--- title: "Google Broke reCAPTCHA for De-Googled Android Users" url: https://daily.dev/posts/google-broke-recaptcha-for-de-googled-android-users-app7oihkl source_url: https://reclaimthenet.org/google-broke-recaptcha-for-de-googled-android-users type: article source: "Hacker News" published: 2026-05-08T20:55:44.303Z updated: 2026-05-08T20:56:04.984Z tags: ["privacy"] reading_time: 3 upvotes: 4 comments: 1 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Google Broke reCAPTCHA for De-Googled Android Users **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 3 min read · 4 upvotes · 1 comments ## Summary Google's next-generation reCAPTCHA system now requires Google Play Services version 25.41.30 or higher on Android to complete verification. Users running de-Googled phones (e.g., GrapheneOS or custom ROMs without Play Services) automatically fail the QR-code-based challenge. The dependency was quietly introduced at least seven months ago and is part of Google Cloud Fraud Defense, announced at Cloud Next. Notably, iOS users face no equivalent requirement. Critics argue this is less about security and more about ecosystem control, as it effectively forces Android users to run Google's proprietary software and transmit data to Google's servers just to access websites using reCAPTCHA. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@petermrozek** · 3 upvotes > The solution here should be fairly simple: if Google ties down Android to Play Services, then the Play Services API should be opened to allow 3rd-party implementations on Android phones that are outside of Google's ecosystem. Otherwise it's just using the dominating position to force Android users back into their proprietary ecosystem. And that is something every anti-monopoly institution won't take kindly to. The probability of that happening, though, without signification pressure from the community, is minuscule. ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Google Cloud Fraud Defence is just WEI repackaged](https://daily.dev/posts/google-cloud-fraud-defence-is-just-wei-repackaged-d01yrarhx) · Hacker News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Google Introduces Cloud Fraud Defense as Successor to reCAPTCHA](https://daily.dev/posts/google-introduces-cloud-fraud-defense-as-successor-to-recaptcha-ycb6rkntg) · InfoQ · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Introducing Google Cloud Fraud Defense, the next evolution of reCAPTCHA](https://daily.dev/posts/introducing-google-cloud-fraud-defense-the-next-evolution-of-recaptcha-kkggd08om) · Google Cloud · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#privacy](https://daily.dev/tags/privacy) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/google-broke-recaptcha-for-de-googled-android-users-app7oihkl)