Google just deleted my nearly 10-year-old free and open-source Android app • Hacker News Board

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

#341

Post by pdkl95 » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 2:57 PM UTC

gargravarr wrote: post #201

huffmsa wrote: post #119

Seems to me that Google is turning on a lot of deep learning models in production which aren't production ready. Search has gone to shit recently. Image search is hot garbage for anything but images with well known people / places / things. You can't reliably filter or sort news results by date. YouTube is filtering pro LGBT content but allowing weird Eastern European pedo videos. The play store is apparently moderat…

I searched for an error message yesterday and Search removed 18 of the 20 keywords (they are all scratched out as 'missing'). The only remaining keywords were for the platform I had the error on. Thousands of results that were all completely irrelevant. I was completely stunned how something I rely on could suddenly do that. What is the point? Google's monopoly has gotten to the point where they do not care how their…

> (they are all scratched out as 'missing')

The 'missing' notes are incredibly condescending. Not only are the results irrelevant/incorrect, they also had to arrogantly point out exactly how they are choosing to ignore the user's request.

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

#342

Post by mcguire » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 2:58 PM UTC

laingc wrote: post #171

cbanek wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also makes me feel even more strongly that the FTC should really clamp down on these very strict app stores. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/amicus_briefs/app... Both the App Store and Google Play stores I think are basically illegal monopolies. I should be able to install whatever app I want, without having to jailbreak my phone and deal with warranty nonsense from the manufacturer. Just like my comp…

Personally, as an iOS user, I do not want the App Store opened up at all. Currently, I can go to the App Store, install any app, and be about 99.9% confident that the app will do me (or my technologically illiterate mother) absolutely no harm. This is something I value highly, and am happy to pay the “Apple premium” for.

What happens when some app your technologically illiterate mother uses daily gets shut down?

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

#343

Post by trickstra » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 2:59 PM UTC

laingc wrote: post #171

cbanek wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also makes me feel even more strongly that the FTC should really clamp down on these very strict app stores. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/amicus_briefs/app... Both the App Store and Google Play stores I think are basically illegal monopolies. I should be able to install whatever app I want, without having to jailbreak my phone and deal with warranty nonsense from the manufacturer. Just like my comp…

Personally, as an iOS user, I do not want the App Store opened up at all. Currently, I can go to the App Store, install any app, and be about 99.9% confident that the app will do me (or my technologically illiterate mother) absolutely no harm. This is something I value highly, and am happy to pay the “Apple premium” for.

One word for you: Ubuntu

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

#344

Post by ChrisArchitect » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 3:00 PM UTC

good pitch post, nice to see google dev account responding on twitter and maybe some escalation, but reading the post -- did you even consider what the deceptive behaviour might be even if barely a case for it? Mimicing functionality from other apps? Does STM or whatever transit in Montreal have an official app? While it's good to have competition and variety in the market for transit apps etc, seems like a lot of municipalities would tend to have an 'official' app these days or recommend preferred ones, so maybe there's a push as far as app store etc to go towards the official ones and maybe the STM reported you or someone downloaded and was mad it wasn't the real one etc etc. Sorry I didn't see your app before it got taken down/am not familiar with it but reading your post and started to wonder. No offense. Transit apps and public service sort of space for apps is a tricky space in modern day

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

#345

Post by zaroth » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 3:00 PM UTC

ilikehurdles wrote: post #289

laingc wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, as an iOS user, I do not want the App Store opened up at all. Currently, I can go to the App Store, install any app, and be about 99.9% confident that the app will do me (or my technologically illiterate mother) absolutely no harm. This is something I value highly, and am happy to pay the “Apple premium” for.

Why are the only options for installing apps "Strict App Store" and "Open App Store"? That's a false dichotomy. Let apple have its app store but remove the restrictions on installing apps from outside of it. If I want to install an apk directly from a publisher's website I should be able to.

Do you suppose those apk’s get to use the full set of iOS APIs and Services and not pay Apple for it?

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

#346

Post by Allower » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 3:01 PM UTC

laingc wrote: post #171

cbanek wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also makes me feel even more strongly that the FTC should really clamp down on these very strict app stores. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/amicus_briefs/app... Both the App Store and Google Play stores I think are basically illegal monopolies. I should be able to install whatever app I want, without having to jailbreak my phone and deal with warranty nonsense from the manufacturer. Just like my comp…

Personally, as an iOS user, I do not want the App Store opened up at all. Currently, I can go to the App Store, install any app, and be about 99.9% confident that the app will do me (or my technologically illiterate mother) absolutely no harm. This is something I value highly, and am happy to pay the “Apple premium” for.

