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AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link

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Re: AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link

#101

Post by neves »

devsda wrote: post #40
brainwad wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can install from other stores (AnkiDroid is on F-Droid, for example), or from direct file download on Android already. The problem is rather thay most users just use the store preinstalled on their phone as part of Google's deal with OEMs to bundle Google Play Services. So either you follow Google's rules, or you lose all the users who don't want to leave the walled garden, even though they can.

When do we stop this instinctive response of "well you can still do it in an only slightly convoluted way" everytime a corporate does something bad. Windows added ads - well you can disable them, if you don't like it. Chrome brought up mv3 - well you can still use mv2, it is only optional. Reddit locking subreddits behind login wall - well there's always old.reddit Android moving everything to playstore - there's alw…

The amount of time I've spend to turn off news and ads in Windows is absurd. Just to be turned on in a new update.

And the menacing messages of installed something from F-Droid. My mother would never do it. Even my programmers colleagues usually don't do it.

Re: AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link

#103

Post by mannanj »

I've been more minimal and focused in my technology usage, specifically lucky enough to keep my phones and devices in "no notifications" mode for much of their lifecycle. My desktops and screens also have 0 apps on them ever, if I want to open something I just open a search UI and tap it and open it.

It works great on Mac, and iPhone. I imagine as more people try this sort of user experience, they might wonder like I am "Why use a Google experience device at all?" Most of what I use these days is simple and the extra value-add AI features, attention driven designs that justify new OS and new hardware, and even app stores barely feel necessary. OK some people say "but banking software" but very rarely do I have to use my banking software in a way I couldn't get to in the web browser?

I believe we're very close to having a 80:20 experience designed out in both hardware and software for laptops, phones and smart watches. I can't see these monopolies holding out much longer.

Re: AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link

#104

Post by echelon »

renegat0x0 wrote: post #55
skeledrew wrote: post #39

Apps need to exit the Play Store. I have a whole slew of apps which haven't been updated for a while now because Aurora Store isn't working because of whatever Google of doing. Meanwhile the ones installed via FDroid and other means are perfectly up to date. It's a crappy state of affairs as Google continues to close the boiling Android frog.

I think there are more and more apps on f-droid. On my end the experience was more pleasant on f-droid than on Google. On f-droid I had to manually push some things, in repositories. That I solved in a week or so. On Google end I had to verify my account. Which was not easy feat. - had to provide my ID several times, because it got rejected multiple times - I uploaded driving license - the verification process was st…

F-Droid is a nerd solution and will be used by 0.00001% of the total market. There are more people that will use Linux on desktop than will use F-Droid.

We need governments to mandate both Apple and Google to allow web installs of apps. No requirement for Apple/Google pay, Apple/Google login, or Apple/Google services.

Total freedom for users, for developers, and for competitors.

This duopoly has fucked over America and the EU by training us to think only these two companies have the right to decide what gets to be on your phone that you pay for.

They've created a moat so strong that it's impossible to compete with Android/iPhone, so the market cannot even have healthy competition.

F-Droid is not the answer. Regulation is.

And I'll have none of this fangirl/fanboy "but my grandma will fall for scams" nonsense.

Google and Amazon and all the platforms have scammy ads on their platforms. Nobody's doing anything about that.

Technology can be sandboxed, permissioned, signed, fingerprinted, attested, scanned, and blacklisted. It's easy to make this safe in the year of our lord 2026. Don't pretend we don't have a million ways to make this safe for your meemaw. She's more likely to fall down the stairs or get a scam call.

Regulate Google. Regulate Apple. Make our phones free.

Re: AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link

#106

Post by NDlurker »

sam345 wrote: post #35
NDlurker wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just print out all my stuff and go old school. Pick up a cheap android phone at the airport and go about my business. Not sure why this is uncommon. Maybe I'll switch it up next time and bring my phone loaded up with dick pics. Why shouldn't people be free to install their preferred software immediately after purchasing a phone? How does it help anyone other than Alphabet shareholders to restrict that?

I've never heard of a cheap Android phone at the airport.

Ok

Re: AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link

#108

Post by [deleted] »

neves wrote: post #96
Ajedi32 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a user perspective I think F-Droid is really good too, mainly because it only allows FOSS apps by default, which cuts out a lot of the BS you see in Play Store apps. You can go download a random, no-name app from F-Droid and be very confident it does what it says on the tin and won't be riddled with ads or spam you with notifications.

F-Droid was a blow of fresh air. Nice apps that help me do something, instead of exploding ads in my face. It's my first stop of new apps.

[deleted]

Re: AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link

#109

Post by Xirdus »

ApolloFortyNine wrote: post #74
devsda wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When do we stop this instinctive response of "well you can still do it in an only slightly convoluted way" everytime a corporate does something bad. Windows added ads - well you can disable them, if you don't like it. Chrome brought up mv3 - well you can still use mv2, it is only optional. Reddit locking subreddits behind login wall - well there's always old.reddit Android moving everything to playstore - there's alw…

Imo if you compare what Google does to the one other mobile OS manufacturer with any users, claiming Google should be fined is something like the cop pulling you over for going 8 over the speed limit while Apple is doing triple digits and just ran two people over. 'Why not both' is an argument, but clear as day what Apple does is worse. There's no alternative.

Your reasoning shows why it's so much harder to fix a duopoly than to fix a monopoly. If there was no Apple then Google would get its comeuppance. If there was no Google then Apple would get its comeuppance. But because we have both Google and Apple, we can't punish either.

The mathematician in me wants to solve the problem of the duopoly by first reducing it to a monopoly, which we have known solutions for.

Re: AnkiDroid: Google Play no longer allowing Open Collective donation link

#110

Post by LoganDark »

we think complying by removing donation links is a bad idea because it just lets google get away with this and won't cause any users to notice. you need to let disruptions like this reach the users so that google might do something about this
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