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Comment on Google loses app store antitrust appeal, must make sweeping changes to Play Store

I feel like I would have agreed with Google had they just argued “This is our private store. We did all the work to build it. We control the rules. If you want to make the Epic Store apk, you can. Sideloading is an absolute possibility. No hacking needed.”

I would agree with that.

Instead they argued by Epic charging money without giving google a slice, it compromises users safety and the innovation of the platform.

Fuck

Off.

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iturnedintoanewt@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
But apps outside of their store (such as fdroid) get constantly pinged for malware security scans, and android treats them as second class citizens in a lot of scenarios. It’s really frustrating to fight your phone on so many fronts just to use the apps you want.

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- lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I have many, many apps installed through not-Play Store methods. Haven’t really run into any issues with them. Yeah, Android gets a bit picky on initial install, but once you’ve gone through that process once, it becomes a no-brainer.
  
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  - kadup@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    
    Haven’t really run into any issues with them
    
    This has been changed if you’re lucky enough to have a recent Android version, but not long ago any gallery app sideloaded from external sources couldn’t be set as the system gallery, meaning managing pictures was really annoying because any changes required a pop up confirmation.
    
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    lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Pixel 9 Pro XL on Android 15.
    
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- Mjpasta710@midwest.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Apple iOS users outside of the EU are familiar with this too.
  
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  - mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    For the curious, sideloading apps requires you to run a server on your computer, and refresh the signature on the app at least once a month.
    
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    aquovie@lemmy.cafe ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Don’t you also need a developer license? So that’s like an additional $8/month subscription to sideload on iOS.
    
    Or I could be wrong 🤷
    
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- bitwolf@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Does this still happen? I use fdroid and it’s not only more reliable than the play store, Ive never seen a malware warning or anything.
  
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Aatube@kbin.melroy.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
on the 2023 trial:

At the time, Google was quick to point out that the ability to sideload apps on Android meant Epic hadn't been completely barred from distributing Fortnite on the platform (as it had been on iOS). "The open Android ecosystem lets developers distribute apps through multiple app stores," Google said in 2020. "While Fortnite remains available on Android, we can no longer make it available on Play because it violates our policies. However, we welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play."

By April 2020, Epic had returned to the Google Play store, accusing Google of imposing a number of important limits on its sideloaded software. As the company said at the time:

Google puts software downloadable outside of Google Play at a disadvantage, through technical and business measures such as scary, repetitive security pop-ups for downloaded and updated software, restrictive manufacturer and carrier agreements and dealings, Google public relations characterizing third-party software sources as malware, and new efforts such as Google Play Protect to outright block software obtained outside the Google Play store.

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- arararagi@ani.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  Real, I actually had to turn off google play protect to install a third party app because of how sensitive it was.
  
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