Live data from Hacker News

Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

androidauthority.com

111–120 of 762 posts

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#111
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NewPipe (FOSS available on F-Droid) is nice alternative to ads-infested YouTube. I disabled YouTube and YouTube Music apps on my mobile, and I use NewPipe instead. You can even download YT videos or audio from YT videos using it.

So entitled. How do you expect Google to pay it's content creators that you watch if they didn't have ads?

The issue is obviously one of trade-off.

Google pays content creators so little they have all started including ads in their videos. Si technically as long as you are counted they get paid. Meanwhile, Google is more and more aggressive with their own ads interrupting videos and pushing you to subscribe to their expensive offer.

Some people, like me, have just stopped watching YouTube. Other are turning to blocking ads.

It's the usual tug of war between revenues and UX but I don't think consumers have to feel bad about not playing by Google's rules.

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#112
post #88
post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see any iOS advantage with the apps anymore. That was maybe true in the very beginning, during the gold rush time of the app store. But not since then. In which category are there better iOS apps? Browsers? No, strictly worse. Youtube app? No, worse. Texting? Worse or equal (Whatsapp). Podcast client? I assume worse, since there is no Antenna Pod. Social media apps? The iOS variants of those apps are afaik in…

sorry this is not correct. (do you consistently use both?) iOS apps are consistently better, because people prefer using swift

As an Android power user (I’ve ran Lineage, Graphene, rooted with Magisk and passed safetynet) that’s moved to IOS this last month. My subjective opinion: app quality is the same.

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#113

If the make sideloading high-friction, either via account-bound or apk upload or permissions from MNO/ISP, I will leave android. I have a bunch of my own apps that only I use, not released to the public, if I cannot use them, I have zero reason to stay on android. I think one of the reasons they want to lockdown the system is to prevent guys like me from locking THEM out of my home/ecosystems, as and example, I build…

Why jump to another abuser when you could seriously start looking into alternatives? Ubuntu Touch has a really active community and it's very stable, you can even emulate android apps which you might absolutely need.

I don't see Apple as the obvious next step; the obvious step, when one is pissed off with abuse of power is open source, not Apple.

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#114
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you mean sub $599, right? https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-iphone/iphone-16e Which is still a valid argument, the number is just lower. And the UX on these sub 600 devices have definitely gotten worse over the last 5 years too... Likely because Google isn't really targeting that price point anymore, so Android isn't getting enough optimization to be viable on underpowered devices. That was different in 2010-2020

This market still exists and is pretty strong, especially outside of US. It's all on Android so Google doesn't need to try to compete here. This is why with Pixel they're focusing on competing with the iPhone, they want people to use Android so there is no point in competing with other Android manufacturer.

Is it really Google's Android? I have the feeling it's mostly Chinese manufacturers with their own Android versions sans the Google services.

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#116

If the make sideloading high-friction, either via account-bound or apk upload or permissions from MNO/ISP, I will leave android. I have a bunch of my own apps that only I use, not released to the public, if I cannot use them, I have zero reason to stay on android. I think one of the reasons they want to lockdown the system is to prevent guys like me from locking THEM out of my home/ecosystems, as and example, I build…

Why to apple?

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#117
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is that before walled-garden app stores, that was how pretty much every normal person installed software on their PC's. Using the term "sideloading" for that is a clever invention to try and retroactively rebrand what is actually super-normal as something scary.

It is not really though. "Sideloading" refers to data transfer between two local, peer devices. Really, that is it. It is not "something scary" or something forbidden. It is not even really installing. It's data transfer. So "before walled-gardens" people would install software in many many ways. I originally typed it in from scratch, or from a magazine. I loaded it from tape. Or diskette. That's not really "sideload…

Given that you've agreed that "sideloading" is not an accurate descriptor of installing apps directly from the web browser, I'd think you could see how using "sideloading" incorrectly like this is a marketing gimmick designed to scare users (and politicians!) into backing the official platform app store monopolies...

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#118

When this whole thing got announced, I purchased a new Pixel 9 and flashed it with GrapheneOS. I am hoping that in about 6-8 years (when I realistically need to update) the landscape might be a bit better. Or who knows, maybe I'll just continue using GrapheneOS. So far I have not had a single issues with it. Apps the rely on attestation do not work, but honestly it's only two applications out of hundreds so I can liv…

The new phone is a nice reward for Google for this announcement

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#119
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NewPipe (FOSS available on F-Droid) is nice alternative to ads-infested YouTube. I disabled YouTube and YouTube Music apps on my mobile, and I use NewPipe instead. You can even download YT videos or audio from YT videos using it.

So entitled. How do you expect Google to pay it's content creators that you watch if they didn't have ads?

[deleted]

Re: Google confirms 'high-friction' sideloading flow is coming to Android

#120

Google's long term strategy with Android is baffling to me. Apple has had better mobile hardware for years. Apple has higher consumer trust. Apple has better app selection (for most people). Apple has been increasingly implementing the core features that differentiate Android devices, like USB-C and RCS. Every Android user lost to the increasing iOS market share is another customer Google has to pay exorbitant fees t…

>>Apple has had better mobile hardware for years Are you joking? Look at the latest Xiaomi, Oppo and other Chinese manufacturers, Apple would love to have the hardware they are shipping right now. From batteries to cameras and screens, apple is way behind on hardware tech. Yeah they are better than Samsung - but Samsung has also massively fallen behind what's the state of the art. >>is another customer Google has to…

> Look at the latest Xiaomi, Oppo and other Chinese manufacturers, Apple would love to have the hardware they are shipping right now.

This is true, but their phones don't ship with Google services out of box (at least the last time I checked). So in reality, "Google's Android" is really mostly Samsungs and Pixels.

Post reply on HN