This app is set to stop people from installing apks or using stores and apps not accepted by google ("verification" requires payment of course). The play store listing does not have images, a proper description, and the app cannot be opened.

Screenshots from the play app because google did something custom for this playstore listing which crashes Aurora. It's fixed in the latest fdroid release, but I noticed that too late, so most screenshots are from googles shitty app.

Weird, play app on mine doesn't show reviews or anything.
Went in via browser to tell them to fuck off.

I don't like the direction Google is taking Android. I'm not in favor of this enforced developer registration.

"Seems to" is not the same as "did." With a couple of LLMs and a bit of time others could've dropped these rave reviews as well. It isn't far fetched that it is Google. But from a PR point of view they'd be stupid if it was them. They gain nothing but bad headlines from a stunt like that. So we probably need a bit more proof than some screenshots.

A slightly more rational theory is that one (or a few) of those "pay-per-review" networks is using it as a demo of their services.

"Look what we can do to a deeply unpopular app, for $XXX we can do the same for you"

I still think this AI revolution is being shoved down our throats instead of being an organic revolution revolution. The funny thing is I did and do use AI features. I just refuse to download or activate any new bs ai permissions. Because I refuse to do that I have lost functionality in my android Device. Now I can't tell my phone to schedule something on the calendar. That feature used to be native with the phone now it's locked behind the AI app. I still use image search a lot, I bet that will be gone soon.

Anyway, this is Google trying to use their idiotic AI to manipulate us again. Just like taking away features to download the AI app, it's all about control now, not utility, not customer service.

Big tech workers should resign

This is not exactly subtle, so even if that were the case google would have chosen to let the fake reviews remain. They have removed reviews with far less cause and care in the past.
Honestly though I would expect a service that specifically sells fake reviews to do a lot better than this. This looks like a hackjob an intern delivers when you tell them to just quickly do what all those fake review services do.

Doesn't even let me leave a review

Those services are hackjobs. Google is the professional company. If google wanted to do this, they have the resources and ability to do a far better job. That have direct DB access to the play store, they can retroactively spread the reviews out, and even delete/hide the negative reviews.

As for why they aren't removed yet, that could just be that they ban in waves and haven't done so yet.

Probably these aren't Google's bot, but just regular bots which need "reputation" to not be marked as such. So they leave reviews on Google and other big apps just to have an history of activity.

It is doubly hilarious because on most apps I do not even see any reviews anymore for some reason, already for a long time.

Thats pathetically hilarious

Corporations aren't single entities. They also need internal deniability etc.
As a top executive, you don't want your orders all around the company to do something to the database and skip the regular systems. You want to simply create an environment where someone far lower feels the pressure to fake reviews "on their own", and then you don't notice it until public attention or legal proceedings find it. After that you simply kick out the low level people that were involved.

The fake reviews seem to have been going for at least 6 weeks, so that would have to be a very slow cadence for ban waves.

Is there a way I can block updates on a newish Samsung phone? Or any phone for the matter? I don't want Google to "verify" all my apk installs. There needs to be a workaround for when we get the big update in September that screws over our third party apks

Or, hear me out, it could be one of the most shady companies in world (google), that has both control over infra and motive to do it.

You could uninstall it if you have it currently, then install a dummy apk with the same id that is signed using your own keys. That should stop google services from installing the real verification app.
That's how I've seen past apps be disabled that google kept silently installing.

https://github.com/daboynb/developer-verifier-placeholder/releases
This looks like such a dummy, from a dev who seems to have the main dummy for safetycore too. You can install this and it should be fine.

In the future if your phone has it preinstalled as a system app, you're probabl, sol and have to root to remove and replace it.

if your usage doesn't depend on them, i recommend removing all google apps (and vendor bloats) with universal android debloater (uses adb)

Why would they need bots to inflate the star rating? They own the whole system, they could just overwrite it with whatever the hell they wanted if they wanted to commit some fraud.

seems like they've blocked that for me now too

They should unionize and negotiate that they can't get fired over rejecting to do clearly unethical work.

Because right now their options are:

a) Comply with unethical work

b) Reject to do it and get fired and thrown into a job economy where its going to take months if not a year or more to find a job.

Yeah, and a lot of the screenshotted comments don't even read like bots, they read like someone in a developing country that doesn't speak english as a primary language.

... They would to that to try to slime their way around regulations and accountability...which is pretty much their expertise

Then b.1. Some other desperate guy takes their place and complies

So google went old school and is paying a review farm.

That's even less likely.

Disgusting.

“Street forward UI.” Can’t tell if this is a weird typo or AI is trying to make “Streets ahead” A Thing.

AI struggles with adjectives, I suspect because it's trained on the internet where people struggle with adjectives and just use an adjective they think sounds intelligent when they really just want it to mean good or bad. Like how everything nowadays is some therapy word that doesn't always fit the context, like this app is performative, it gas lights me. Using forward in particular is common in online spaces that describe food or taste in general. Like a beat forward salad. The pilates class is music forward. I could see how an AI would use it inconsistently because people often use it inconsistantly and sometimes use it wrong.

Google doesn't do things directly. They contract other companies to do the dirty bot work like how they pay scrapers for information and pretend they aren't contributing to it. It would not surprise me if they pay other companies to "promote" and maintain plausible deniability as to what exactly that means.

I guess Google could just target specific types of users to review, rather than everyone. I'm sure there's people out there who would love to give a shitty business a great review.

I just disabled it. We'll see if they can remotely enable it again or not.

Sounds like they're streets behind!

Maybe they are looking forward to the roadhead.

Stop Trying To Coin The Phrase 'Streets Ahead'

Fuck android. I hope I can leave it soon.

Fuck iOS harder, but we're also well into "fuck android" territory.

Both things can be true.

they can't unionize, the burgeiosie class has done everything to keep unemployment high as in that way they can always just fire everyone and simply rehire new ones, keeping unemployment high reduces the power of workers

Graphene OS and Lineage OS are okay Android though.

It is half of a Bone Apple Tea, though

Google does plenty of things directly. Recaptcha was a Google project to perform OCR, and now image recognition.

I strongly agree with you but I'm afraid it's too late, they need to leave their workplaces or be considered complicit, at least those who would but "can't" for the reasons you listed above.
The others,those who believe in what they're doing or cannot see the damage they're provoking with their work,idk ,fuck them all I guess

Yeah looks like people doing a Mechanical Turk job.

They'd gain no such thing because the media is on their side.

If they think they can force this they're about to relearn about the stubborn masses. People don't like being forced.

So. Everyone knew this, and no one did anything, we all switched to graphene phone here .

Would adb disable work?

Just realized i had this bullshit installed even though i disabled playstore updates and my phone has no updates anymore...this is fucking bullshit, also, they seem to have hidden all review as of now
Fucking Gooslop

Trusting reviews on proprietary review software is like trusting a fox with a henhouse.

Foolish for sure but not as bad as trusting random unsourced claims on Lemmy!

Of course, just in case anybody get convince of it being remotely useful

I don't even know how to add a review. The made it so I came find the button on the play store mobile app...