Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

9to5google.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

691–700 of 1001 posts

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#691

Post by bradley13 »

ptx wrote: post #685

The page about developer verification (announcement link 2 in the root post) says that there will be a separate type of account for "student and hobbyist developers". Why? What prevents students and hobbyists from using the regular type of account?

It is likely meant to be less onerous. The better question is: why do hobbyists and students need any kind of account?

You want to write an app that will only ever be put onto your own phone? Why should Google care?

This is not about safety. This is all about control.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#692

Post by mdp2021 »

wouldbecouldbe wrote: post #561
medhir wrote: post #407

Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access

To be fair to Google, they got so much cricticism for allowing so many spam apps.

> they got so much

And get judged for their reactions, as is proper procedure.

Why am I reading today articles that present an apocalypse without clearly specifying if there is a "way out OS flag" (allow installation of unverified APK)?

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#693

Post by [deleted] »

PeterStuer wrote: post #492
throw10920 wrote: post #393

This is really bad. I think that most people on HN will agree with that. The problem is that most normal people (HN is not normal - mostly for the better) don't even understand what sideloading is - let alone actually care . How can we fix this? (aside from making people care - apathy enables so many political problems in the current age, but it's such a huge problem that this definitely isn't going to be the impetus…

People install games from Steam or the Epic Store on their computers without Microsoft preventing that or taking a cut all the time (not for lack of trying. I know). But somehow, in the mobile world, we went with total lockdowns and platform extortion as the rule? The irony of that iconic Apple 1984 add .

[deleted]

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#694

Post by hollowturtle »

On the side, I'm even more sad because I feel like the open web can't be the alternative answer to locked down systems. It was the promise and the dream of the many of us years ago, but I'm disillusioned by now. And not only because Chrome and Webkit(on mobile) are a monopoly, but the web keeps failing its users with bad ux and less capapabilities than native. Even the most well crafted web app feels slow and clunky. Unpopular opinion: who makes web standards failed us and browsers independently implementing non-standard anti-user feature(e.g. manifest v3). I really dream of a stripped down browser that just expose some os native apis for making accessible human interfaces, we had flash and we hated it imo we need flash again

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#695

Post by johncolanduoni »

quotemstr wrote: post #479
medhir wrote: post #407

Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access

It's amazing how often we hamper the majority of society by protecting the bottom quintile from the consequences of their own mistakes.

I have a friend from college who once clicked on a link to download more RAM for his PC. He has a PhD now and deserves it - the PhD just isn’t in anything tech-adjacent. Bottom quintile is a floating signifier.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#696

Post by t_mahmood »

lentil_soup wrote: post #610

I always wonder, who are the developers doing this? don't they feel bad about going through with these changes or do they fool themselves thinking it's the right thing? is it greed? many other fields have an explicit or implicit ethics code which we seem to lack. I'm thinking about other fields like medicine, engineering, etc. Probably since the entry level to development is low and anyone can do it, it means there's…

In my country, and I believe it's true for surronding countries too ... we are tought to earn money, ethics comes later. They do not see the deeper implications, nor care about ethics, as long as it's filling up their bank.

Obviously, there are people who are different ...

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#699

Post by BrenBarn »

medhir wrote: post #407

Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access

Conditioning such rights on the device being "owned outright" will just push the same bad actors to rent you the phones instead of buying them, the same as they did with software licenses. The only way to really fix it is to break up the wealth and power of individuals and corporations based on their total effective power, regardless of the source from which that power is derived.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#700

Post by asimovfan »

cedilla wrote: post #565
tgma wrote: post #503

The funny thing is Stallman started his fight like half a century ago and on regular days Hacker News shits on him eating something off of his foot and not being polished and diplomatic, and loves practical aspects of Corporate Open Source and gratis goodies and doesn't particularly care about Free Software. On this day suddenly folks come out of the woodwork advocating for half baked measures to achieve what Stallma…

Stallman actively hurts the cause with his behaviour. I'm not only talking about his eccentricities, but also the adversarial and combative language. Yes, Amazon is trying to swindle us, but few people will be convinced of that when you start your argument by calling the kindle an "Amazon swindle" every time, directly implying that anyone who has one is an idiot or even malicious. Yes, it's unfair that someone can be…

Well if they are too stupid and ignorant to consider the meaningful content of what someone says and get so fixated on how they are disgusting (although it is obvious that he is doing that to attract attention and make what he says memorable), perhaps it is fitting that they lose all their freedoms.
Post reply on HN