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Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

deccanherald.com

191–200 of 369 posts

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#191
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol would get removed? This is a fascist govt. They'll ban Google and Apple stores in a whim.

India is a democracy...

Democracies can vote fascists into power.

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#192

Far too many optimistic voices here and that scares me. I don't see this app store being about providing alternatives. that's just a talking point. This app store is all about forcing every android sold in India to have a system installed govt driven app, which will report back to the govt on tons of private information about the device and owner. Information that Indian govt will be too incompetent to keep safe and…

I agree with you, the worst is about to happen worldwide.

The Indians clearly want more control. The Chinese obviously are never going to relinquish any control. Even the South Americans and especially the Africans are starting to look at regionally fenced mobile and internet services as a method of both more control over social media and growing their economies. (As well as providing jobs for their youth.)

I think the saying was something like freedom dies to thunderous applause.

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#194
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same thing could be said of game streaming apps like Stadia (all the game code is running remotely) but are forbidden in the App Store. It's hard to take Apple seriously when they do shit like this.

They aren’t forbidden anymore. [1] It is weird they’re making it so that each game you’ve bought needs a separate App Store entry, especially since the local code is all the same and a thin shim. That being said, the same rules are in effect for Apple’s own game platform so maybe there’s a specific reason (eg uniform experience for any app, they can properly promote individual titles in the App Store instead of allow…

The point is, WeChat doesn't have to offer separate apps for their mini programs in the AppStore. But Facebook was blocked from doing a similar thing for games.

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#195

Playstore(Google) and Appstore(Apple) are major soft power assets of U.S. Govt. we've seen the former exercised effectively against Huawei, crippling its International smartphone sales. Considering U.S. - India trade agreement has been elusive for a long time due to differences from fruits to solar cells, India would definitely not add App(Play) store to the list; especially now due to the situation with China. Altho…

Just about every single app nowadays vacuums data, so as strange it sounds, I'm back to having Apple replace just about everything, even if Apple's version is inferior.

Oh, I need to use a simple todo app. I guess it needs access to my contacts because there's a legitimate feature for that. It also needs access to my calendar because there's a legitimate feature for that. Of course it needs location for location based todos.

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#196

I welcome this. It will be messy, it will open oportunities to corruption, lobbying, crappy user experiences, unsafe apps, government abuse, nationalism, ... it is really a Pandora box. But mess can be a fertile ground for competition and innovation when excessive regulation blocks it. Today's app stores are just feature development labs for Apple & Google. There is no chance that anyone will be able to create a big…

[flagged]

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#197
I would not trust any state run App Store. In past their “Aarogya Setu” app has been criticized for privacy concerns. Note that the people who complained about Google’s review policy aren’t indie Developers but big Players like PayTM who benefited immensely from demonetization mandate. Clearly violating a policy that’s in place to protect the user and then complaining that your app got taken down is ridiculous. Agree, App Store review process isn’t perfect. There are mistakes in review process which get some apps wrongfully rejected. But I would rather have stricter policies than no/questionable review process. Another point is specific to this govt. The govt and the PM don’t exactly have a great track record when it comes to minorities, which makes such interference more scary.

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#198
post #139

I welcome this. It will be messy, it will open oportunities to corruption, lobbying, crappy user experiences, unsafe apps, government abuse, nationalism, ... it is really a Pandora box. But mess can be a fertile ground for competition and innovation when excessive regulation blocks it. Today's app stores are just feature development labs for Apple & Google. There is no chance that anyone will be able to create a big…

The thing is, why would anyone voluntarily use a censored/restricted app store? For Apple hell yes, maybe their government app store will be less anal than Apple is with their own app store, and e.g. allow other payment channels and allow embedding other rendering engines than Safari. For Google though ... why wouldn't one just use the Google store instead? It's pretty open, and if their government's motive is to jus…

You're confused. India has a populist, nationalist authoritarian who will stop at nothing to remodel the country somewhere between China and Nazi Germany.

The Indian government can block all other app stores, require app developers and mobile OSes install spyware SDKs and turn over data about their users, and ban encryption. Then, the "subversives," academics, and journalists can be rounded-up.

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#199
post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If access to the Chinese market is a significant portion of revenue, then these (large) minority shareholders ultimately control the company.

I agree with that. However, Flipkart, PayTM, Zomato and Swiggy do not operate in China.

Useful information!

Re: Modi government to set up app store alternative to Google Play, Apple App Store

#200

What is their aim by having an alternate app store? Maybe make the manufacturers install it by default as a system app with all the permissions enabled by default? It'd be pretty easy to have a control over what people are seeing or using if so. It's just guess work but I wouldn't be surprised if this is the idea.

> What is their aim by having an alternate app store?

It's mentioned in the article that apps won't be charged for gatekeeping.

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