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Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

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Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#61

Post by crumbshot »

rootusrootus wrote: post #22
crumbshot wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On Android, it's still much easier to install apps from outside Google's app store (just change the "install unknown apps" setting, download the .apk file, and open it) than it is on iOS.

As a practical matter, though, only a very small number of people will ever do that. Being kicked out of the play store is almost always going to be a death sentence for the app. Apple has earned plenty of criticism themselves, but I do appreciate that they curate the app store with humans.

But if both Apple and Google remove your app from their stores, at least Android has a fairly straightforward method for your users to install it straight from your website.

For iOS your users will have to sign it themselves (but still via Apple, who could block that too) with their own developer account, just to get a time-limited install. Or, even worse, use a jailbroken device to work around all this.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#62

Post by adventured »

marcinzm wrote: post #28
throwawayboise wrote: post #24

Opt out. No Google. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Amazon. You don't need them, you might even enjoy life more without them. You can't change how they operate. But you can change how you operate.

> You don't need them, you might even enjoy life more without them. So I should probably lower the quality of my life to make a statement that will have no impact on them at all? >You can't change how they operate. Sure you can, by petitioning your government to draft laws and so on.

> Sure you can, by petitioning your government to draft laws and so on.

Ask the government to do something about it? They're allies, they're in it together.

There is no scenario where they don't take out encryption this decade. It's a top priority and big tech is going to very happily assist them. Big tech will give them what they want, they will act as an arm of tyranny assisting the government in smashing human rights, and in return they'll get to continue to expand (they'll get a light touch regulatory treatment). It now has a lot in common with how China handles their giant corporations (so long as you do what we tell you to, you get to exist and thrive), and big tech in the US looks more like a CCP apparatus by the passing day.

All forms of expression and speech will continue to be restricted more by the passing year. The government won't need to do it themselves, big tech will do the dirty work with a wink and nod. That includes all app stores, all online content and forums, all software.

So, when you can't petition your government any longer because it's hell bent on taking your liberty away, what does that leave? The War on Domestic Terrorism of course. They'll create it, spur it, and then have an excuse to crack down on their own invention (not terribly different from how they ran the war on drugs). The US will be a horrible place to live in the near future. The foreign war on terrorism, in which the US did such unbelievable vicious things to other nations, will now turn inward, and the monster will come home, rolling over human rights as it goes.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#63

Post by nexthash »

throwawayboise wrote: post #24

Opt out. No Google. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Amazon. You don't need them, you might even enjoy life more without them. You can't change how they operate. But you can change how you operate.

Personally, I heavily rely on Google and Amazon. All my emails, purchases, photos, and browsing goes through them. Opting out would mean uprooting gigabytes of data to other services, which takes time to research, backup, and transfer. And even then you can't fully get rid of them, because switching to Apple from Android costs money, and I am not willing to root Android. This is merely my personal situation, but saying that people don't need Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Amazon is ignoring the massive dependence these companies have forced onto users and the cost of leaving, which is not worth the time and money for many.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#64

Post by zeroping »

boring_twenties wrote: post #7

Thank goodness for F-droid.

I totally agree. Last time this happened with an app I use and trust, I rooted my phone and switched to lineageos to allow F-droid auto-updates. Google is not making me want to keep using their services.

https://f-droid.org/packages/im.vector.app

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#65

Post by eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 »

illustriousbear wrote: post #49
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'You can't change how they operate' We used yo have laws.. And opting out is literslly impossible, there are people and authorities i -have-to- communicate with, and its impossible outside those platforms

What people and authorities? I stopped using these services and told people to contact me via sms or signal. No problems so far. The people who won't make that extra step aren't worth my time because clearly I'm not worth their time.

> What people and authorities?

- Make bank account.

- Bank forces you to use their app for obtaining TANs.

- App refuses to run because "your phone is rooted", i.e. because you removed Google's crap.

- No bank account for you, sorry bro.

I have personally been through this shit. Sure, some banks offer using a physical TAN generator - but not all!

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#66

Post by illustriousbear »

marcinzm wrote: post #56
illustriousbear wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure but there are plenty of perfectly acceptable alternatives to those services.

Which are, to me, of lower quality. Thus lower quality of life. Not zero quality of life. Just lower.

To me they are close enough to not mind.

Especially when considering the unethical nature of these businesses and how they abuse their power.

That ties into the quality of the platform and it is alarming that some people will tolerate it for some comfort.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#68

Post by kemonocode »

rangoon626 wrote: post #14

Bookmarking this one for when my friends chide me for “still” using iOS.

It's trivial to sideload apps on most Android devices. You can't sideload on iOS unless you jailbreak or spend some time and money on a developer account, and even then you're rather limited on what you can do.

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#69

Post by thebladerunner »

mastazi wrote: post #58
marcinzm wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You don't need them, you might even enjoy life more without them. So I should probably lower the quality of my life to make a statement that will have no impact on them at all? >You can't change how they operate. Sure you can, by petitioning your government to draft laws and so on.

I quit Reddit, Amazon, Twitter, Google, Instagram and Facebook. My life has never been better. Minor inconvenience does not outweigh major improvements in my mental wellness. (Edit: I mention mental wellness because those products, and the ads they carry, are designed to be addictive.)

Are you saying that not using Google search has improved your quality of life?

Re: Element (Matrix chat app) suspended from the Google Play Store

#70

Post by falcolas »

marcinzm wrote: post #28
throwawayboise wrote: post #24

Opt out. No Google. No Facebook. No Twitter. No Amazon. You don't need them, you might even enjoy life more without them. You can't change how they operate. But you can change how you operate.

> You don't need them, you might even enjoy life more without them. So I should probably lower the quality of my life to make a statement that will have no impact on them at all? >You can't change how they operate. Sure you can, by petitioning your government to draft laws and so on.

Do you expect these companies to stand still and wring their hands while you convince the government to stomp on their cash cows, or are they going to take some of the money you and your data have earned for them and lobby government more effectively than you ever could?

My bet’s on the latter. And so long as we all continue to support them (while claiming “but my boycott won’t do any good”), they’ll continue to use that financial support to ensure the continued non-involvement of the government in their affairs.

Doing nothing costs nothing, but it also changes nothing.

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