Breaking: Google is easing up on Android's new sideloading restrictions!

Comments

• dorumon@lemmy.cafe ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  So I just read what they are going to do and this article is just clickbait. Basically they still want you to dox yourself but it’ll still work like iOS Test Pilot. Google is still full of shit and lies but hey at least you don’t have to pay them money until enough users download your app if you want more.

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  • StarvingMartist@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    You’ll basically have to signup to install third party apps on your device per app in general and alot of the convenience and developer community will still just leave android as a whole.

    Leave android and go where?

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    • Pirate@feddit.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      If android goes the way it’s going, then iPhone is the obvious choice.

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    • dil@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Incentivizes developing for linux phones, ppl choose android for the freedom

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  • Integrate777@discuss.online ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    They’ll probably also release a new API to allow apps to check if user have enabled sideloading. Then overzealous apps like fucking mcdonalds will throw a hissy fit about and refuse to work unless you turn it off. Also your bank too, just to really twist the knife.

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    • aurelar@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Why the fuck would a McDonald’s app care?

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    • rumba@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Let em all shut me down. If they don’t need my business, I don’t need theirs. I just found out that Casio makes a g-shock with Bluetooth and you can screw with it using python and an unlisted API.

      One more nail in the coffin for my smartphone footprint. I just want an 8" linux tablet, a watch that can give me messages from signal and a battery powered access point.

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    • dorumon@lemmy.cafe ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      You know it’s kinda funny that I can’t even run the MC Donalds app without doing some fuckery. But my banking app will throw a hissy fit if I try to sign into my account without a rooted or custom ROMed phone because that’s how they know it’s me apparently. Also shame that my banking app stopped supporting Android 8.0 a few years back. I miss my LG V20.

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  • Wispy2891@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Google also extending this to things like fireOS

    it would not, because fireos was based on ancient versions of android like android 11 or earlier, and the block is enforced via google play services which isn’t present on there.

    but new fireos doesn’t run android apps at all. New devices temporarily run android apps on a VM hosted on AWS servers and then stream the video, but only if those apps are distributed on the amazon appstore, and it’s a stopgap until the devs make their apps compatible with the new OS.

    And old fireos devices will start to gradually uninstall “dangerous” sideloaded apks

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• SnowPenguin@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Good news, but it doesn’t change the fact that Google tried to do this in the first place.

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• OldChicoAle@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  For now. You just wait. Evil corp is gonna evil corp it all up.

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  • danielton1@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I miss the days when their slogan was “Don’t be evil”

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    • fodor@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Right, that meant “be slightly better than Microsoft”. They never tried to “do no evil”, no sirree, that’s far too difficult.

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    • SnowPenguin@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah, Google used to be the “Cool” company back then. I used to root for them.

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• cy_narrator@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Thank god. I would’ve ditched Android for good if this went through, and while it sounds like it would be annoying for casual users to enable unverified apps, at least we can still install them.

  You would have ditched Android for ios if it were implemented?

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  • cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    At least the apple ecosystem all works. Androids full of shit that will never be fixed. Looking at Google cast in particular. There have been many others too.

    Ive been using Android for more than a decade, fwiw

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  • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Not hardly. I’ve been looking for a reason to support Linux phones, and that would just have been the thing to do it.

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  • tehfishman@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I would not have done so, but I think there’s a reasonable argument that if Apple and Google’s mobile platforms are indistinguishable in terms of user freedom and Google is going to try to be Apple, ya may as well just go with the better Apple

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• Jinarched@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Eh, I’m probably gonna ditch that smartphone thing anyways, at least for a while. Android becoming a closed-off garden was the last straw and I was kinda looking forward trying to go without a phone to test if I can adapt. I started leaving the house without my phone more and more and I kinda like it.

  Sure, it’s fun and convenient to have the Internet in my pocket. Heck, it’s even required in some cases, but this digital mess we are currently in is too much for me. I remember how I was looking forward having one back then; I was really looking forward having acces to the Interney wherever I was, but nowadays I kinda miss being less conected from all the bullshit especially when outside.

  I guess I could get a linuxphone one day if I miss having a phone (if I somehow manage to completely remove the smartphone from my life in the first place).

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• RacerX@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Straight from the playbook. Announce something terrible, then back off with something bad. Everyone calls it a win.

  See: Wizards if the Coast, Unity

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  • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    And 5 years they’ll try it again.

    Do terrible thing A to test the sentiment, probe the reaction, backpedal a bit, admit caveats and facilitate pre-planned option B, try again after a few days and gocus on it died down.

