Top all-time · #3218
Esper Blog
Company blog · blog.esper.iosystems
Esper Blog is the company blog at blog.esper.io, writing about systems. Since 2021, 24 different Hacker News readers have linked it 32 times, most often “Android 13’s new sideloading restriction of Accessibility APIs”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-22, and you can follow it by feed.
Too few sampled comments (14) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Esper's Android deep dives, such as Android 13 features, virtualization and memory tagging, mainly to cite them as references when discussing platform changes.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 14 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Field notes on dedicated device management infrastructure: provisioning, OTA delivery, orchestration, and config drift across Android, iOS, Linux, and Windows fleets.
Most-linked posts?
- /android-dessert-bites-5-virtualization-in-android-13-351789/4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2022-02-14
- Android 13’s new sideloading restriction of Accessibility APIs3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-05-04
- Android 13 changelog: A deep dive2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-08-15
- The ingenious product that brings eSIM to any Android phone2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-07-18
- Google’s patented solution to an eSIM limitation is coming to Android 132 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-04-04
What Hacker News says?
Indeed, that's one of Google's official use cases: https://twitter.com/salt___doll/status/1492865396692586497 Recently, they've also focused on using VMs to isolate parts of the system and apps: https://twitter.com/salt___doll/status/1492872311652765700 Mishaal Rahman has written a detailed post about virtualization on Android: https://blog.esper.io/android-dessert-bites-5-virtualization...
Comment linking /android-dessert-bites-5-virtualization-in-android-13-351789/
on “Android 13 virtualization lets Pixel 6 run Windows 11, Linux distributions”Submitted Android 13’s new sideloading restriction of Accessibility APIs as a story · 88 points
HN discussion> Currently, no Android devices on the market ship with the Virtualization module — not even Google’s own Pixel 6 — but this is set to change with the upcoming Android 13 release. In fact, Google is currently testing its new virtualization tools on the Pixel 6; if you build AOSP with the target aosp_oriole_pkvm, you’ll find that com.android.virt will be automatically inherited. I don’t know if Google will enable pKV…
Comment linking /android-dessert-bites-5-virtualization-in-android-13-351789/
on “Android 13 virtualization lets Pixel 6 run Windows 11, Linux distributions”Submitted What does “AOSP Android” mean? Can you use it? as a story · 45 points
HN discussionIt seems like they're taking Android in a Qubes-like direction. https://blog.esper.io/android-dessert-bites-5-virtualization...
Comment linking /android-dessert-bites-5-virtualization-in-android-13-351789/
on “Android 13 virtualization lets Pixel 6 run Windows 11, Linux distributions”Submitted You can't update Android’s GPU drivers like on your PC as a story · 37 points
HN discussionThere seems to be some confusion about this, so I'll just copy/paste what I wrote on Twitter: >Folks, this is bad. Very, very bad. Hackers and/or malicious insiders have leaked the platform certificates of several vendors. These are used to sign system apps on Android builds, including the "android" app itself. These certs are being used to sign malicious Android apps! >Why is that a problem? Well, it lets malicious…
Comment linking /android-13-deep-dive/
on “Android platform signing key compromised”Submitted Android 13 launch devices will use Huawei’s EROFS for fast efficient storage use as a story · 16 points
HN discussionComing back to our discussions, Android 13 is finally making ARM MTE a reality, so that is yet another front. While only available as developer mode flag, this might mean it will be enabled by default on Android 14, as this is how such kind of features tend to be integrated into Android (1 OS generation for testing purposes and fine tuning). https://blog.esper.io/android-13-deep-dive/#memory_tagging_e... I find a bi…
Comment linking /android-13-deep-dive/
on “Rust's unsafe pointer types need an overhaul”Submitted Native exFAT support finally comes to a Pixel phone with Android 13 as a story · 6 points
HN discussionHe needs to do this: "Many apps that let you download and open arbitrary files use this installation method, as it’s easier to simply hand off installation to the system Package Installer, which responds to intents to view and install user-acquired APK files. Apps that are sideloaded via browsers, mail clients, and messaging apps usually use this method, hence they’ll be subjected to Android 13’s restrictions." "App…
Comment linking /android-13-sideloading-restriction-harder-malware-abuse-accessibility-apis/
