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Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

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121–130 of 191 posts

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#121
post #97

There are no solutions for suspensions from app stores. The solution is to not use app stores -- build better webapps, use the open web. We could be living in a world where no open web ever existed, where everything would be filtered through app stores and closed environments like Facebook (AOL). We need to preserve the open web, it is our most precious ressource.

I dont agree, personally. I believe that putting everything online is not sustainable. It might be very difficult to believe for people who earn so much that they can afford 24/7 stable and fast internet anywhere they go, but there are places where even good old broadband dsl is unstable, in the west. The reasoning of "appstore bad -> lets not use any appstores" is flawed. There are "appstores" like the ones on FOSS…

There's no reason why a web app can't work in offline mode.

Think of a web browser as the ultimate App Store -- you navigate to any "app" by using your search engine of choice or by passing around links to the "apps" via email / messaging. Then, you bookmark your "app" so that it's available with one click.

Offline storage, offline compute, notifications, etc. are all things that we can do via web APIs just as easily as proprietary vendor code.

Sure, some things might need native experiences, but those are definitely the exception, not the rule. Even games and navigation and real-time video can be accomplished via web-only APIs.

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#122
post #97

There are no solutions for suspensions from app stores. The solution is to not use app stores -- build better webapps, use the open web. We could be living in a world where no open web ever existed, where everything would be filtered through app stores and closed environments like Facebook (AOL). We need to preserve the open web, it is our most precious ressource.

> We could be living in a world where no open web ever existed, where everything would be filtered through app stores and closed environments like Facebook (AOL). We could be living in a world where the App Store never existed, where everyone could install the software of their choice on the devices they own. Using the web instead of real apps is not the solution.

> We could be living in a world where the App Store never existed, where everyone could install the software of their choice on the devices they own

Are you talking about the PC? Because that sounds a lot like the PC to me :)

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking down Parler was certainly not justified, but I agree it was one step down the slippery slope that normalizes this kind of brazen gatekeeping on essential public utilities like app stores. Facebook played a much larger role in the planning of the riot at the capitol riots ( https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/02/07/shery... ) and they faced no consequences, presumably because they share the same po…

> How was it at all justifiable for AOC to demand Parler be shutdown, for tech companies to immediately fall in line That's not what happened and you know it. AOC wasn't a singular voice, there were lots of people calling for Parler to be shut down. I'm not going to engage with the rest of it, but this point is important because it's being used to demonize another human being. You're repeating a narrative without scr…

I am not American or follow US politics that much, but did she ask for Parler to be shutdown? If she did, even if others did as well, it should be ok to point her out on this. Specially (from what I understand from seeing some of her twitter posts on Reddit) if she is very vocal on Twitter (reminded me of accusing Ted Cruz of trying to assassinate her tweet) about these things and can rally support for it through social media.

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#124
post #65

The "private company can do whatever it wants" crowd will not show up for this one because it doesn't suit their politics

I can only speak for myself but when I say "private company can do whatever it wants", it's because they have been doing whatever they want for years - to the complete apathy of the general public. Every time platforms banned and/or censored sexual content and sex workers, even going as far as marking innocuous words like "lesbian" as porn to be filtered (I will never forget Tumblr doing this) - how many people "show…

This. At the time Tumblr banned adult content, HN found it mildly amusing considering how much of Tumblr was adult content, maybe a bit of a shame for kinky people but definitely not a rights issue. Then they came for the hate speech...

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#125
post #65

The "private company can do whatever it wants" crowd will not show up for this one because it doesn't suit their politics

People pretend that this is something new. This has been going on for a while and it wasn't in the news because those who are complaining right now weren't directly at the receiving end. The same people who went around championing how it was ok to support "no cake for gay marriage" as it wasn't affecting them.

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#126
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or Andy Rubin to reinforce it... :)

Or that guy Drummond. Seems like polyamory was pretty mainstream among Googles leadership.

There was also Forrest Timothy Hayes that was murdered on his yacht by a prostitute, and she only served 5 years.

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#127
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh. Why do we even need an app store exactly? Visit site. Click download app. Click install. This pattern has worked for 20 years. What changed? Nothing. Google and apple just decided it wanted a walled garden and ya'll said ooo shiny.

Though I share your sentiments, that pattern worked very well at infecting machines with malware for 20 years because the average user is a bad judge of which sites to trust to install software on their device. Then again, app stores haven't solved the malware problem, and neither have solutions like trusted publishers / signing executables / etc. I look forward to seeing a solution that isn't worst-of-both-worlds.

I don't know there's a great solution to secure general purpose computing. Malware has been part of my life since 5.25" floppy disk era.

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#128
post #97

There are no solutions for suspensions from app stores. The solution is to not use app stores -- build better webapps, use the open web. We could be living in a world where no open web ever existed, where everything would be filtered through app stores and closed environments like Facebook (AOL). We need to preserve the open web, it is our most precious ressource.

I dont agree, personally. I believe that putting everything online is not sustainable. It might be very difficult to believe for people who earn so much that they can afford 24/7 stable and fast internet anywhere they go, but there are places where even good old broadband dsl is unstable, in the west. The reasoning of "appstore bad -> lets not use any appstores" is flawed. There are "appstores" like the ones on FOSS…

As far as I can tell, a native dating app or a webapp for that matter require an active web connection for full functionality.

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#129
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh. Why do we even need an app store exactly? Visit site. Click download app. Click install. This pattern has worked for 20 years. What changed? Nothing. Google and apple just decided it wanted a walled garden and ya'll said ooo shiny.

Though I share your sentiments, that pattern worked very well at infecting machines with malware for 20 years because the average user is a bad judge of which sites to trust to install software on their device. Then again, app stores haven't solved the malware problem, and neither have solutions like trusted publishers / signing executables / etc. I look forward to seeing a solution that isn't worst-of-both-worlds.

I remember installing software before app stores. Everyone was always afraid of malware but very few people I knew ever suffered from it. Most people used anti virus software, asked their friends which programs they recommended, or did some research of their own to figure out what was safe to download. All that was probably at least as effective as the “curation” that app stores provide. The problem is that now a lot of people implicitly trust apps from app stores and there is the added harm that there are now sanctioned forms of malware that serve ads, steal info and try to sell you exploitative in app purchases.

Re: Google Play store bans polyamory dating app

#130
post #97

There are no solutions for suspensions from app stores. The solution is to not use app stores -- build better webapps, use the open web. We could be living in a world where no open web ever existed, where everything would be filtered through app stores and closed environments like Facebook (AOL). We need to preserve the open web, it is our most precious ressource.

>There are no solutions for suspensions from app stores.

You can download apk files and install them. Windows users used (and still do, I suppose) to just download and install programs for decades. It's not ideal, but it works.

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