this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2025
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Hi all, much of what I have read recommends Android Studio to create Android apps, but I'm a bit wary since it's developed by Google. Are there any other good alternatives that are ideally open-source?

I am currently running Fedora 43 KDE, and I use VSCodium as my main code editor, mostly Python at the moment. Are there any plugins I could use to enable Kotlin support/specific Android dev stuff in VSCodium?

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[–] somegeek@programming.dev 15 points 1 day ago* (last edited 23 hours ago) (2 children)

You're developing for a google platform. Doent really matter if the IDE is backed by google. and you have a LOT more to do with google if you are developing for android. The platform is locked in to google. Get used to it.

[–] MasterNerd@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Android (currently) is an open-source operating system. Just because you develop for it doesn't mean your reliant on Google, or have to interact with them in any capacity.

[–] erebion@news.erebion.eu 3 points 1 day ago

If Google decides to, it can remove anything from AOSP, as it has done countless of times. Android is deeply controlled by Google.

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

You're arguing that on Lemmy, where a lot more than average people use a custom ROM or app store.

[–] somegeek@programming.dev 3 points 23 hours ago

I use custom ROM and fdroid myself. It's still a google product. Specially if you have ever developed for android you know you just have to play Google's games. The same way if you use Java you have to play Oracle's games. Or if you want to be an aws engineer (or whatever they are called) you have to... You get the gist.

Google has deeo control over tge android ecosystem and the only reason it's somewhat open source currently is the GPL licensing of the linux kernel. And they are limiting it day by day, while it's getting harder to install custom roms on newer phones.

The smartphone industry is absolutely garbage. Android and ios aren't very different.

and btw, open source doesn't mean FOSS. It just means they couldn't find a legal way to make it fully proprietary.