False confidence is a terrible rationale. There are plenty of malicious apps on the iOS store. Quite frankly you have a false sense of security and you SHOULD be disabused of that notion.

Stop trying to outsource personal responsibility

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

#347

Post by teh_infallible » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 3:03 PM UTC

laingc wrote: post #171

cbanek wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also makes me feel even more strongly that the FTC should really clamp down on these very strict app stores. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/amicus_briefs/app... Both the App Store and Google Play stores I think are basically illegal monopolies. I should be able to install whatever app I want, without having to jailbreak my phone and deal with warranty nonsense from the manufacturer. Just like my comp…

Personally, as an iOS user, I do not want the App Store opened up at all. Currently, I can go to the App Store, install any app, and be about 99.9% confident that the app will do me (or my technologically illiterate mother) absolutely no harm. This is something I value highly, and am happy to pay the “Apple premium” for.

And yet the App Store is crammed with free apps that are basically just vehicles to deliver add and harvest your information.

Free kids apps are the worst, because young children try to play the game and constantly end up steered towards ads that they don’t know how to navigate away from.

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

#348

Post by umvi » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 3:03 PM UTC

spaginal wrote: post #310

GhettoMaestro wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your ideal state of Internet / Tech companies is definitely in the minority contrasted to overall expectations the broader population has put on these devices and services. Yeah, we get it, you're smart. I'm smart. Most people here are smart. But protections still matter. What you're saying is I don't want to wear a seatbelt when driving my car. Sure that is your choice - but I think it is a very foolish one.

That’s a wrong analogy. If you want to stay with cars, it’s like Google saying when you buy their car, you are only allowed to go to 6 pre determined destinations in their vehicles. Some people find comfort in the lack of choice, since they know the drive won’t be “dangerous”, but for the rest of us, we want to make the choice of destination ourselves. We simply want the choice to open our options without these compa…

> If you want to stay with cars, it’s like Google saying when you buy their car, you are only allowed to go to 6 pre determined destinations in their vehicles.

It's more like, when you buy a car, you are only allowed to go to Google-approved destinations. You are allowed to submit a new destination for consideration, but ultimately google can decide if you are allowed to go there or not.

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

#349

Post by throwaway_law » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 3:05 PM UTC

zaroth wrote: post #337

throwaway_law wrote: post #323

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>if you dislike the App Store: Don't buy an Apple Device. Turns out Apple doesn't owe you shit I recall Microsoft using that defense once upon a time. IF you don't like Explorer or Netscape, don't buy a PC. Turns out Microsoft doesn't owe you shit. However, it turns out Microsoft does owe consumers something, the Settlement is available for anyone who cares to know what that something is.

I wonder if there were distinguishing factors which make these cases unique. Like the fact that Microsoft had 90%+ desktop market share and was using it to shoe-horn an unrelated inferior product with powerful network effects into dominance. Whereas Apple has no monopoly and in fact their overall smartphone market share is falling. Let Apple compete how they want to compete, as long as there are viable competitors. O…

>as long as there are viable competitors.

Who are the viable competitors? It is Apple and Google/Android right? Everything else is the equivalent of Bing competing with Google Search. Keep in mind another MS defense was there is Mac and MacOS, we even build a IE for MacOS, therefore, we can't be a monopoly.

>To look at the smartphone market and how far it’s come in the last 10 years

Maybe there is a thriving competition in the smartphone OS market I am unaware of, but I thought maybe in the last 10 years the market went from MS, Blackberry, Apple, Google/Android...to more a consolidated market and effectively Apple and Google/Android.

The political outcome is interesting, I haven't heard that before, what exactly are the politics involved with wanting Apple to allow a 3rd party app store?

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

#350

Post by jimbob45 » Thu, Aug 29, 2019, 3:06 PM UTC

laingc wrote: post #171

cbanek wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This also makes me feel even more strongly that the FTC should really clamp down on these very strict app stores. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/amicus_briefs/app... Both the App Store and Google Play stores I think are basically illegal monopolies. I should be able to install whatever app I want, without having to jailbreak my phone and deal with warranty nonsense from the manufacturer. Just like my comp…

Personally, as an iOS user, I do not want the App Store opened up at all. Currently, I can go to the App Store, install any app, and be about 99.9% confident that the app will do me (or my technologically illiterate mother) absolutely no harm. This is something I value highly, and am happy to pay the “Apple premium” for.

I think what these people are asking for is that the App Store be forced to host everything (within reason) and for other sites to provide you the actual curation of what's good. Letting Apple do both is ethically gray right now.