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KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

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Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#81
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I trust the F-Droid maintainers more than J. Random app developer, honestly.

Care to elaborate? You're trusting the developer to write the source code and do all the debug builds, what's the problem with building the production build?

Assuming you trust F-Droid, it eliminates the possibility that the developer isn't using their published source code. eg. they might hide their tracking code from their public github repo but build it into their release apk.

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#82
KDE Connect is one of my top five favourite / essential apps.

Sure, I'm on KDE desktop (have been since the late 1990's) so I'm aware I'm in the (tiny) minority, but the functionality is hard, perhaps impossible, to beat.

This kind of craziness isn't helping anyone.

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#83
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://twitter.com/albertvaka/status/1107924636799504384 > I'm about to upload a version of KDE Connect to the Play Store with the SMS functionality removed. Google removes app from the app store until you upload new version. Not sure if you know, but for KDE Connect SMS access is part of core functionality, allowed use of the API, and author wanted to call explain it as written in [0] but there is nowhere to call.…

But are you sure it is an allowed use of the API? According to https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answ... an allowed use of the API is "connected device companion apps that enable sending and receiving of SMS or calls ". Did KDE Connect allow sending and receiving SMS from your PC? The only thing I see in the app description is getting " notifications for incoming calls and SMS messages", which m…

> Did KDE Connect allow sending and receiving SMS from your PC?

This was actually one of the more recent features they were working on, afaik, yes.

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it’s on every android device by default Amazon tablets do not have the Google Play store.

"Android device" as in devices marketed as Android devices. Context is not hard people. Don't nit because you can.

I believe you’re picking nits over the description of a commercial OS used by Google and Amazon and countless other device makers.

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epic Games, apparently.

And whatever the Amazon Fire devices use as an app store.

Amazon runs its own app store. It took years even with their resources to make it useful. Developers originally tossed up buggy, incomplete, and/or outdated versions of their Android apps just to say they had one on Kindle Fire.

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#86

My current phone has been falling apart for a while and I've already replaced the back 3 times and the camera. With the battery going out and the back starting to crack again under the case, I decided I'm getting sick of Android. My next device needs to be something I can easily run Plasma on. Maybe I'll pre-order a Purism phone. I want a real open source phone, similar to running a Linux distro on my PC in the late…

>I decided I'm getting sick of Android.

How does Android and cracked hardware fit together? No such thing as android hardware. Just buy a better one next time.

>I want a real open source phone

Purism isn't "real open source". Lots of locked down proprietary binary blobs in it and no way to no use them (modem for one). If you want it because of FOSS installing Ubuntu or LineageOS on any other phone would be just as good and no need to pay someone to do it.

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#87
post #43
post #6

Google have completely messed up this SMS policy. Someone senior needs to step in and fix this, it's utterly toxic for developer relations. The process is unreliable and doesn't work, and bluntly this sort of whitelisting of APIs for people "we think really need it" is a bad idea in the first place. Anything that is behind such a whitelist should be a userland permission, approved (or not) by the end user, not Google…

> Anything that is behind such a whitelist should be a userland permission, approved (or not) by the end user, not Google. You’re assuming that Google’s desire here is to protect the user. I don’t think that’s the case: I think that their desire is to control the user. Cf. how Android presents the user with a warning if he installs his own trusted HTTPS certificate (and how newer version of Android simply ignore his…

Try to consider the effect not just on yourself and the tiny number of people exactly like yourself, but on average non-technical users who were getting socially engineered into exposing their passwords and nudes to their bosses, stalkers, criminals, and public morality enforcers.

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#88
post #75

So KDE Connect (with all features) joins NewPipe, AdAway and other amazing Android applications that are on F-Droid and not on Google Play.

Any other great apps on F-Droid?

I'm using all of the above except AdAway and:

- Orgzly: Org-mode brought to your phone. I use it for capturing TODOs and push notifications for reminders.

- Revolution IRC: IRC Client

- Syncthing: Syncs files between my computer and phone. Mostly used for .org files

- Goodtime: Pomodoro technique time-management

- Loop Habit Tracker: Track habits (reading, exercise, etc.)

- Slide for Reddit: Reddit client

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The #1 reason I do not recommend Google to work with for anybody. The users are just accidental for them.

Youtube is another prime example of this. Just look how they've treated even their biggest content creators when it comes to copystriking and user comments (something they have no control over). Users are just a nuisance.

I'm sympathetic with regard to Youtube. They have been effectively forced to adopt these policies by (1) major movie studios and (2) recent news coverage.

There's too many videos for a manual process, so Youtube has to rely on algorithms and that's always going to be a broad brush.

Re: KDE Connect removed from Google Play store for violating new policy on SMS

#90
post #79
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An average person doesn't need to remove Play Store to install F-droid. But if that average person want to remove Play Store (and Play Services blobs) completely from his devices, he still can use and update the most of his apps using Yalp. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.github.yeriomin.yalpstor...

I had forgotten about Yalp. Wouldn’t you still encounter compatibility issues with apps that require Play Services functionality?

An average person would be amazed by the fact most of apps he is using actually work perfectly without Play Services, despite the fact almost all of them declare Play Services in their manifests as absolutely required.

This stay true even for the games, although some functions like in-game purchases and 'social' things may not work.

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