    At one point we’ll need diff monitoring on the TOC and all other legal imprints :|

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  • architect@thelemmy.club ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Rockstar too

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• RedFrank24@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  My guess is they’re going to do what Microsoft do (or used to do until about 6 months ago) when you want to sideload anything on their consoles: They charge you. You buy dev access for your account and use it to unlock your phone.

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  • Mistic@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I believe I’ve seen them announce that already, so, yeah

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• MithranArkanere@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  No freaking way this was because of “feedback”. This was because the European Commission will keep escalating their fines if Google keeps at it with the monopoly bullshit.

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  • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The EU is just a bit behind being maliciously lobbied to death (eyeroll).
    (See Digital Omnibus Act)

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  • InvalidName2@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Quite some time ago, the messaging I was getting from Microsoft was that Windows 10 security updates were going to end this year. I didn’t really keep up with the news on that front, but I did notice that there was some kind of law suit in the EU that from what I recall basically came down to the fact that MS would have to continue to provide security updates to Win 10 free of charge for EU users.

    Literally within the last week, a buddy of mine asked me to look at his computer and see if I could upgrade it to Win 10. I could not, as it doesn’t have a supported processor. But what I noticed is that MS now offers the option to extend security updates until 2026 with the click of a button.

    So, thanks EU folks! Already knew ya’ll were awesome, but I assume this change of heart from Microsoft was a result of that suit. I appreciate it.

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• brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  We are designing this flow specifically to resist coercion, ensuring that users aren’t tricked into bypassing these safety checks while under pressure from a scammer.

  Translation: if they want scamware, it’s gotta be from Google Play, where Google gets a 30% cut.

  And if anything thinks I’m being hyperbolic, go on Google Play and search for pretty much anything.

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  • poopkins@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    The fee is 15% below the first $1M of revenue and it should go without saying that app developers only pay that fee for paid apps, in-app purchases or digital subscriptions. It’s very unlikely that a scam app would be paid, or work off a subscription, and if those phishing ads are doing their conversions, you’ll never see the user again.

    I doubt Google’s making more than a few cents off each of these scam apps.

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    • brucethemoose@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Google gets a cut from the Google Ads click, which takes the user directly to the Play Store (or, if on desktop, the Chrome extension store).

      If it’s some free shovelware app, they get a cut from the ads spammed onto the user’s screen. If it’s a sham subscription app, they get a cut of that. I see this a lot test clicking ads these days.

      If its legit phishing, that’s a fair point; they don’t get a direct cut of the scam, other than the attention it drives towards their app stores and the data they collect for the user’s profile. But the point I’m trying to make is that it’s incredibly hypocritical to paint 3rd party apps (and indeed any competing app store) as a danger when they do such a poor job policing their own store.

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  • Buckshot@programming.dev ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Helped a disabled pensioner recently with her phone that kept plaging loud obnoxious ads at her even while locked.

    She had 4 different “virus scanners” that were all fake adware.

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• network_switch@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s still worse than before. Really need to break mobile away from Google and Apple. Preferably as close to standard Linux as possible

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  • tehmics@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    AOSP makes a lot more sense to me. We just need to adopt Graphene or Lineage en masse and start contributing to support more devices, grow that out into a real alternative with support for the already existing android app ecosystem

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    • markovs_gun@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Graphene doesn’t fix the problem because it’s only available on Pixel devices

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    • Lightfire228@pawb.social ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      What about Play Integrity / Safetynet?

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    • communist@lemmy.frozeninferno.xyz ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Aosp makes more sense as a short term strategy, but google is making developing graphene harder, linux mobile is a much better long term strategy

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• phoenixz@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Google: "Based on this feedback and our ongoing conversations with the community, we are building a new advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn’t verified.

  And we will NEVER trust you again, fuck you google.

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  • poopkins@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Wait, so Google listened to our feedback, and we’re still mad? What would a positive outcome have looked like?

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    • phoenixz@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      If you think that Google listened and did the right thing out of the goodness of their heart, then I have a bridge to sell you

      Google cancelled because of the backlash but they WILL be back for more, they always do

      Trust has been broken and that won’t come back. Software companies, in the end, are all the same, they all enahittify over time and always will talk pretty to lull you into a sense of security. I’m not buying it

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    • vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      because they haven’t? We don’t want any changes to our ability to install software. This would still kill f-droid, and the “flow” they talked about isn’t a system wide setting. You have to do it per app. And you, the owner of the divice who just wants to install something on your device, would have to register. So if too many people install the app, the dev would be forced to register as well.

      How is any of that “listening to user feedback”?

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    • oftenawake@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Once user trust is burned it’s not coming back.

