DEV Community: Samuel Mensah

Is open source dead?.

Samuel Mensah — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 10:27:09 +0000

Google's 2027 verification mandate will break F-Droid. Let's coordinate a technical response.

I recently got my app accepted on F-Droid. A week later, I got a cold email warning me about Google's developer verification rollout:

Enforcement began September 30, 2026 in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. It expands globally in 2027 to all install sources, including F-Droid and direct APKs. It requires a $25 Play Console account plus a government photo ID. Organizations also need a D-U-N-S number, which takes about 28 days.

F-Droid, EFF, FSFE, the Software Freedom Conservancy, and others have formed the Keep Android Open coalition and are formally opposing this. But opposition alone won't keep apps installable.

The Real Problem

The open-source mobile ecosystem is fragmented into pieces that don't cohere.

On the OS layer, we have /e/OS, iodéOS, GrapheneOS, CalyxOS, and LineageOS. The gap is that there's no unified onboarding and each ROM is its own island.

On attestation, we have UnifiedAttestation from Volla, Murena, iodé, and Apostrophy. The gap is that it's early stage and banks and digital IDs still don't work reliably.

On Google API compatibility, we have microG and ReVanced. The gap is that Play Integrity checks still break many apps.

On app distribution, we have F-Droid, App Lounge, and Aurora Store. The gap is that users don't know where to go and discovery is poor.

On cloud and services, we have Murena Workspace and Volla Cloud. The gap is that there's no seamless migration path from Google.

On AI, we have Odysseus by PewDiePie and Mozilla Thunderbolt. The gap is that local-first AI is new and there's no OS-level integration.

The combined market share of all de-Googled phones is less than one per thousand.

That's not a technology problem. That's an integration and UX problem.

What I'm Proposing

A coordinated compatibility and integration effort driven by app developers, people like us who ship on F-Droid and want our apps to work everywhere.

Concrete asks:

First, a compatibility testing matrix. A shared spreadsheet or repo where developers log things like "My app works on /e/OS but breaks on GrapheneOS because of X." Aggregate this so ROM maintainers and microG devs can prioritize fixes.

Second, UnifiedAttestation early adopters. The consortium is actively looking for first movers. If your app needs attestation for banking, auth, or secure login, integrate it now and report back. This is the single biggest blocker for mainstream adoption.

Third, a microG bug bounty pool. Pool small contributions to fund fixes for the most common Play Services breakages. Even $500 targeted at one bug can unblock thousands of users.

Fourth, an F-Droid onboarding guide. A single, canonical, up-to-date guide for normal users on how to leave Google without losing your apps. Written for non-technical people. Hosted somewhere permanent.

Fifth, a regulatory pressure tracker. Track EU DMA enforcement, US antitrust remedies, and any other government action. Make it easy for developers to file comments or contact regulators.

What I'm NOT Proposing

Another ROM. Another app store. Another foundation. A "Google killer."

We don't need more pieces. We need the existing pieces to talk to each other.

The Uncomfortable Question

Do we build bridges by integrating with UnifiedAttestation and working within the system to make de-Googled phones viable, or do we fight the system by refusing attestation entirely, accepting that banking apps won't work, and targeting only the privacy-hardcore niche?

GrapheneOS argues the Play Integrity API should be regulated out of existence rather than making another system where companies permit their own products while disallowing others.

Both positions are defensible. But they lead to different products, different users, and different strategies. We need to pick one, or explicitly support both tracks.

What I Want From This Thread

If you're an F-Droid developer, what breaks when you test on de-Googled ROMs? What fixes have you found?

If you're a ROM maintainer, what do you need from app developers?

If you're a microG contributor, what's the highest-impact bug right now?

If you're a user, what's the one thing that made you go back to stock Android?

If you're none of the above but care, what's missing from this list?

I'll compile responses into a public document and post it back here. If there's enough interest, I'll set up a repo and a Matrix or Discord space to coordinate.

Let's stop waiting for someone else to fix this.

OMG 😱. The latest version of the Generative interface agent is here and I tested it out and it is fire.

