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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

#301

Post by hulitu »

clickety_clack wrote: post #286
onli wrote: 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…

I switched from Android to iPhone last year, and this just isn’t true. There’s so many tiny issues with android apps that just don’t exist on iPhone, because the android apps have to work on all these different devices. You don’t even have to look for the kinds of apps you’re talking about because things like Safari and Apple Podcasts work really well. I know people have a lot of complaints, but things on the iPhone…

> but things on the iPhone really do “just work”.

For values of “just work” close to 0.

Make a picture, connect with a Windows PC, iOS needs a password, then the picture is not visible to the PC, disconnect, go with Apple photos to look at the picture, repeat connecting, with password, now it is visible.

Try to set up a hotspot, there is no button to turn the hotspot on/off.

So yes, it “just works"

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

#302

Post by well_ackshually »

toxik wrote: post #285
ben_w wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

-4 makes sense if you understand that the input -2 is a unary minus operation. So typing -2 then hitting square only squares 2, not (-2). This is the same in eg Python so I'm not sure it's very controversial. I agree it's unexpected, though.

"-4 makes sense if you consider that the calculator is so damn stupid it ignores every convention every single calculator has made in the past hundred years and instead copies behavior of a dumbass language" isn't exactly the praise you think it is.

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

#303

Post by hulitu »

swiftcoder wrote: post #100
onli wrote: 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…

> In which category are there better iOS apps? Almost all of the prosumer apps on iOS offer a consistently better experience. This is maybe less relevant on phones than on tablets, but music production, video editing, digital painting and drafting, etc...

> Almost all of the prosumer apps on iOS offer a consistently better experience

So for people who don't want to use computers. I cannot work with a tablet or phone. I need a computer.

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

#304

Post by palata »

Sytten wrote: post #239
Macha wrote: post #234

So I was actually planning on upgrading from a Pixel 7 Pro to a Pixel 10 around the time this announcement came out last year, but have put it on hold as I wait to see what form these changes take. Like if it was "you need to do the developer 7-tap of the version label in settings", it'd be like "whatever". But given how long this process has taken, I suspect that is not what they've planned - it wouldn't take this l…

Honestly just install grapheneos on your Pixel, that is what I did and bought a Pixel for that reason alone. I use all Google play services and it works great, only payment with phone doesn't work.

Yes I agree: if you already have a Pixel, try GrapheneOS on it. Then if it can wait (Pixel 7 is still supported for a while, isn't it?), GrapheneOS may support a non-Google phone in 2026, so it may be worth waiting.

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

#305

Post by eloisant »

trinix912 wrote: post #114
eloisant wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

When they sell them in China, yes.

But the same manufacturers sell Android phones with Play services in Europe, Japan, India, Indonesia, etc.

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

#306

Post by vladvasiliu »

hulitu wrote: post #301
clickety_clack wrote: post #286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched from Android to iPhone last year, and this just isn’t true. There’s so many tiny issues with android apps that just don’t exist on iPhone, because the android apps have to work on all these different devices. You don’t even have to look for the kinds of apps you’re talking about because things like Safari and Apple Podcasts work really well. I know people have a lot of complaints, but things on the iPhone…

> but things on the iPhone really do “just work”. For values of “just work” close to 0. Make a picture, connect with a Windows PC, iOS needs a password, then the picture is not visible to the PC, disconnect, go with Apple photos to look at the picture, repeat connecting, with password, now it is visible. Try to set up a hotspot, there is no button to turn the hotspot on/off. So yes, it “just works"

> Try to set up a hotspot, there is no button to turn the hotspot on/off.

There is. You can even put it on the settings drawer. Look for "personal hotspot".

I don't have a mac anymore, but IIRC you could even turn it on from the paired mac. This definitely still works between iphones. When I take out my old iphone from the drawer to use as a GPS on my bike, with no sim card, it will connect to my regular iphone's hotspot automatically.

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

#307

Post by Analemma_ »

monooso wrote: post #172
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…

For context, I'm a long-time iPhone user, who switched to a Pixel 8a about 18 months ago. > Apple has had better mobile hardware for years. I can't say I noticed a difference in quality when switching. Maybe some people can, but for me it was just a different, but still well-made phone. > Apple has higher consumer trust. I can't speak for consumers in general, but this is certainly no longer the case for me. I also u…

I’ve been an iPhone owner for a while, but recently was required to get an Android phone to be a secondary work device. I got a Pixel 10 Pro—- brand-new, Google’s flagship device—- and within about a week there was a rattling noise from the camera module any time the phone moved.

The consensus online appears to be “oh, yeah, that’s the OIS module, you have to expect it, they all do that”. Well, iPhones also have OIS and they don’t do this.

Android might be “good enough” in hardware now but it’s definitely still behind.

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

#308

Post by water-data-dude »

fc417fc802 wrote: post #258
fruitworks wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what manner do they extract less data

Unless you're running Graphene or a similar security minded distro the sandboxing isn't very good. Okay let's be honest it's fairly abysmal at preventing fingerprinting. It could almost be accused of not even bothering to try. But one example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43518866

The mobile operating system developed by the enormous ad tech company doesn't try to prevent fingerprinting?! :O

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

#309

Post by manuelabeledo »

StopDisinfo910 wrote: post #274
manuelabeledo wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How are they on par SoC-wise? Last time I checked, Qualcomm was still trying to catch up to Apple.

Well, recheck. Both Qualcomm and Mediatek have caught up on the phone SoC market. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 has a slightly better CPU than the A19 Pro but a slightly worse GPU. Apple has a very slight advantage in watt usage but that's more than offset by the battery gap. Same thing with the Dimensity 9500. The SoC market is now extremely competitive.

Beats A19 Pro in Geekbench, at 65% higher power consumption.

How is that a win?

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

#310

Post by The_President »

teruakohatu wrote: post #23
whyagaindavid wrote: post #22

> Matthew Forsyth, Director of Product Management, Google Play Developer Experience & Chief Product Explainer, said the system isn’t a sideloading restriction, but an “Accountability Layer.” And... What about accountability for hosting distributing spyware, malware loaded apps from Google Playstore and hundreds of copy cat, misleading apps? Why can't they pose a question when the phone is setup? - Yes, I want to side…

> And... What about accountability for hosting distributing spyware, malware loaded apps from Google Playstore This is no joke. The Playstore is filled with malware that pretend to be a different app. It takes days if not weeks to remove these apps. I have twice now had to recover the devices of family members when they installed malware on Samsung phones running up to date firmware. That malware to this level is eve…

This problem is significantly worse than the height of Windows XP spyware.
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