      There are no positive outcomes available now - it’s time to abandon Google.

      Linux phones arriving sooner? Hopefully that’s the silver lining.

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    • greenacres3233@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      [deleted]

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    • theparadox@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I think it was fairly obvious that the move was going to piss people off, they just misjudged to what extent. Modern business strategy is to claim to listen to customer feedback and just quietly plan to implement it anyway, just do it more subtly, more quietly, and more slowly.

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• m3t00@piefed.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  never wanted to use side-load on a g-phone. get a different os and we'll talk. likely enable it in dev options because of it's preexisting warning/disclaimer.

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• DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Don’t consider this a win, guys, this is more of an ‘Oh shit, we’re screwed if we follow through with this right now’ moment, there’s nothing stopping them from walking this back at a later, less turbulent date when no one’s paying attention, and locking Android down anyways, as this directly reminds me of the situation which caused WEI to be scrapped.

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  • PaintedSnail@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I mean, sure, but there was never anything stopping them from doing this in the first place except public pressure. Large companies changing tracks due to public demand is a good thing, and definitely a win.

    I think its better to simply realize that a win doesn’t mean the fight is over. It’s okay to be happy about a success. Just don’t let up on the pressure.

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• MashedTech@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m just waiting for the moment Valve also decides to enter the mobile market :)

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  • Lfrith@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    If they decide to make the Steam Deck 2 actually a Steam Phone with controller attachments that could be a way for them to enter the mobile hardware.

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    • kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Not enough cooling. A better idea would be to release a Steam Deck 2 with the same form factor as the 1 and a Steam Deck Mini with a phone form factor and the same performance as the original Deck.

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  • mal3oon@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Well, they do have few mobile devices with Ryzen and QC chips, they have been investing heavily in Linux OS recently, so crossing fingers Libre phone would collaborate with them to release Libre Phone Black Magick to the gamers, that would sway a big chunk of Android enthusiasts to switch, and then apps would follow.

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• daggermoon@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  victory is ours

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• ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  How about they drop the entire thing and keep it as it was and is?

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• spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Google: “Based on this feedback and our ongoing conversations with the community, we are building a new advanced flow that allows experienced users to accept the risks of installing software that isn’t verified.

  I’ve been side loading apks since I bought my first Android phones and am much more concerned about malware included in the “safe” apps from Google’s Play store. Google’s quality control is shit.

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  • ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Quality control is not the words. They are unethical garbage pieces of shit who make the world a worse place. These big companies buy smaller ones just so they have the good devs and no competition. Then they make everything in the market insufferable as fuck.

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  • Scrollone@feddit.it ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Yes. I wonder how many people unknowingly updated Simple Mobile Tools apps after the new owner’s buy-in.

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    • nuxi@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The number of apps that I’ve had to unistall because they got quietly sold and turned into malware is alarming.

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• BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  If this flow existed once for disabling the entire feature permanently, I would be okay with it. But it seems like they are going to intentionally make installing any software they don’t get a piece of painful to install every time. That is not an acceptable compromise.

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• qwestjest78@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Not good enough. Google showed their hand and they will try this garbage again at a later date

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• SapphironZA@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Easing is not removing.

  Anything more that a warning and disclaimer popup is too much.

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  • flying_sheep@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I’m OK with jumping through more hoops – once.

    Once I told the device that I know what I’m doing, it shouldn’t be more than a pop-up.

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    • krooklochurm@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’d agree that the option is inportant to turn it off but one and done shouldn’t be the default cuz people fucking dumb, yo.

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• zergtoshi@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Google is paving the ground for Linuxphones.
  It’s so blatantly obvious how evil they’ve become that it makes striving for alternatives a necessity.

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  • freeman@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Unfortunatel, even here on Lemmy, that is a not techier/fossier than the mainstream, a lot of people say they will switch to… IOS.

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    • zergtoshi@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I’m not saying I’m a fan of that, but at least Apple is upfront about the walled garden they offer and ever has been.
      Google started differently, but turned around 180 degrees.

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  • ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I want a linux phone! I heard Cape phones will be a thing for the general public in 2026. They said that they and the provider are very privacy focused. I pray they are being truthful.

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    • zergtoshi@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I wasn’t aware of that.
      Thanks for letting me know!

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• finitebanjo@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I wonder if they realized phone sales would drop if they made it virtually impossible to maintain privacy apps and OS.

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• DudeImMacGyver@kbin.earth ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  This is some token bullshit.

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• ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  That’s not good enough. They’re just going to keep lightly pushing against the bad publicity until everything not controlled by Google on your phone goes away.

