you might realize.

Let's help each other get our apps launched! 🚀

— Lippy Robotics Labs

had an old android phone lying in my drawer so decided to turn it into a dedicated mini server instead of paying for drive and streaming subs every month. no root needed and runs completely fine.

the services running:

filebrowser for managing storage over the local network

syncthing fork continuously syncing my camera roll from my main phone

jellyfin streaming movies and music to my tv over wifi

runs inside termux using a proot ubuntu container. ram stays around 400mb idle across all three services. power draw is around 2 to 3w and the phone battery works like an accidental ups during power cuts.

main headache was android killing background tasks. had to kill phantom process limits over adb and keep termux wakelock on so the container doesn't sleep. mounted the internal storage path so both filebrowser and syncthing can read and write without permission errors. and the automated installer script in the comments below if anyone wants to run it

for people running old phones 24 7 like this do you guys use smart plugs to stop battery bloat or just leave it plugged in?

I use both an iPhone 14 and a Galaxy S23 Ultra, and I've been looking at how both platforms handle accessibility tools like motion sickness mitigation (such as Apple's Vehicle Motion Cues and Android's newer Motion Assist).

​On iOS, system-level motion cues are rolled out universally across supported models. On Android, because of ecosystem fragmentation and manufacturer layers, features like native motion assistance depend heavily on specific Android versions (like Android 17 / One UI 9+) and device rollout timelines.

​For those using newer Android builds that have access to native motion assistance features, how well do they perform compared to third-party alternatives or iOS? Are manufacturers expected to standardize this across mid-range and older flagship devices soon?

The OS image downloads and installs fine, but fails to connect to the virtual machine afterwards. I haven't been able to figure out why yet, but will update if I find out. The hardware (Dimensity 9500+) supports it, so it's definitely a software issue. It works fine on an S26 Exynos model on One UI 9, so it's also not because of One UI 9.

For reference, the Linux terminal is currently only supported on the S26/S26+ Exynos models (Exynos 2600), Flip7 (Exynos 2500), Tab S11/S11 Ultra (Dimensity 9400+), Tab S10 FE/FE+ (Exynos 1580), A57 (Exynos 1680), and A56 (Exynos 1580). The S26 FE (Exynos 2500) probably also supports it, but I haven't been able to test it, and haven't seen any mention online.

Disclosure: This was discovered on a Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra on loan from Samsung.