Low-level turbulence “Google wanted that”: Nextcloud decries Android permissions as “gatekeeping” Without full file access, it's kind of hard to use your own cloud. Kevin Purdy – May 13, 2025 5:00 pm | 22 The Android mascot at Google's pavilion during the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, on March 5, 2025. Credit: Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images The Android mascot at Google's pavilion during the Mobile World Congress 2025 in Barcelona, Spain, on March 5, 2025. Credit: Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Nextcloud is a host-your-own cloud platform that wants to help you "Regain control over your data." It contains products that allow for video chat, file storage, collaborative editing, and other stuff that reads a lot like a DIY Google Workspace replacement. It's hard to offer that kind of full replacement, though, if your Android app can't upload anything other than media files. Since mid-2024, Nextcloud claims, Google has refused to reinstate the access it needs for uploading and syncing other file types. "To make it crystal clear: All of you as users have a worse Nextcloud Files client because Google wanted that," reads a Nextcloud blog post from May 13, attributed to its team. "We understand and share your frustration," but there is nothing we can do." A notice in Nextcloud's Android app regarding file uploads. Credit: Nextcloud A notice in Nextcloud's Android app regarding file uploads. Credit: Nextcloud Ars has reached out to Google for comment and will update this post with any response. A representative for NextCloud told Ars late Tuesday that the company had no update on its Android app. Nextcloud states that it has had read and write access to all file types since its first Android app. In September 2024, a Nextcloud Android update with "All files access" was "refused out of the blue," with a request that the app user "a more privacy aware replacement," Nextcloud claims. The firm states it has provided background and explanations, but received "the same copy-and-paste answers or links to documentation" from Google. Nextcloud's story of confusing communications about file permissions, and ultimately giving up trying to get file access, echoes the story of iA Writer. That Markdown editing app similarly lost access to system file syncing—a crucial aspect of a file-based text editor—and declined to take part in an annual CASA Tier 2 assessment to seek that access again. Nextcloud eventually issued an update of their app that restricts uploads to media files. Downloading and side-loading the Nextcloud app from the F-Droid external store and granting the app necessary permissions restores the ability to upload any files to a Nextcloud instance. The company told The Register that it had more than 800,000 Android users. The company's blog post goes further than pinpointing technical and support hurdles. "It is a clear example of Big Tech gatekeeping smaller software vendors, making the products of their competitors worse or unable to provide the same services as the giants themselves sell," Nextcloud's post states. "Big Tech is scared that small players like Nextcloud will disrupt them, like they once disrupted other companies. So they try to shut the door." Nextcloud is one of the leaders of an antitrust-minded movement against Microsoft's various integrated apps and services, having filed a complaint against the firm in 2021. Kevin Purdy Senior Technology Reporter Kevin Purdy Senior Technology Reporter Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering open-source software, PC gaming, home automation, repairability, e-bikes, and tech history. He has previously worked at Lifehacker, Wirecutter, iFixit, and Carbon Switch. 22 Comments

Samsung’s long-teased Galaxy S25 Edge has arrived, way ahead of the rumored iPhone Air. It’s a very S25-looking device, but the company is pitching it as a design-centric addition to its, let’s admit, bulging S25 family. The S25 Edge’s body is 5.8 millimeters (0.22 inches) thick if we ignore the camera bump like everyone else does. Granted, it’s not a huge bump. Samsung says it engineered the lenses to be substantially thinner than those on the S25 Ultra while keeping the same 200-megapixel camera sensor. And there are only two cameras on the back this time. Gasp! Unfortunately, Samsung has gone for an ultrawide secondary shooter rather than a telephoto, likely due to the handset's size constraints. Image by Mat Smith for Engadget This makes the S25 Edge the latest addition to the trend of fewer cameras, joining the Pixel 9a, but for a very different $1,100. You can check out my first impressions and all the crucial specs in my hands-on. Are you willing to handle possible battery life decreases and less zoom on your smartphone camera? — Mat Smith Get Engadget's newsletter delivered direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! Even more Switch 2 stuff Ticketmaster proudly announces it will follow the law and show prices up-front Jamie Lee Curtis publicly shamed Mark Zuckerberg to remove a deepfaked ad How to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Philips Fixables will let you 3D print replacement parts for your electric razors and trimmers iOS 18.5 arrives with a new wallpaper for Pride Month And not much else. Apple pushed iOS 18.5 to devices on Monday, and the biggest visual change is a new rainbow-shaded wallpaper in honor of Pride Month. I’m honored. Otherwise, it’s a few minor tweaks and bug fixes. Continue reading. You can actually turn lead into gold All you need is a Large Hadron Collider. Bones Scientists with the European Organization for Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, have converted lead into gold using the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Unlike the examples of transmutation we see in anime pop culture, scientists smashed subatomic particles together at ridiculously high speeds to manipulate lead’s physical properties to become gold. Briefly. Lead atoms only have three more protons than gold atoms. The LHC causes the lead atoms to drop just enough protons to become a gold atom for a fraction of a second — before immediately fragmenting into a bunch of particles. Continue reading. The only thing I want from Apple’s big 2025 redesign is a That’s a, not α. Apple This is where Deputy Editor Nathan Ingraham decries one of Apple’s latest design quirks. For over 600 words. Apple’s decision to use α instead of a in its Note App has got him mad.  We’ve reached out to check if he’s OK. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-engadget-newsletter-111526456.html?src=rss