Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app

Post by GoblinSlayer » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 1:02 PM UTC

archi42 wrote: post #106

pnw_hazor wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do have to fight through some dark patterns that discourage side-loading. But at least you can do it on Android. Also, it is getting harder to avoid using Google Play Services in your apps since they are putting more Android features behind that iron curtain as well.

There are multiple problems here: 1. As you stated, Google forces devs to rely on presence of the Google Play Services 2. Devs don't care: I don't see why e.g. Discord should not run properly on MicroG (I get push messages after logging in, but the app itself shows all friends as offline, no servers and a "can not connect to discord" message; from what I found online, it doesn't seem to be intermittent). 3. I wouldn'…

Post by nkozyra » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 1:04 PM UTC

input_sh wrote: post #170

javert wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook is also a great example. That shit is so absolutely awful, and it's destroying people psychologically. People will eventually learn and get out of it. We will find a healthier alternative and adopt it organically. But chances are the government will force Facebook to be just slightly less destructive, so that people never abandon it en mass, and never find a healthier alternative. Facebook will kill itself i…

Facebook (as in, a social network) is already dead, it's just that nobody pulled the plug yet. They have no people to expand to, no new opportunities to monetize the platform. All they can do is squeeze out every last penny they can from the existing user base. What was the last memorable feature that was added? Stories in like 2015? Facebook (the company) has moved on (to Instagram and WhatsApp), users are less enga…

Post by Aeolun » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 1:05 PM UTC

dannyw wrote: post #140

philpem wrote: post #109

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From my experience with bug bounties, if it's not on the OWASP TOP10, they'll kick, stamp, scream and fight -- even if you say "I don't want the bounty, I just want this bug fixed". (backstory: found a bug in Twitter which disclosed DMs. Reported it, Twitter engineer had a raging tantrum on Hackerone, H1 (I assume) mistook his messages for mine and banned me from the site. Found out a mutual was a Twitter engineer, s…

I refuse to use H1 because of how hostile they are to security researchers.

Post by izacus » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 1:08 PM UTC

aviraldg wrote: post #115

pnw_hazor wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You do have to fight through some dark patterns that discourage side-loading. But at least you can do it on Android. Also, it is getting harder to avoid using Google Play Services in your apps since they are putting more Android features behind that iron curtain as well.

What you call dark patterns are ways to ensure users don't accidentally load malware onto their device. They can definitely do better though - I think a good first step would a dialog to choose trusted alternative app stores such that installing apps does not require a separate confirmation step (as is currently the case.) The Google Play Services moves are unfortunate, but required. Most device manufacturers do not…

Post by Aeolun » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 1:09 PM UTC

gonmad wrote: post #141

Only 12 hours between an email and the account termination, with no real interaction and no way to change what seems not to be a serious problem. That would change the time gap during responsible disclosure, Alphabet/Google is changing its metrics. I mean why only small developers would have to be mistreated. If they play it that way, Android developers community can also report platform bugs to them - and go full di…