And are these alternative phones in the room with you?
Seriously, the alternatives to Google’s Android are:
iOS: lol GrapheneOS: Currently at the mercy of Google Lineage: Same /e/OS: Same
Plus a bunch of half baked Linux distros that run on old or limited hardware.
We’re in a duopoly because it doesn’t suit the manufacturers to give a shit.
Tja@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Android users will have no idea it’s happening because only a tiny minority even knows what sideloading is. I don’t think I have done it in my last 3 phones, so maybe a decade or so. It’s definitely not enough of a reason even for someone like me to switch, let alone an average user.
rikudou@lemmings.world 3 weeks ago
Well, I use Obtainium to install all my FOSS apps directly from the repository.
I also built a game for kids (available publicly) and then made a plugin just for my kid which includes some licensed characters, for obvious reasons I can’t put that onto the Play Store, so apk installation it is.
Mog_fanatic@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I get what you’re saying and you’re definitely right. I don’t side load things all that much but the times I have was because there was no other viable way to get what I needed and it worked amazingly well (not to mention testing something before it’s available on the app store).
It’s one of those things like a fire extinguisher that you might not need but you are very grateful it’s there just in case you ever do.
Tja@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
Yes, I love to have the capability, but haven’t used it so long that it wouldn’t motivate me to switch away from android to keep it.