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The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

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Re: The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

#161

Post by enriquto »

moocowtruck wrote: post #157
kuschku wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has spent the last decade cutting apart the open part of Android and making it more and more proprietary. Launcher, Phone app, Messages, Contacts, Calendar. All proprietary. Notification API, Location API, SMS APIs and step counter APIs, and even the new app format. All proprietary. It's a huge undertaking building an app for Android today without using Google's services, and sometimes even impossible. If you…

so google is pretty much oracle?

> so google is pretty much oracle?

No. They play an entirely different league of evil. Google is orders of magnitude more evil. Hint: it is very easy to live without oracle.

Re: The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

#162

Post by lightedman »

oblio wrote: post #49
NotPaidToPost wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is different from Korean manufacturers this time. This is China caught in a national security issue. - China has a huge domestic market and it may be sufficient in itself for a profitable venture - About half of Android phones are manufactured by Chinese brands. - China has deep pockets and are willing to play the long game. - They have no choice. Trump's used the nuclear option, which may well work in the short…

I don't get why you're being downvoted. China just needs a Deng Xiaoping moment for software. If they try top-down control, even with all the Chinese brands behind it, it will still founder behind Android. But if they relinquish some control for the sake of getting a competitive OS where they can't be cut off, what you're saying is true. I do see them capable making an OS, technically, I'm more worried about their wo…

"I don't get why you're being downvoted."

Because this is HN and HN has a horrible moderation system that makes no sense and pales in comparison to the BBS of olde.

Re: The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

#164

Post by luckylion »

Tsubasachan wrote: post #98

In defense of Google none of the smartphone makers have tried to make their own mobile OS based on Android. Besides I think it more reveals how Google is in the grip of US politics- it might be time for Google to draw up some contingency plans for when America goes completely nuts.

They've moved a lot of their profits out of US tax jurisdiction, is that possible with patents and technology as well so they wouldn't be affected by US export/business restrictions?

Re: The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

#166

Post by rdlecler1 »

Arguably Huawei wouldn’t be where they were today if they wrote their own OS from scratch. People complain about the power of Google. They’re complaining about the power of a great product. Anyone is welcome to build on top of Android it’s just really really hard so they let Google do that work.

Re: The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

#167

Post by thepangolino »

vebu wrote: post #120

I for one have been using a Honor (Huawei) phone for over 3 months with DNSFilter app running 24x7. Blocked all google domains after I installed the necessary apps from playstore. I don't see any problems if google shuts of Honor/Huawei devices permanently. I'd say it will be a benefit of Honor/Huawei phones. It will be the most privacy friendly phone out of the box. Edit- I use Newpipe instead of Youtube. So thats t…

For me, not having any Google code would be a selling point if anything.

Re: The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

#168

Post by macintux »

enriquto wrote: post #161
moocowtruck wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so google is pretty much oracle?

> so google is pretty much oracle? No. They play an entirely different league of evil. Google is orders of magnitude more evil. Hint: it is very easy to live without oracle.

My only remaining dependency on Google is YouTube, and I could do without that in a pinch, although I’d definitely miss it.

Re: The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

#169

Post by krageon »

vebu wrote: post #120

I for one have been using a Honor (Huawei) phone for over 3 months with DNSFilter app running 24x7. Blocked all google domains after I installed the necessary apps from playstore. I don't see any problems if google shuts of Honor/Huawei devices permanently. I'd say it will be a benefit of Honor/Huawei phones. It will be the most privacy friendly phone out of the box. Edit- I use Newpipe instead of Youtube. So thats t…

In my experience it is relatively easy to migrate off of Google services, except for the cloud messaging stuff. Unless you don't care when you get messages and only want to see them when you check (or god forbid only use email), you want GCM/firebase to work.

Re: The Huawei Disaster Reveals Google’s Iron Grip on Android

#170

Post by snaky »

sbarre wrote: post #140
snaky wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huawei could make their own Play Services, API-compatible with Google, then all apps would work the same. Maybe that's what they actually do now.

As the article says, Amazon spent _years_ trying this approach and ultimately failed with their phone project. So sure it's possible, but it's not as easy as you perhaps think?

Amazon tried to make their own copy of Play Store, not Play Services.
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