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Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

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Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#21
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you have any idea how much utter garbage Google forces vendors to ship with a phone simply to have access to a web browser and the Play store? Or perhaps you're one of the lucky few who haven't been woken at 4am to an urgent notification: "YOUR PHONE HAS TOO MANY MEMES. WOULD YOU LIKE TO DELETE MEMES?" Prohibitions on bloatware, my arse!

Which apps specifically do you classify as "utter garbage"? Looking at my OnePlus, I can't see anything I'd call that. The most annoying part is that I can't completely uninstall Duo and Chrome, but neither one is on a garbage level, I just prefer alternatives. Otherwise... I think I used pretty much every other default app.

Pixel 3a.

Google assistant.

You can't disable it without breaking other things. You can't disable the shortcuts that open it without unnecessarily regressing the rest of the UI. It's bound to "swipe up from a corner" which is an action you accidentally perform on a semi-regular basis. It's utterly and completely useless (to me).

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#22
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And because of the great effectiveness of the American government, MS lost their dominance in the PC operating system market and rank nowhere near the top five most valuable companies in the US like they did 20 years ago.

I'm not disagreeing, but it was a very specific thing that hobbled the antitrust result against MS: the DOJ had won, and then the 2000 election ushered in the Bush Administration. Nine months later, the DoJ decided to abandon seeking a breakup of MS, instead pursuing a toothless negotiated settlement allowing some competitive software presence and better documentation of APIs. It wasn't generic gov't incompetence; it…

You mean an administration from the same party as the current administration?

Even worse, the current administration is more concerned about “bias against conservatives” than consumer rights.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#23
post #8
post #3

"Google prohibitions on bloatware hurt bloatware deal, claims bloatware vendor"

Do you have any idea how much utter garbage Google forces vendors to ship with a phone simply to have access to a web browser and the Play store? Or perhaps you're one of the lucky few who haven't been woken at 4am to an urgent notification: "YOUR PHONE HAS TOO MANY MEMES. WOULD YOU LIKE TO DELETE MEMES?" Prohibitions on bloatware, my arse!

My experience with the stock Android experience from Pixel phones is a dream of zero bloatware. What I hate is the bloatware that nearly every handset maker puts on their phones, and the additional bloatware wireless providers add on to it, almost none of it uninstallable.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#24
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which apps specifically do you classify as "utter garbage"? Looking at my OnePlus, I can't see anything I'd call that. The most annoying part is that I can't completely uninstall Duo and Chrome, but neither one is on a garbage level, I just prefer alternatives. Otherwise... I think I used pretty much every other default app.

Pixel 3a. Google assistant. You can't disable it without breaking other things. You can't disable the shortcuts that open it without unnecessarily regressing the rest of the UI. It's bound to "swipe up from a corner" which is an action you accidentally perform on a semi-regular basis. It's utterly and completely useless (to me).

You can literally disable it by setting the assistant app to "None".

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#25
I think in the last thread a bunch of people were adamant Google wasn't a monopolist because plenty of phones shipped with app stores outside of Play. Seems like Google picks and chooses which of those are okay.

It's time to stop lying: Google will absolutely abandon every single rule in the book to ensure they get 30% of Fortnite purchases. It's too lucrative, and Google is too greedy.

This has nothing to do with safety or security. It has nothing to do with playing fair and following their terms. It's about the money.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#26
Interesting that AT&T and Samsung can collude to pre-install AT&T and Samsung bloat on my Galaxy S7 Edge Android device, but Fortnite couldn't collude with OnePlus to pre-install bloat?

(Yes, I see that the carrier and the #1 Android phone seller are involved in one case and not the other, so the Samsung bloat is the more interesting case. If OnePlus were to write its own bloat-ware or acquire/merge-with Epic, would they be allowed to pre-install?)

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which apps specifically do you classify as "utter garbage"? Looking at my OnePlus, I can't see anything I'd call that. The most annoying part is that I can't completely uninstall Duo and Chrome, but neither one is on a garbage level, I just prefer alternatives. Otherwise... I think I used pretty much every other default app.

I've disabled the vast majority of Google apps that ship with the phone: - Chrome: privacy related, not necessarily garbage, but if the OS were Chinese we'd effortlessly call Chrome's behaviours spyware. I use Firefox - Photos: random single-touch dialogs offering to enable sync. This is upsell and another opt-in data grab. Also the source of the aforementioned ITS 4AM WAKE UP AND HAVE A DELETE MEME PARTY notificatio…

I've had Android phones exclusively for at least 8 or 9 years, use Photos, and have no idea what you mean by the DELETE MEME thing. What is that?

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#28

I know that decimate is a colloquialism nowadays but I feel like a publication should know better. Unless Google asked for ten percent of the proceeds or something, as a headline it makes absolutely no sense.

It would be pretty interesting if all Google had asked was to reduce the apk size by 10%.

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"to kill, destroy, or remove large parts of" is the modern usage. the usage is hyperbolic; it is not nonsensical.

I know it's hyperbolic, I just consider it on the same tier as "x person DESTROYS y person".

Not quite as bad as "that is LITERALLY the worst thing ever"

Re: Google forced OnePlus to decimate a Fortnite launcher deal, claims Epic Games

#30

I think in the last thread a bunch of people were adamant Google wasn't a monopolist because plenty of phones shipped with app stores outside of Play. Seems like Google picks and chooses which of those are okay. It's time to stop lying: Google will absolutely abandon every single rule in the book to ensure they get 30% of Fortnite purchases. It's too lucrative, and Google is too greedy. This has nothing to do with sa…

Apple and Google chiming together: "we're not a monopoly, we're a duopoly and that's perfectly legal"
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