  We need an alternative made without googles shitty hands in the mix. This forced duopoly between Apple and Google sucks. No phone competition in the US also sucks. Overpriced Samsung or a Google phone, while companies Like Red Magic have fan and liquid cooled phones with huge batteries, more ram, and more storage, for less than a grand being sold around the rest of the world outside the US.

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  • DFX4509B@lemmy.wtf ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    We need an alternative made without googles shitty hands in the mix. This forced duopoly between Apple and Google sucks.

    That goes for MS and Apple on the desktop too, and allegedly Google is trying to enter that space as well for the umpteenth time.

    At least as far as PCs are concerned, they’re still unlocked at the bootloader level, despite MS’ attempts to lock that down, and there’s nothing stopping you from installing Linux or BSD on your PC still. Mobile devices outside a handful which aren’t locked down, unfortunately don’t have that luxury.

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    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yep. I’m running Linux on all but one of my machines. You at least have the option with most any PC. There’s a very quickly dwindling option to do the same with phones.

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  • daq@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Oneplus had great success but then enshittified. Raised prices to match Samsung and Google, outsourced support to some place that didn’t sound like they were even in the same dimension as any English speakers and took away their ability to help customers even by accident and finally quality of their phones went to shit.

    They could’ve sucked the Chinese government subsidy tit for another few years and would’ve established themselves as legit competition, but that would only delay inevitable enshittification by a few years.

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    • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      They’re a descent phone right now with their OnePlus 15. Huge battery, good and bright screen, top of the line processing and 16GB of the fastest ram you can get in a phone, and less than $1,000.

      My issues with it are that their potential unlocking and rooting is a bit up in the air, and that they only offer up to a 512GB with no SD card.

      I’d buy a damned Red Magic 11 pro if they didn’t block root and supported band 71.

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  • baconsunday@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Stop it. You’re reminding me why I want to move my family out of the US. Its not just phones, everything is a facade here.

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• ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I have an app on F-Droid. Nothing special, basically something I wrote for myself. I was thinking about putting it on Play Store so I can share it with friends that don’t use F-Droid but with those new requirement I’m 100% not doing that. Fuck Google.

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• Plasma@lemmy.ml ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  It’s not sideloading, it’s installing. Stop giving into this idea that installing other apps is somehow bypassing normal methods!

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  • MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I heard that if you don’t get your groceries via Walmart+ delivery, then it’s smuggling.

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    • krooklochurm@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Transporting?

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    • isVeryLoud@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Great analogy

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• HyperfocusSurfer@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Uh-huh, sure, just about protecting the users. Nevermind that actual malware is regularly found on play store, and exactly 0 times – on f-droid they’re “protecting” the users from.

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  • InfiniteStruggle@sh.itjust.works ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Check your sources, we have had issues on F-Droid. Better than google play store though, because the average F-doid user is more tech savvy than the average GPlay user.

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    • HyperfocusSurfer@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Haven’t heard of it, personally, except the case with introducing a vulnerability similar to the case with the xz backdoor that wasn’t merged. Would appreciate the link, tho

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• jerkface@lemmy.ca ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  For the last two years, I’ve been running my own mail server, ready to cut over the moment google wants to fuck around again. I’m happy NOT depending on my own mail server as long as possible, but it’s clear the free lunch is going to end one day. I’ve started backing my way out of Android and I’m surely not going to be buying another iOS or Android phone.

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• androidisking@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Literally idk why people are saying “If this happens I’ll switch to an iPhone”

  Like bruh Apple is even a more closed off walled garden? What sort of sense does that make to switch to something twice as expensive and gives you absolutely no control?

  Even if Google decided to implement this in the future, I will never switch to an iPhone and neither should you

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  • darkevilmac@lemmy.zip ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    If I’m going to lose the main things I like about Android, like customizing things and installing my own software. Then yeah I would actually jump ship to the alternative because the chips are faster, the battery life is better, and the software would effectively be on par.

    The point is that the jump would no longer be from a somewhat open platform to a closed one. It would be a jump from a closed platform to another closed platform.

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  • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    As opposed to what, buying a viable phone from those other guys?

    What other guys?

    At minimum a stampede of people moving to iPhones should theoretically cause Google to shit enough of a brick (providing capitalism actually works as advertised, and for the record I am trying like hell to keep a straight face as I type this) to correct their behavior in an attempt to win some of those users back.

    Because at the end of the day most consumers are consumers, not nerds, and if neither platform is going to allow you control over your device and they’re both privacy nightmares you’re not much worse off with an iDevice if you plan on owning a smartphone in the first place.

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