There is side loading, they can just release it on GitHub.
Comment on Trump Team Has Full Meltdown Over CNN Story on ICE-Tracking App
SMillerNL@lemmy.world 1 month agoThis is IOS only owing to Android play store collecting a device identifier; the creator wanted complete anonymity
Quote from some other place people were discussing it. Unfortunately no source on it.
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
That’s not how push notifications on android work.
Ghoelian@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
That doesn’t have anything to do with how you install the app.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
It has to do with receiving notifications from the app in a privacy-preserving way. Unless the app is running with a server connection 24/7 (RIP battery life) you need to rely on the OS to deliver notifications.
vala@lemmy.world 1 month ago
It’s 1000% possible to use android apps without involving Google in any way.
SMillerNL@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Edited for further clarification. It’s not about Google, it’s about what Android needs to receive notifications: www.iceblock.app/android
vala@lemmy.world 1 month ago
It’s really hard for me to understand how iOS is better in this sense. The only way to get this app is via the app store and the ONLY way to use the app store is be registering yourself with apple. Seems to me that you are tracked either way.
IMHO the devs probably wrote this is Swift and just don’t have experience working with android. Whole thing/story is just off IMO.
I’m really just sceptical about the whole thing being closed source really.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 month ago
fdroid?
Goretantath@lemmy.world 1 month ago
There are other stores besides the playstore…
SirQuack@feddit.nl 1 month ago
It’s not about the store, it’s about the notification.
As mentioned in the Time article:
brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Ntfy.sh
There are ways around that
NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 1 month ago
You don’t need a user account or password to receive a push notification.
You just need to have the app installed and it can then be configured to receive push notifications.
SMillerNL@lemmy.world 1 month ago
And the developer needs a device ID for that. Which is their objection: www.iceblock.app/android
tfowinder@lemmy.ml 1 month ago
Its totally possible to send notification without having user account, see firebase.
wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
Good old firebase. Notifications are not entirely device local on android, or something lime that.
SMillerNL@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Thanks, but I’m not the developer of the app so that’s not really relevant for me.
Quill7513@slrpnk.net 1 month ago
i don’t think this other commenter was calling you out. i think they were just bringing up a point of discussion that’s relevant to the point you brought up