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You don't need to get root on an android device to sideload apps, unless the app has specific functionality that requires root. You don't need to break anything about the system or your warranty. Its just a toggle in the settings menu.
Adblock needs root to work as intended though.
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You can install android apps or chrome extensions from any source, not just the Google-managed store. This sounds minor, but its absolutely a major reason why the stores aren't monopolies. I find it startling how few people on HN remember the fact that stores have a right to decide what they want to sell and not. We don't live in communist Russia. Walmart doesn't have to sell Whole Foods-branded food, H&M doesn't hav…
If you're willing not only to download sideload apps but also to modify your device so you can have root access, then it works. So not really different from Apple.
People who go on and on about the Google and Amazon "monopolies" -- which only benefit consumers with low prices and expansive services -- this is what actual monopolistic behavior looks like. Apple controls access to a significant share of the mobile application industry and it directly abuses that market power to harm customers by reducing competition and artificially raising prices. Apple is being sued in both US…
> People who go on and on about the Google and Amazon "monopolies" -- which only benefit consumers with low prices and expansive services Whoa there, consumers are not the only people who matter. Suppliers are often exploited by monopolies. Have you never heard of the Fair Trade movement? Please do not forget about the suppliers of your cheap shit you don't need.
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There are more non-iOS phones out there than iOS phones. I think this is why Apple isn’t too concerned about “monopoly” talk right now. (No, a “monopoly” on Apple products is not an illegal thing.)
A company doesn't need a majority of the market to be prosecuted for anti-competitive behavior and likewise having a majority of the market does not mean your every move is illegally anti-competitive.
To your first point, assuming Sherman is used, I believe US v Alcoa [1] is still the controlling case law. And you'd have a very hard time convincing a court that "smartphones made by Apple" constitute a product category over which it could have a 75%+ market share.
Or are there other laws under which action could be brought in this situation?
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> Do Europeans really think GDPR is a new way to steal internet content without having to pay? Yes, I believe that was the stated purpose of the legislation.
Based on the entitled behavior in this thread, I seriously consider it. It it a cultural thing to feel entitled to other peoples work? Or just the agegroup of people on hacker news?
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If you're willing not only to download sideload apps but also to modify your device so you can have root access, then it works. So not really different from Apple.
You don't need root to install a working ad blocker.
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You don't need root to install a working ad blocker.
According to the AdBlock Plus page not all features work without root.
Moreover, the ad blocking features you get without root are a strict superset of the features that are possible at all on iOS.
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According to the AdBlock Plus page not all features work without root.
Any features that require root would still require root if installed from the Play Store. That is not relevant to the argument that you can always install things blocked from the Play Store by getting them from other sources. Moreover, the ad blocking features you get without root are a strict superset of the features that are possible at all on iOS.