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

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

#211

Post by criddell »

ben_w wrote: post #134
karlgkk wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, you’re so wrong about the app situation that it’s almost staggering. iOS apps tend to be more stable, better polished, have better integration with system features (like the Dynamic Island), and even often have more features. This isn’t even an unfounded opinion, it’s a material problem for Google and led them to vastly investing in automated testing and quality efforts App addressable user base is another…

> iOS apps tend to be more stable, better polished It's been a while since I was last using Android, but first-party Apple apps no longer meet my standards for "polished". e.g. type this sequence into the calculator: [2] [-] [4] [=] [x²] [=] The answer should not be negative, but the app says "-4". The desktop Contacts app has been putting invisible LTR and RTL codes around phone numbers for years now, breaking web f…

> The answer should not be negative, but the app says "-4".

When I do those exact keypresses I get the correct answer.

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

#212

Post by WhyNotHugo »

AlotOfReading wrote: post #12

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…

Realistically, they have nothing to lose. There a duopoly. It’s not like people pissed at this are going to migrate away.

Sure, a small proportion might move to Linux Mobile.

Most of the rest of the population will just stick to Google, because they don’t have a choice.

In many countries, your government or some other essential service demands that you have either an Apple or Google device.

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

#213

Post by jorvi »

onli wrote: post #56
AlotOfReading wrote: post #12

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…

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…

For one, I can actually use gesture controls without constantly triggering backswipes. Even something as droll and first party as Google Photos suffers this problem, where, say, cropping a photo and pulling too close from the screen edge will result in a backswipe detection instead.

Another example is Sonos, where the iOS app contains TruePlay to tune your speakers. They can do this because there is relatively few iPhone models (microphones). But this is a general, noticeable trend, where developers will add more / better / polished features to the iOS app.

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

#214

Post by trinix912 »

socialcommenter wrote: post #210
trinix912 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

They do when purchased outside China (largely EU, UK, also Singapore and others)

They don't in the EU. Not in Slovenia, so not the entire EU. I've seen it first hand. It's also not some special law that we'd have invented here so I'm pretty sure there are other EU countries where it's the same.

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

#215

Post by cindyllm »

B1FIDO wrote: post #207
goldenarm wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're infantilising the users. It's untrusted by Google, but it's trusted by myself. I actually trust the Termux and Kodi devs way more than Google, yet they Google has been blocking their updates. Note that the term sideloading is exclusively used by mobile OSes. On Windows MacOS and Linux you can install anything.

What I'm talking about is actual trust. Like, there are cryptographic measures taken, certificates involved, code signing, that kind of thing. You claim that you "can install anything" on Windows, but that is simply false. The system's Driver Signature Enforcement will prohibit the install of unsigned or invalid signatures on device drivers. Windows SmartScreen will also give you trouble by blocking unsigned apps. So…

[dead]

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

#216

Post by Grikbdl »

B1FIDO wrote: post #184
goldenarm wrote: post #182

Sideloading is a neologism to scare users and lawmakers, it just means "Installing software" and should be a basic right. Also software installation in Android has been high friction for a while. Installing an APK on my phone is at least 10 clicks.

[flagged]

Cromulent for describing something of secondary importance or shadowy nature yes, but the entire idea is that that is wrong.

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

#217

Post by jeroenhd »

shreddit wrote: post #64
BatteryMountain wrote: post #59

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…

Yeah, as an iOS dev, the grass is not greener on this side of the fence…

From that I can see from the early leaks, it may actually be if you live inside of the EU where alternative app stores are now a requirement.

iOS doesn't have the F-Droid ecosystem equivalent, but she F-Droid dies because of Google, there's a chance AltStore will be able to take its place.

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

#218

Post by manuelabeledo »

onli wrote: post #56
AlotOfReading wrote: post #12

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…

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…

The iOS YouTube app is not worse than the one in Android. Texting in iOS is arguably better or, at the very least, there is one more app to choose (Messages). And I’m curious to know what makes Antenna Pod so much better than the thousands of other podcast apps out there.

Social media apps have historically been worse in Android, because of lax app and privacy controls.

> What else is there, where is the advantage?

Personally, I’d rather not have Google buried deep inside all aspects of my phone.

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

#220

Post by jeroenhd »

MrDresden wrote: post #24

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…

GrapheneOS can choose to simply not apply the same restrictions but now that they're partnering with another vendor to get security updates earlier, I'm not sure what the future holds in this aspect.

This is only an issue for Google compliant Android so projects like LineageOS will be fine. Depending on their implementation, this may even just be restricted to AOSP with Samsung and others just ignoring the extra restrictions.

But, if they make compliance a requirement for being part of their parent programme, GrapheneOS will be in a tough spot.

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