Disable Play Integrity verification

[WGrav01]

For whatever reason, the Play Store build of Stoat makes use of Google Play's integrity verification. This is intended to reduce things like code tampering and modding, however for an open source app where there is no harm done by modification, this is entirely unnecessary. More problematic, however, is that apps with Play Integrity enabled cannot be sideloaded without patching, meaning users who prefer privacy respecting means of obtaining apps, such as the Aurora Store are left entirely locked out. In addition, in general, using Play APIs are a privacy risk, given how Google is.

This is unacceptable for an open source app.

[WGrav01]

I should add that this is an opt in feature. The vast majority of apps I've downloaded with Aurora Store do not have this restriction.

[locrianz]

Agreed. I've downloaded banking apps, rideshare apps, and more from Aurora Store that work just fine. Why is a pseudonymous chat app so much more restrictive?

[OrionFlamey]

This is completely unacceptable given that Stoat is a open-source platform, this dependency on play integrity alienates a large portion of the core user base and those who don't have a google account.