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The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

gultsch.social

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Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#71
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nintendo, Playstation, XBox,...

… should also be open, but that’s irrelevant to the discussion.

It is quite relevant as computing systems.

And yes, they also have apps besides games on their stores, and support external keyboards and mices.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#72
post #64
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what should we do about apps' getting hacked, sending out malicious updates that get auto-updated and thereby infecting tens of millions or billions of phones simultaneously? I'm not saying we have the perfect system but anything that slants the system towards "easier downloads" or "less gatekeeping" brings large, obvious risks. I don't see how regulation would address them.

I wonder if people would be happy replacing the "Google approves developers" system with a "government requires your ID and address on file so you can be held liable for your apps" system. I suspect not.

What for? Malicious actors have no shortage of stolen identities.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#73
post #67

Strong argument in favor of web vs native apps. If you need bluetooth on iOS checkout the web bluetooth iOS safari extension i've been working on recently: https://beacio.com

Yes, a truly Open Web is the solution that we need. It already works everywhere with a single codebase, and is more secure and private than native apps. But Apple prevents that by forcing all browsers to use terrible WebKit on iOS.

Endless more information on all of this at

https://infrequently.org/series/browser-choice-must-matter/

https://open-web-advocacy.org

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#74
post #64
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what should we do about apps' getting hacked, sending out malicious updates that get auto-updated and thereby infecting tens of millions or billions of phones simultaneously? I'm not saying we have the perfect system but anything that slants the system towards "easier downloads" or "less gatekeeping" brings large, obvious risks. I don't see how regulation would address them.

I wonder if people would be happy replacing the "Google approves developers" system with a "government requires your ID and address on file so you can be held liable for your apps" system. I suspect not.

That is already a requirement in any civilized country. You cannot run a business without a registered ID, address, etc. for tax purposes.

For free (like for real no microtransactions) that is different. For the rest, they already have that.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#75
post #70

MAYBE operating systems shouldn't have gatekeepers which can deny access to billions of customers for any and no reason at all. Apple and Google are WELL past due for regulation in this space. The fact that we cannot download and install software from the internet onto our phones JUST like we can do with our computers is a symbol of our inept and ineffective politicians. And before someone says "well akshully you can…

[flagged]

we have an open web. no ones pays for it.

Anyone can put up a PWA. The only org that hates this is Apple.

The complaint is about a shared resource, which would require governments to adopt open source policies and _pay_ for it just like they do the post office.

But ya'll hate government, so here we are.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#76
post #64
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what should we do about apps' getting hacked, sending out malicious updates that get auto-updated and thereby infecting tens of millions or billions of phones simultaneously? I'm not saying we have the perfect system but anything that slants the system towards "easier downloads" or "less gatekeeping" brings large, obvious risks. I don't see how regulation would address them.

I wonder if people would be happy replacing the "Google approves developers" system with a "government requires your ID and address on file so you can be held liable for your apps" system. I suspect not.

It's virtually the case, google and apple accounts require ID verification, which in turn can be requested by the gov in case of an investigation.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#77
post #70

MAYBE operating systems shouldn't have gatekeepers which can deny access to billions of customers for any and no reason at all. Apple and Google are WELL past due for regulation in this space. The fact that we cannot download and install software from the internet onto our phones JUST like we can do with our computers is a symbol of our inept and ineffective politicians. And before someone says "well akshully you can…

[flagged]

Open Web Advocacy's goal is Chrome on all platforms, which just means the Play Store problem gets even worse. The moment OWA wins, the open web dies. These are people with a truly bad astroturfy goal, clothed in charitable nonprofit status.

Paradoxically, as long as WebKit is mandatory on iOS, the open web is safe: Websites have to build for a lowest common denominator standard instead of building for Chrome proprietary APIs.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#78
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what should we do about apps' getting hacked, sending out malicious updates that get auto-updated and thereby infecting tens of millions or billions of phones simultaneously? I'm not saying we have the perfect system but anything that slants the system towards "easier downloads" or "less gatekeeping" brings large, obvious risks. I don't see how regulation would address them.

And what do windows / linux / macos do about apps getting hacked to billions of pc's simultaneously? How is that a new problem?

If libraries didn't exist could not be created today. People tend to say that "it is impossible" when it actually only needs to be well organized.

Splitting git tech-monopolies it is a survival need. Or we do it, or we will end up with a collapsed society. Entities that spy on all citizens and gatekeep access to news and services are contrary to basic human rights and democracy.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#79
With Signal, the biggest issue we have is that review times are extremely inconsistent. Sometimes it's 4 hours, sometimes it's 5 days, and there's no visibility as to why. Our working theory is that there's automated and manual queues, and occasionally, for whatever reason, we fall into the manual queue. But when you work on an app that has weekly updates, randomly getting hit with a review time of several days really throws off your groove. And it can obviously be terrible for moments where you're fixing a critical issue.

Re: The Google Play app review process now regularly takes longer than a week

#80

MAYBE operating systems shouldn't have gatekeepers which can deny access to billions of customers for any and no reason at all. Apple and Google are WELL past due for regulation in this space. The fact that we cannot download and install software from the internet onto our phones JUST like we can do with our computers is a symbol of our inept and ineffective politicians. And before someone says "well akshully you can…

Security at its core comes down to trusting the supply chain that provides the software that runs on your hardware. There are many alternative secure supply chain models, but ultimately users often are incapable of making great choices on what is trustworthy. It does generally make sense that the OS vendor needs to play a key part in helping ensure trusted parties are involved in the supply chain. Comparing phones to…

> It does generally make sense that the OS vendor needs to play a key part in helping ensure trusted parties are involved in the supply chain.

this position of privilege is what the OS vendor (google in this case) wants, because it spells profit.

I dont trust it.

The only trust i have is community trust. Piracy works on this trust, and it has worked for very long.

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