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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

#421

Post by ihsw »

saurik wrote: post #395
shreddit wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

The point isn't that things are better on this axis on iOS, but that things are better on numerous other axes, to the point where many people are only using Android at all because it feels slightly more open and free than iOS... if Google wants to play Apple's game, then the only reasons to bother with the mess that is Android are gone, and so you'll see people switch to iOS.

Eventually the only reason people will use Android is the same reason people are using Windows now -- mandated by their employer or by being forced into the bottom cost-tier of products.

And the experience will be just as user-hostile with no end in sight.

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

#422

Post by sofixa »

ronsor wrote: post #406
lokar wrote: post #368

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what is missing here is the growing trend of scammers convincing people they are their bank (or whatever) and walking them through enabling side-loading and then installing malware (sometimes to address some urgent security issues with their account). This is meant to counter an actual issues that is affecting many many users.

This has been going on since the Internet became widespread and Windows users started regularly downloading random executables from random websites.

And many things have been done, including Windows telling you in bold red letters that this software is dangerous if it wasn't signed by a trusted signer with lots of installs.

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

#423

Post by choo-t »

lokar wrote: post #368
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.

I think what is missing here is the growing trend of scammers convincing people they are their bank (or whatever) and walking them through enabling side-loading and then installing malware (sometimes to address some urgent security issues with their account). This is meant to counter an actual issues that is affecting many many users.

If you can convince the user your are their bank, can convince them to install software and walk them through how to do it and enable side loading, you can also convince them to input their logging into any webpage.

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

#424

Post by macinjosh »

Call me what you want but it is my belief that the reason google is locking down and Apple refuses to budge is that in the near term future our mobile devices will become our identity online and in public.

Apple already offers digital ID in some states. They can do this partly because they can guarantee to the gov’t the ID is genuine because the user cannot modify the system.

Google needs to be able to do the same thing.

Age verification laws for online services will actually require something like a digital ID and Apple and Google want to be the providers.

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

#425

Post by hoistbypetard »

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…

I don't know about categories overall, but I'm attached to my iPad and won't switch to Android in part because Affinity is not available there, nor is there any near equivalent as far as I can tell.

I still think Overcast is nicer to use than Antenna Pod.

Microsoft Office apps work much better on iDevices, in my experience. (I know they exist for Android, but I've never had much luck editing there, where it actually works pretty nicely on iDevices.)

I don't game much, but my kids like gaming on iDevices much better than Android. (I have an Android tablet that I use for testing things, and they consistently reject it in favor of iPhone or iPad.)

Flowkey (music instruction app) works much better with my MIDI keyboard on iDevices than on Android (where it doesn't work and has to resort to microphone, which is buggy as hell).

I'm sure some of this is just a matter of the platform being more polished in general, but these are some apps that keep people in my house on iDevices despite having plenty of access to Android. The quality of the Youtube app doesn't move anyone, nor do the browsers.

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

#426

Post by GuB-42 »

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…

The biggest differentiator is price. An entry level Android phone is about $300 while an iPhone is in the $1000 range. And to be honest, anything more than an entry level Android is luxury these days. I say that because that's what I have and I have never felt held down, except maybe for pictures, but it is good enough for my (lack of) skills as a photographer.

So, Android may actually benefit from a lack of differentiation: like iOS, for a third of the price seems like a good value proposition.

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

#427

Post by burnerthrow008 »

ben_w wrote: post #232
criddell wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The answer should not be negative, but the app says "-4". When I do those exact keypresses I get the correct answer.

Good for you? The fact this happens on my versions of both MacOS and iOS means they didn't have automated tests covering this from day one. Famously, "it works for me" is not how high quality software happens.

Good for me too? I get the correct answer when I type the keys, exactly as you specified. On both macOS and iOS

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

#428

Post by whatevermom5 »

gspr wrote: post #139
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I suppose emulating Android apps on a non-Android system will have the same problem as trying to run them in an Android without Google Services or in a rooted phone, i.e., banking (and similar) apps detecting it and refusing to run? Were it not for that, I would never have stopped using Huawei, IMO the best phone brand by a mile. But I'm too busy a person to depend on hacks and having to…

I think you're right about certain apps refusing to run in an emulated environment. I'm beginning to think we need to consider such apps, and the hardware they run on, as the outsiders. Keep a cheap "normal" Android phone for those apps, and those apps alone. Then keep a "real" second device for everything else. Up to you which one gets the SIM card and provides connectivity for the other (and ordinary phone services…

This is the best solution. Actually, if you have money, in my experience, the best is to have an iPhone dedicated to that. Sometimes even on stock Android (Pixel 10 Pro) you get weird incompatibilities. E.g. trying to connect to a DJI drone, paying with Google Wallet, getting a train transit card in Japan… An iPhone supports all daily life use cases with predictability. So my solution right now is to have one iPhone where I keep things clean, and one Android where I do whatever I want. :)

(I do get the odd look when I take out my second phone to do something else in public and questions about it :))

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

#429

Post by burnerthrow008 »

GuB-42 wrote: post #426
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…

The biggest differentiator is price. An entry level Android phone is about $300 while an iPhone is in the $1000 range. And to be honest, anything more than an entry level Android is luxury these days. I say that because that's what I have and I have never felt held down, except maybe for pictures, but it is good enough for my (lack of) skills as a photographer. So, Android may actually benefit from a lack of differen…

The iPhone 16e (came out less than 6 months ago) starts at $600 without carrier subsidy. That’s about half of what you claimed.

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

#430

Post by burnerthrow008 »

izacus wrote: post #382
acdha wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize a conspiracy narrative gets more clicks but … you know Apple started the development of USB-C and shipped some of the first devices in 2015, right? People whined about the MacBooks requiring new hubs, etc. for a couple of years and got over it. The same thing happened with the iPad in 2018, AirPods, etc. When they introduced Lightning in 2012, they made a commitment to all of the third-party hardware develo…

Why are you so motivated to rewrite history to defend a mega corporation?

Why are you so motivated to fight the truth?
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