on “Total Commander forced to stop letting you install APKs”Submitted Google’s patented solution to an eSIM limitation is coming to Android 13 as a story · 4 points
HN discussionDetailed post here: https://blog.esper.io/android-13-deep-dive/
Comment linking /android-13-deep-dive/
on “Android 13”Submitted How to boot Linux in a VM on the Pixel 6 as a story · 4 points
HN discussionGoogle's official blog posts on new Android releases usually leave out a ton of info. If you're curious about what many of the other features introduced in Android 13 are, I wrote a summary over on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/wp0skh/50_features... This summary is just for user-facing features and doesn't mention any of the new APIs, app-facing behavioral changes, or most of the platform changes…
Comment linking /android-13-deep-dive/
on “Android 13”Submitted Android 14 is coming: Here’s what we know so far as a story · 3 points
HN discussionWhat Photo Picker does was (mostly) already available since Android 4.4 KitKat with the documents picker (Files app) and the ACTION_GET_CONTENT or ACTION_OPEN_DOCUMENT intents. What Photo Picker adds is a much nicer, more intuitive UI and the ability to grant read-only access to user-selected media files. URIs obtained through Photo Picker can be persisted, but unlike with documents picker, they don't grant write ac…
Comment linking /android-photo-picker-backport/
on “Android 13”Submitted Android 13 changelog: A deep dive as a story · 3 points
HN discussion"Currently, no Android devices on the market ship with the Virtualization module — not even Google’s own Pixel 6 — but this is set to change with the upcoming Android 13 release." https://blog.esper.io/android-dessert-bites-5-virtualization...
Comment linking /android-dessert-bites-5-virtualization-in-android-13-351789/
on “Docker on (rooted) Android”Submitted Google’s patented solution to an eSIM limitation is coming to Android 13 as a story · 3 points
HN discussion>ESIMs aim to solve those issues. While they still require a chip inside the phone, I still see this a lot in articles, but it's not true. It doesn't have to be built into the phone. There are even SIM card-sized products [1] that have an eUICC conforming to the GSMA's consumer eSIM specification. Basically bringing eSIMs to any (Android) phone with a traditional SIM card slot. It's actually quite clever. [1] https:…
Comment linking /android-dessert-bites-24-esim-me-1248143/
on “SIM Cards Are Going Away. Why That’s a Good Thing”Submitted Google patched Android (twice) in response to the Sonos patent dispute as a story · 3 points
HN discussion> You're claiming that the security issue detailed in the article will be fixed through the Play Store, for devices no longer receiving updates from the device maker? Yes. The Webkit equivalent (Webview) is updated via the Play Store ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and... ). A bug on Webview would be fixed with an app update, which doesn't even require a restart. Makes sense if we think ab…
Comment linking /what-is-project-mainline/
on “Samsung’s Android app-signing key has leaked, is being used to sign malware”Submitted Android 13 QPR1’s new features: desktop mode, taskbar, etc. as a story · 2 points
HN discussionI'll repeat myself: long term OS support is better on iPhones. With this said, we must look at what the "security updates" are fixing. Above you mentioned that the 5S received a security update in August. According to the changelog, all they fixed was a exploit on Webkit (essentially the browser). They didn't even update Webkit/Safari to the latest version (it doesn't work on iOS 12). Do you know how Android would h…
Comment linking /what-is-project-mainline/
on “Samsung’s Android app-signing key has leaked, is being used to sign malware”Submitted How Google patched Android (twice) to work around the Sonos patent dispute as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThe linked article doesn't entirely accurately describe the new restriction. This restriction only applies to apps that are sideloaded via a user-supplied APK file, and only if the app that's doing the sideloading hasn't implemented the session-based package installation API. Apps like Files by Google and APKMirror Installer, neither of which are app stores, will not trigger this behavior when sideloading other apps…
Comment linking /android-13-sideloading-restriction-harder-malware-abuse-accessibility-apis/
on “Android 13 blocks use of accessibility services by restricting sideloaded apps”Submitted The ingenious product that brings eSIM to any Android phone as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Android is adding support for updatable root certificates amidst TrustCor scare as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Android 13 hardware support for mobile driver's licenses for some new devices as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
