Samsung Galaxy update removes Android recovery menu tools, including sideloading

[tchebb]

Note that this menu item was not used to install Android apps, which is what people often mean by "sideloading", especially with all the discourse around Google's new developer verification requirements. This menu item was used to manually install an OS update from a .zip file and already required that file to be signed by Samsung on locked devices.

On unlocked devices, you can install your own recovery that still has the option. So the removal doesn't prevent too much in practice. That ship sailed when Samsung stopped allowing bootloader unlocking on most of their phones.

[nocturn9x]

That's still possible so long as you're on a version of OneUI 8 that allows downgrading to OneUI 7. I did that and then patched the OneUI 8 firmware with Magisk and substituted the new bootloader for the old one and it works. Literally did this like in the past 2 days. Didn't even have the time to sound like a conspiracy theorist.

[nunez]

Not surprising for Samsung to do this. Hacking on their devices (which are second to Apple at a hardware level) went downhill fast after they implemented eFuse-secured bootloaders.

What's interesting is that they tried hard to cater to the tinkerers before going in this direction. They "bought" (acqui-hired) CyanogenMod, contributed to open-source and had developer builds of their ROMs. I think they even had clean AOSP builds with the HAL and ABIs for their hardware baked in at some point. SafetyNet made it realistically impossible to daily a rooted phone in 2026 if you want to use banking, healthcare or most music apps, so it's safer for OEMs to tighten the screws on access to their hardware in kind.

My take is that they saw all of this as a risk to profits they could make from catering to regulated industries who would deploy their hardware en masse. It also didn't make sense to continue this investment after banks and healthcare put pressure on Google to step up privacy in Android, especially after Apple implemented Secure Enclave.

It's a pyrrhic victory regardless, in my opinion. If you're going to run a super-locked down Android device, you might as well go all-in with Apple. Their hardware ecosystem is better, their cloud services are better, they get first-priority for mobile apps, you get Blue Bubble Benefits, and their support (in-store and online) is on another level. Even MDM is better with Apple devices (through iOS Profiles). Shoot, even privacy-minded folks are better off on iOS with Lockdown mode.

[kelvinjps10]

Android is still more open, you can side load apps. For example I like newtube and revanced, it's easier to sync local files like when using syncthing. AnkiDroid is a fantastic app. I can use extensions in Firefox, and real alternatives browsers. If android gets so locked down so it's almost as using an Apple phone, I'll use graphene or just stop using a smartphone altogether.

[nocturn9x]

This is a load of BS. First off, SafetyNet is long dead and its replacement is called Play Integrity. Second, I'm currently on a rooted af Samsung Z Flip5 that can use banking apps just fine. My primary bank doesn't even block functionality if you use root, and all the others (except Revolut, which is a tough one) are easy to hide root from, and there's plenty of ways to pass even the strictest Play Integrity checks.

[h4kunamata]

So Samsung has joined Apple!!

I used Samsung for decades but since buying a Pixel 7 PRO to install GrapheneOS on it, I am never using another non-GrapheneOS phone again period.

I can do everything, have full control over my phone, receive security updates that other phones will take half year to receive to name a few.

The only thing that doesn't work on GOS is Google Wallet, but since I have gone De-Google with Proton Mail and what not, I couldn't care less.

Important apps like banking and gov apps do work without problems.

And to avoid dependency on Google hardware, GrapheneOS is releasing their own EOM phone most likely by the end of 2027.

[goku12]

I haven't used Samsung phones in a while. So I didn't realize that the situation got this bad. That's ample enough reason to continue the 'haven't used Samsung' part indefinitely. Yet another brand hits the do-not-buy list. But at this point, I think it's worth choosing a brand that explicitly supports reflashing and customizability, rather than taking a chance with all these leaches.

[aboringusername]

Unfortunately that's a rather vanishingly small list now.

I would not be surprised if, in a few years, these options are gone from all android devices.

People mention GrapheneOS but that relies entirely on Google.

Yes they are working with an OEM (leaked as Motorola) and we'll see how that goes, it may be the last hope.

[Kim_Bruning]

I returned the last samsung phone I bought due to all the shenanigans already, and I explicitly dis-reccomend it to people.

Which is a bit funny I suppose, since a lot of people around where I live seem to assume that smartphone means either Samsung or Apple.

Currently I'm using Fairphone (Made by a Dutch company, and now can be bought with a degoogled android from France)

[realusername]

The legality of this update is also dubious in the EU as they are remotely crippling the device bought without any prior information, warning or way to go back.

Goodbye Samsung anyways, I've been with them since 2013 but it's time to go now.

[layer8]

It’s unlikely to be a problem legally unless it was an advertised feature.

[Animats]

Can you still install F-Droid?

Can you still run without a Google account?

[mctt]

The article does not say anything about F-droid. However, there was discussion about this a few months ago; F-Droid and Google's developer registration decree https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45409794

F-Droid warns that Google's new "Developer Verification System" will require all Android app developers, even those outside the Play Store, to register personal data and pay a fee to Google to remain installable. The project argues this mandate threatens the existence of free and open-source ecosystems like F-Droid by ending anonymous development and stripping users of the right to choose their own software.

So that is one threat to what we have now. Right now you can install an APK that you trust and have been using for years.

What the article does say is that Samsung is removing several core options from the Android recovery menu, including the ability to sideload updates via ADB or SD cards and the "wipe cache partition" tool. While the reason for this change remains unconfirmed, it appears to be a permanent security policy shift tied to the One UI 8.5 update and the February 2026 security patch.

So why does this matter? Well some users like nocturn9x [0] have been able to take back control of their devices by installing: 1. An Unlocked Boot Loader. 2. An Unlocked OneUI/ROM 3. And then F-droid style installs are not problem.

Specifically, you can still install your trusted APK if you perform these steps, own a device where the hardware eFuses have not been blown and decline "Play Protect" nag screens and OneUI updates.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47205434

[bunbun69]

Read the article

[methuselah_in]

Its time to ditch google and move to linux for phones as well. It was fun till it lasted

[JustinGoldberg9]

Grapheneos fuxors this

[superkuh]

No, not ", including sideloading."

It's ", including installing software". Lets not let the enemy of general purpose computing define the framing of the discussion.

[chenxiaolong]

This article isn't about the installation of regular apps. The "sideloading" it's referring to is the option to use the "adb sideload <OTA file>" command when booted into recovery mode to install OS updates. The functionality being removed is being able to install a proper OEM-signed OS update from a local file.

[chii]

> every year the justification is "security."

when they say security, they meant security for them.

[sidewndr46]

Well it's better for Samsung as they can probably sell you a new phone

[Haven880]

Don't buy Samsung. They have rights to turn monopolistic ignoring existing customer base. They did that with Chinese market and decimated from 90% to now less than 1%. I boycott their stuff for 10 years and restart using their product across multiple product line around 2015. Then in 2022 I conclude another boycott is necessary. This time is 20 years. Hopefully my grandkids will get to see this embargo lifted. Their LG got eqiivalent suffered similar fate just that faster because smaller. Good luck Sammy. You dont need me.

[jajuuka]

Just part of the continued plan by Google and Samsung to lock down and make Android more like iOS.

[bitwize]

Old versions of Android do not comply with OS age-checking regulations in California, Brazil, and elsewhere. Samsung face legal repercussions including fines if residents of such jurisdictions are allowed to run an old OS. Yes, the laws apply to entities outside the borders of the territory.

[jimrandomh]

That's not how those laws work.

[deaux]

GDPR applies to entities outside the borders of the territory, yet most of the world doesn't give a shit.