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Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

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Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#11

Post by mynameismonkey »

kgwxd wrote: post #3

Seems likely anyone using Mastodon would know about alternative "stores" and manual installs.

While true for early adopters, this won't hold true as the network grows.

Moreover, if you can access the very same content from Google Chrome, should Google remove their own browser too? The same happened to Podcast Addict, police all the podcasts in the world or we will remove your app.

The concern is Mastodon app developers are small one-man shops, less likely to be able to bring reason to bear and get Google to review these warnings. These app devs cannot possibly be held responsible for every post on the entire Mastodon network.

https://twitter.com/PodcastAddict/status/1261651512947691520...

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#13

Post by daniel-s »

doiwin wrote: post #6
kgwxd wrote: post #3

Seems likely anyone using Mastodon would know about alternative "stores" and manual installs.

I know about them. But I would have to root my phone to install them. And that means trusting some binary blob from someone on the internet. So I would not do it.

Not true on Android, you just need to download and install F-Droid; a free software app store.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#14

Post by pricechild »

doiwin wrote: post #6
kgwxd wrote: post #3

Seems likely anyone using Mastodon would know about alternative "stores" and manual installs.

I know about them. But I would have to root my phone to install them. And that means trusting some binary blob from someone on the internet. So I would not do it.

On iOS maybe, but there's no problem installing 3rd party app stores on Android without rooting. See for example F-Droid.

Recent versions of Android have also improved the permissions model... you can specify what apps (e.g. F-Droid) are allowed to install other apps. You don't need to add a blanket allow forever.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#15

Post by jariel »

amadeuspagel wrote: post #2

There was a thread on twitter recently about how app stores would have rejected the first web browser, asking what future innovations might not happen due to them. Guess federated social media is a part of the answer.

The problem is the 'App Stores'.

Think of them as retail outlets, in a mall. Do you see shady stuff going on there?

Would 'The Gap' sell porn to increase profits by 15%? Of course not. And for obvious reasons.

We shouldn't think of 'App Stores' as some kind of truly open marketplaces, any more than a shopping mall is.

What we need is just more independent means of distribution.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#16

Post by scarface74 »

Without getting into the details of this - yeah I disagree with it - but, Android allows side loading. Isn’t that what everyone wanted from Apple?

On a higher level, what’s the problem and what should be changed? Google has a policy that people don’t like, Android can side load, isn’t that exactly what people want?

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#17

Post by scrollaway »

nottorp wrote: post #8
0xUser wrote: post #7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse " The Fediverse (a portmanteau of "federation" and "universe") is the ensemble of federated (i.e. interconnected) servers that are used for web publishing (i.e. social networking, microblogging, blogging, or websites) and file hosting, but which, while independently hosted, can communicate with each other. On different servers (instances), users can create so-called identities.…

Well said. It's always funny when some acronym no one's heard of shows up unexplained on HN.

Fediverse isn't an acronym, nor is it a term "no one's heard of". You haven't heard it before, and it's great to explain it, but don't project that either.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#19

Post by bovermyer »

nottorp wrote: post #8
0xUser wrote: post #7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse " The Fediverse (a portmanteau of "federation" and "universe") is the ensemble of federated (i.e. interconnected) servers that are used for web publishing (i.e. social networking, microblogging, blogging, or websites) and file hosting, but which, while independently hosted, can communicate with each other. On different servers (instances), users can create so-called identities.…

Well said. It's always funny when some acronym no one's heard of shows up unexplained on HN.

Two things:

First, don't assume that just because you've never heard a word, that means no one has heard of it. There are quite a lot of us who know what the fediverse is.

Second, and this is a little pedantic, fediverse is a portmanteau, not an acronym.

Re: Google is apparently taking down all/most Fediverse apps from the Play Store

#20

Post by thrwyoilarticle »

nottorp wrote: post #8
0xUser wrote: post #7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse " The Fediverse (a portmanteau of "federation" and "universe") is the ensemble of federated (i.e. interconnected) servers that are used for web publishing (i.e. social networking, microblogging, blogging, or websites) and file hosting, but which, while independently hosted, can communicate with each other. On different servers (instances), users can create so-called identities.…

Well said. It's always funny when some acronym no one's heard of shows up unexplained on HN.

IMO It would be worse to editorialise the submission title
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