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An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: As we careen toward a future in which Google has final say over what apps you can run, the company has sought to assuage the community's fears with a blog post and a casual "backstage" video. Google has said again and again since announcing the change that sideloading isn't going anywhere, but it's definitely not going to be as easy. The new information confirms app installs will be more reliant on the cloud, and devs can expect new fees, but there will be an escape hatch for hobbyists. Confirming app verification status will be the job of a new system component called the Android Developer Verifier, which will be rolled out to devices in the next major release of Android 16. Google explains that phones must ensure each app has a package name and signing keys that have been registered with Google at the time of installation. This process may break the popular FOSS storefront F-Droid. It would be impossible for your phone to carry a database of all verified apps, so this process may require Internet access. Google plans to have a local cache of the most common sideloaded apps on devices, but for anything else, an Internet connection is required. Google suggests alternative app stores will be able to use a pre-auth token to bypass network calls, but it's still deciding how that will work. The financial arrangement has been murky since the initial announcement, but it's getting clearer. Even though Google's largely automated verification process has been described as simple, it's still going to cost developers money. The verification process will mirror the current Google Play registration fee of $25, which Google claims will go to cover administrative costs. So anyone wishing to distribute an app on Android outside of Google's ecosystem has to pay Google to do so. What if you don't need to distribute apps widely? This is the one piece of good news as developer verification takes shape. Google will let hobbyists and students sign up with only an email for a lesser tier of verification. This won't cost anything, but there will be an unclear limit on how many times these apps can be installed. The team in the video strongly encourages everyone to go through the full verification process (and pay Google for the privilege). We've asked Google for more specifics here.

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Dr Kevin Hall served as a nutrition and metabolism scientist at the National Institutes of Health for 21 years before quitting this spring amid complaints that his work was being censored.

In what she admits is a 'big change' in party policy, the Tory leader says the move is necessary to regain control of Britain's borders and make Parliament sovereign once more.

KEMI BADENOCH:It is time for Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. I have not taken this decision lightly.

A total of six people are now in police custody after two people died in the horrific assault on Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue yesterday.

Draft solicitation calls for nearly 30 contractors to mine social media and other open-source data

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is seeking contractors to trawl social media and other open-source data for potential immigration enforcement leads, assuming public posts can yield actionable intelligence.…

Saskia, 35, who is a child anxiety therapist, was a guest panellist on the daytime show for a discussion about how best to speak to children about the news.

Mr Cravitz, 66, from Crumpsall was acting as the security guard at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation when Jihad al-Shamie carried out the deadly attack on Thursday.

Dozens of countries have yet to secure accommodation at next month's COP30 climate summit in Brazil and some delegates are considering staying away as a shortage of hotels has driven prices to hundreds of dollars per night. Reuters: Small island states on the frontline of rising sea levels are confronted with having to consider reducing the size of delegations they send to Belem, while two European nations said they were considering not attending at all. COP30 organisers are racing to convert love motels, cruise ships and churches into lodgings for an anticipated 45,000 delegates. Brazil chose to hold the climate talks at Belem, which typically has 18,000 hotel beds available, in the hope its location on the edge of the Amazon rainforest would focus attention on the threat climate change poses to this ecosystem, and its role in absorbing climate-warming emissions.

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Agents rushed to a West Texas farm after a massive balloon from space crash-landed in a crop field.

Aspiring Bond villain believes the best place to train our AI overlords is in orbit

Amazon founder and executive chair Jeff Bezos says that, within two decades, gigawatt-scale datacenters powered by a continuous stream of photons from the sun will fill Earth's orbit.…

Punk and fashion icon, Soo Catwoman has died aged 70 after falling into a coma.  

Realising that the pounds had been piling on, ALISON CORK set herself a challenge. She reveals the 16 tweaks she made to get back in shape.

A controversial gay and transgender rights group for teenagers is to receive a boost in taxpayer funding despite once being led by a paedophile.

The legendary guitarist, 60, shared the devastating news with fans in a post on X this evening.

The Hollywood couple were spotted with some of their famous pals at The Old Course in Scotland on Friday.

While most of the Beckham family is putting on a joint display in Paris to support their mother and wife, Victoria, 51, Brooklyn, 26, is noticeably absent.

One week after the blitz, beer biz is still stymied

Ransomware has left Japan's biggest brewer struggling to ship beer, with Asahi warning domestic customers to brace for patchy supplies while its core systems stay offline.…

An anonymous reader shares a report from The Verge: Microsoft is getting ready to announce an ad-supported version of Xbox Cloud Gaming. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that the software maker has started testing ad-supported games streaming internally, allowing employees to play select titles free without a Game Pass subscription. I understand that the free ad-supported version of Xbox Cloud Gaming will include the ability to stream some games you own, as well as eligible Free Play Days titles, which let Xbox players try games over a weekend. You'll also be able to stream Xbox Retro Classics games. Sources tell me the internal testing includes around two minutes of preroll ads before a game is available to stream for free through Xbox Cloud Gaming. [...] The ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming version will be available on PC, Xbox consoles, handheld devices, and via the web.

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Jason Manford has been forced to cancel a gig due to extreme weather, just hours before taking to the stage.