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Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

techcrunch.com

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Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#351

Post by CaptSpify »

mattnewton wrote: post #347
CaptSpify wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I agree it isn't perfect, but services that phone home to google servers can't realistically be open source. Yes, they can. Google makes a conscious choice not to make them open source. There's no fundamental law or anything saying that they can't. I think the better question is: Why do those services need to phone home? There are plenty of apps that should work just fine without doing that, but don't.

Why does location services need to phone home? Or the App Store? Or push notifications? I think most of these are obvious. I am not aware of any non-obvious ones, but if so they are more likely for crash reporting or usage metrics than for advertising.

Obviously some of them need to phone home, I'm talking about the ones that don't need to. And, just because it can't phone home doesn't mean it should stop working altogether.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#352

Post by ebbv »

_wmd wrote: post #25

I guess this means we can officially stop hating on Microsoft for having such a lax attitude towards security, considering their last OS to suffer from that attitude was released 16 years ago, and it accounts for less than 3% of present day traffic according to statcounter.com Meanwhile according to the same stats, Android sits around 37.9%, and I have to wonder just how many of those devices are still impacted by fo…

> I guess this means we can officially stop hating on Microsoft for having such a lax attitude towards security, considering their last OS to suffer from that attitude was released 16 years ago

What? That is complete nonsense. Yes Windows security has improved over time but it's still pretty abysmal compared to macOS, iOS, Android and any mainstream Linux distro. Windows still defaults to your main user being an administrator with administrator privileges at all times.

Not to mention the fact that Windows now comes baked in with malware and not only defaults you into turning it on without giving you the option to turn it all off easily during setup, but the major patches that have come out since will re-enable a lot of Microsoft's tracking code and make you jump through hoops to disable it.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#353

Post by eh78ssxv2f »

mattl wrote: post #331
andybak wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's hardly Google's fault.

Who's fault is it? Why doesn't Google allow it to be installed on all devices?

I think there is a difference between Google branded Android and AOSP (Android Open Source). Anybody (users or carriers or phone manufacturers) can build and install AOSP, and Google can't provide updates or force them to install Google play store. Also, AOSP being open source is easier to tinker with (install apps from unverified sources etc.).

When media reports security bugs for Android, it is hardly clear whether the bugs affect AOSP or the Google branded Android, and to what extend.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#354

Post by Tloewald »

chickenbane wrote: post #260
_wmd wrote: post #25

I guess this means we can officially stop hating on Microsoft for having such a lax attitude towards security, considering their last OS to suffer from that attitude was released 16 years ago, and it accounts for less than 3% of present day traffic according to statcounter.com Meanwhile according to the same stats, Android sits around 37.9%, and I have to wonder just how many of those devices are still impacted by fo…

> you should have started on it years ago As somebody who has been following Android for a while, this statement is incredibly unfair. The Android ecosystem is huge and remarkably safe. For those actually interested in the details, the Android security team releases annual security reviews, and the report for 2016 was just released: https://security.googleblog.com/2017/03/diverse-protections-... The tldr: the number…

This isn't counting apps that are stealing people's data with their "permission" thanks to shitty UI design and google not caring.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#356

Post by [deleted] »

eh78ssxv2f wrote: post #353
mattl wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who's fault is it? Why doesn't Google allow it to be installed on all devices?

I think there is a difference between Google branded Android and AOSP (Android Open Source). Anybody (users or carriers or phone manufacturers) can build and install AOSP, and Google can't provide updates or force them to install Google play store. Also, AOSP being open source is easier to tinker with (install apps from unverified sources etc.). When media reports security bugs for Android, it is hardly clear whether…

[deleted]

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#357

Post by averagewall »

andybak wrote: post #321
ino wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. What percentage of Android devices download apps exclusively from Play? The entirety of China doesn't even have Google Play Store.

That's hardly Google's fault.

It's directly Google's fault that even the Play Store app isn't available. They make Google Play not easily installable. Their own help page says, after looking for the app:

"If the Google Play Store app still isn't showing up, contact your carrier or manufacturer for help. "

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#358

Post by dfabulich »

chickenbane wrote: post #310
pjmlp wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean the same report where they cleverly omit the actual situation about updates across Android devices, by only mentioning flagship devices sold in 2016?

The purpose of the report is not say what the update situation is across Android devices, Google has a monthly dashboard for that: https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html If you're interested in the Android update situation, Adrian Ludwig just gave a talk at Next, the Google cloud conference about it (he even references the Wikileaks CIA breach): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm6ziX5pqt8 He talks…

It sounds Google like has an even bigger and more complicated mess to clean up than Microsoft! But they dug the hole themselves, it's going to take them longer to fix it, and they should have started on it years ago.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#359

Post by l04m33 »

averagewall wrote: post #344
chickenbane wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you should have started on it years ago As somebody who has been following Android for a while, this statement is incredibly unfair. The Android ecosystem is huge and remarkably safe. For those actually interested in the details, the Android security team releases annual security reviews, and the report for 2016 was just released: https://security.googleblog.com/2017/03/diverse-protections-... The tldr: the number…

> Basically, if you only install apps from Google Play and never enable unknown sources (the default and the vast majority of users) you are safe. Except for the half a billion Chinese Android users who can't access Google Play.

Yeah I'm one of the Chinese users. You can never over estimate how expertised the Chinese apps are on stealing privacy.

Android smartphones sold in China almost always have unknown sources enabled.

Re: Android overtakes Windows as the internet’s most used operating system

#360

Post by pjmlp »

chickenbane wrote: post #310
pjmlp wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean the same report where they cleverly omit the actual situation about updates across Android devices, by only mentioning flagship devices sold in 2016?

The purpose of the report is not say what the update situation is across Android devices, Google has a monthly dashboard for that: https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html If you're interested in the Android update situation, Adrian Ludwig just gave a talk at Next, the Google cloud conference about it (he even references the Wikileaks CIA breach): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm6ziX5pqt8 He talks…

The fact that the report doesn't even mention that there people like me that don't deserve updates, just because we aren't willing to pay over 500 € is what triggered me off.

The dasboard tracks versions in the wild, not the amount of users that were blessed with an update.

The report is presented in such a way, as if during 2016 the OEMs had a change of heart and now all provide updates.

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