Samuel Mensah — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 06:50:33 +0000

The latest release which is going to be tomorrow is getting me excited, Gias full capabilities are now unlocked, free, open source, so whether you're a hobbyist, a student, an analyst or someone who would like to plan their week, Gia is perfect for you, forget a 20$/month subscription and check out GIA. https://github.com/alpha-1-design/gia-app. Contributions to project are welcome.

Generative interface agent , the ai that works for you on your own terms. No backend, no telemetry, just total privacy and freedom.

Samuel Mensah — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:43:26 +0000

Gia is an open source AI powered application that actually works for you. I built it as a replacement for the built-in Google Gemini I have on my device, I built it to serve a purpose and a level of flexibility that Gemini couldn't give me. GIA can serve as a chat bot amongst many other amazing things. GIA is free and opensource, she can do stuff on your device depending on which one you allow, she can handle your social media for you and she is protocol driven, meaning she will not do anything beyond what you explicitly tell her to do. She's private, no cloud, no telemetry, none of that shii. Contributors are welcome, viewers and testers are welcome, and the best thing I love about GIA is her ability extend her capabilities, she also supports local models. What's more crazy than that. You don't believe me?. Try it for yourself 😁. https//alpha-1-design/gia-app.

I Built GIA: A Fully Private, On-Device AI Workspace That Runs on Your Phone (No Cloud, No Telemetry)

Samuel Mensah — Mon, 25 May 2026 22:29:52 +0000

I Built GIA: A Fully Private, On-Device AI Workspace That Runs on Your Phone (No Cloud, No Telemetry)

Hey devs,

I've always been frustrated with how much of our AI usage depends on big cloud providers — constant API costs, data leaving your device, and no real privacy. So I decided to build GIA (Generative Interface Agent) — a complete AI workspace that lives entirely on your device.

What is GIA?

GIA is a private, on-device AI workspace built with React 18 + TypeScript + Capacitor. It runs as a native Android app (and can be adapted for iOS/web) while keeping everything local except for the AI API calls you explicitly configure, I am planning on adding a function that lets GIA connect to local models

No backend.

No telemetry.

No data collection.

Your API keys stay on-device in IndexedDB.

✨ Key Features

Agentic Loop — Autonomous reasoning with multi-turn tool use and sub-agent delegation
Live Reasoning Panel — Watch the model think in real-time with streaming thoughts
Deep On-Device Memory — Persistent memory with relevance scoring, pinning, auto-extraction, and knowledge management
Voice Mode — Wake word ("Hey Gia"), push-to-talk, transcript polishing, and TTS
Built-in Tools:
- Web search via DuckDuckGo (with citations)
- File read/write operations
- Code execution (Python/JS/C++ via Piston)
- Image generation (DALL·E 3 and others)
Multi-Provider Support (direct API calls, no proxy):
- Anthropic (Claude 3.5/3.7)
- Google Gemini (Flash/Pro with vision)
- OpenAI (GPT-4o, o1, o3 series)
- Groq (ultra-fast inference) -Cerebral(also fast )
- Minstral....
- OpenRouter + 100+ models
Skills System — Role presets (Developer, Researcher, Tutor, Creative, Security Analyst, etc.)
Beautiful UI — Built with Tailwind, Framer Motion, Recharts, Mermaid diagrams, and KaTeX

Tech Stack

Frontend: React 18 + TypeScript 5 + Tailwind + Framer Motion
State: Zustand (persisted to IndexedDB)
Mobile: Capacitor (Android WebView)
Build: Vite

Why I Built This

As someone building multiple privacy-focused tools (Core-x Privacy Toolkit, etc.), I wanted an AI companion that aligns with my values — maximum control and zero unwanted data sharing.

GIA is the result: a powerful daily driver that feels like having a full AI OS in your pocket.Gia is still in testing phases and still has some problems though I ain't gon lie about that, being a solo decision frustrating man.. I need help, I need support, I need you to help improve GIA..

Try It Yourself

GitHub: https://github.com/alpha-1-design/gia-app

Setup:


bash
git clone https://github.com/alpha-1-design/gia-app.git
cd gia-app
npm install
npm run dev
# For Android:
npm run build
npx cap sync android