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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

#141

Post by izacus »

gpm wrote: post #68
brian_cloutier wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This feature has been around since Ice Cream Sandwich, released 2011 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Ice_Cream_Sandwich > Certain "System" apps (particularly those pre-loaded by carriers) that cannot be uninstalled can now be disabled. This hides the application and prevents it from launching, but the application is not removed from storage.

Disabling google assistant broke various unrelated features. What I just found out I can do above is change the "Assistant" default app from being "Google Assistant" to being none - which stops the stupid swipe in the wrong way and it grabs focus and the bottom half of the screen "feature". Edit: And to be clear this doesn't remove all the places Assitant pops up, just the most annoying one. It still has prominent pl…

Are you sure you disabled Google Assistant (via one of two settings) and not the "Google" app which contains significantly more functionality than just the Assistant?

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

#142

Post by scarface74 »

ineedasername wrote: post #94
scarface74 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this was very much when Rubin was still at Google.

He was still at Google, but sidelined from Android into the robotics division, shortly after which he quit. Sure, it's speculation, but perhaps it was precisely because he disliked and objected to the direction Android was taking. Of course the timing isn't proof, but this article was written at nearly the exact time that he was shifted off of Android.

He disliked the direction Android was going and then started a company to sell Android phones?

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

#143

Post by scarface74 »

ineedasername wrote: post #87
scarface74 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

October 2013... “Google's iron grip on Android: controlling open source by any means necessary” https://www.wired.co.uk/article/googles-iron-grip-on-android

That really doesn't go against what I said: At that time anyone could still fork Android, and if they wanted the open source versions of apps replaced by closed source ones they could use the source code for those old apps were perfectly serviceable alternatives to the closed-source ones Google replaced them with. In fact the article mentions two very prominent examples of successful break-aways of Android from Googl…

So if you wanted to sell a phone in China, where you couldn’t use Google Play Services anyway, or you were one of the world’s most valuable companies who could afford to rewrite all of Google Play dependencies, you were set?

Are you also as lenient about iOS? Since the core of it is open source? WebKit?

The EU doesn’t agree with you. They ruled against Google for its practices. Google wouldn’t let a manufacturer both sell a phone using an Android fork that didn’t used Google Play Services and sell a phone that did.

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

#144

Post by scarface74 »

nitrogen wrote: post #92
sjwright wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a world where OS/2 failed, Be wouldn’t have a chance. The biggest irony to Microsoft’s anti-competitive OEM practices is that they were unnecessary. The network effects of software compatibility proved sufficient to maintain their dominance. And their temporarily successful attempts to dominate the browser market failed to turn the open standards web platform into the Windows platform’s greatest competitor.

The network effects of software compatibility proved sufficient to maintain their dominance. Before that point it was common for software to be ported to all the major platforms, so I don't think that caused their dominance, it just helped reinforce it.

You didn’t own a Mac back then did you?

By 2000 there were only two major platforms for desktop operating systems - Macs and Windows.

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

#145

Post by gpm »

izacus wrote: post #141
gpm wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disabling google assistant broke various unrelated features. What I just found out I can do above is change the "Assistant" default app from being "Google Assistant" to being none - which stops the stupid swipe in the wrong way and it grabs focus and the bottom half of the screen "feature". Edit: And to be clear this doesn't remove all the places Assitant pops up, just the most annoying one. It still has prominent pl…

Are you sure you disabled Google Assistant (via one of two settings) and not the "Google" app which contains significantly more functionality than just the Assistant?

Understand that I played with this a year ago, so my memory is a bit hazy.

I believe that what happened was was after looking for any way to disable just assistant (e.g. under the "Assistant" system settings option) and not finding any I have up an tried to disable it at the app level. At the app level I saw (and still see) only a option to disable all of Google.

It probably did not occur to me at the time to check the default app settings.

> via one of two settings

I only found the default apps way, what is the other?

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

#146

Post by swiley »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #77
RonanTheGrey wrote: post #67

I don't find it particularly interesting to argue over whether Google and/or Apple or Goople are monopolies/duopolies. I think however it is obvious that something has seriously pathologically gone wrong in the mobile software market and these two companies are behind it. I also don't think that appeals to "is that legal" are all that satisfying -- (Apple's free speech lets them silence whoever they wish, of course)…

> Why do I only have 2 choices? There’s an extremely high barrier to entry and people don’t have time to learn different operating systems.

Everyone had to learn these mobile OSes which are extremely unintuitive.

The barrier is caused by a lack of available software (something html5 has largely solved outside of games/Snapchat/apples anti competitive behavior with chat etc.)

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

#147

Post by gpm »

nl wrote: post #115
gpm wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

The whole reason I bought a Pixel is Google Assistant, so calling it bloatwear seems a stretch. Also it doesn't seem bound like that on my phone.

> Also it doesn't seem bound like that on my phone.

Iirc it is enabled when you set System->Gestures->system navigation set to gesture navigation? I recommend setting that for the superior ui it provides.

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

#148

Post by swiley »

harshitaneja wrote: post #90
nitrogen wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The barrier to entry is not high. There used to be many more options for phone OS.

When phones were much more limited in their functionality and user expectations were nowhere near as high as they are today. Complexity of phones since 2007 has skyrocketed. Can a small team create a phone OS and the ecosystem users have grown accustomed to today?

GNU/Linux has a larger and much more healthy app ecosystem than either of the popular mobile OSes.

And before you say a desktop DE is unusable on a handheld I’d urge you to actually try it. I’ve owned multiple handhelds running GNU/Linux with either the DE I used on my laptop (fvwm at the time) or lxde and they’re more comfortable than mobile GUIs. (I’m particular: there are far fewer mobile dialogs and touch controls popping over eachother right before you tap them.)

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

#149

Post by sebazzz »

cordite wrote: post #101
lotsofpulp wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why do I only have 2 choices? There’s an extremely high barrier to entry and people don’t have time to learn different operating systems.

Used to have windows phone as a choice, but never ever did google cooperate in getting something as major as YouTube on that platform. (Yet Roku and more do.)

Actually they even blocked it. Microsoft had a YouTube app in the store but Google blocked it [0]

[0]: https://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-neuters-youtube-windows-...

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

#150

Post by harshitaneja »

swiley wrote: post #148
harshitaneja wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When phones were much more limited in their functionality and user expectations were nowhere near as high as they are today. Complexity of phones since 2007 has skyrocketed. Can a small team create a phone OS and the ecosystem users have grown accustomed to today?

GNU/Linux has a larger and much more healthy app ecosystem than either of the popular mobile OSes. And before you say a desktop DE is unusable on a handheld I’d urge you to actually try it. I’ve owned multiple handhelds running GNU/Linux with either the DE I used on my laptop (fvwm at the time) or lxde and they’re more comfortable than mobile GUIs. (I’m particular: there are far fewer mobile dialogs and touch control…

I have been a linux user since early teenage. So I don't need any nudge for that.

But on phones, I prefer a great screen, good camera and everything else the mainstream offers. I have a proper camera and good laptops with display and everything but nothing beats the convenience of a good phone for someone who is a nomad(well before covid-19). If linux handhelds work for you, power to you. But I have never found any in the last five years at least that I wanted to use as a daily driver. Would be interested in recommendations though.

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