I'd imagine the only reason why is because android is cheap to license, meanwhile it's expensive to license some more specialized software, let alone develop a new one.
WTF is up with everything using Android?
21–29 of 29 posts
Re: WTF is up with everything using Android?
#22Meta tried to create their own VR and AR specific os, but that project ended up being cancelled. John Carmack was against the idea for a while when he was there. Turns out modifying android was a much better starting point!
Re: WTF is up with everything using Android?
#23There are only two choices in mobile OS: Android vs iOS. Android is more open and at the core it is Linux. Yeah, I dislike JVM too. What I don't get is that even a simple app, e.g. FB Messenger (not the whole of FB) requires an 84MB download. What on earth lurks in that massive download when the actual app could probably fit into a couple kB?
> What on earth lurks in that massive download when the actual app could probably fit into a couple kB?
Other than the fact that an android app to has to bundle every dependency, Facebook apps also have lots of "useless" features.
For example, Messenger can show you how many Facebook notifications you have (only necessary because Meta doesn't know how to send an actual notification half the time). It also has "Stories", some "AI Studio chats" and a "Create an AI" button???
Also, I think they also have the ability to update themselves, because Meta doesn't trust google play?
And let's not talk about the main FB app bundling an entire web browser, which recently is your only option when clicking a link in Facebook.
Re: WTF is up with everything using Android?
#24There are only two choices in mobile OS: Android vs iOS. Android is more open and at the core it is Linux. Yeah, I dislike JVM too. What I don't get is that even a simple app, e.g. FB Messenger (not the whole of FB) requires an 84MB download. What on earth lurks in that massive download when the actual app could probably fit into a couple kB?
> What I don't get is that even a simple app, e.g. FB Messenger (not the whole of FB) requires an 84MB download. What on earth lurks in that massive download when the actual app could probably fit into a couple kB?
Apks are zip files. If you pull the apk, load it a tool and see what's there. One exciting thing is the typical way to do string localization in Android results in the string resource files being in the zip file uncompressed. If your apk supports a lot of languages, that's a lot of space. FB Messenger shouldn't have a lot of uncompressed strings, they had a way to manage that when I was there (left 2019), and I think??? there is some support from Google to do better things now too. But between that and images for multiple dpis (which does also have some Google support for doing better), there's a lot of room for bloat. If you're getting a non abi specific apk, there's bloat from different binary libraries too.
FB in particular likes to have multiple ways to do the same thing, which sometimes means having libraries to do X from JVM as well as doing X from native code.
Re: WTF is up with everything using Android?
#25> Committing to JVM usage instead of supporting static compilation Android supports native development in C/C++ without the JVM. Its not particularly mainstream, but it has always been an option. https://developer.android.com/ndk
Android is a Linux distribution. 100% you can absolutely build C/C++ binaries that you run directly like fairly regular Linux programs. Executables, daemons, CLI, sockets, whatever you want. Rust no problem. I have even run Python and Node.js
I run jetbrains remote development on my chroot (the backend). Its important to not take termux seriously and go the chroot way.
Re: WTF is up with everything using Android?
#26Android was made specifically for mobile devices with user interface and network connectivity, which VR glasses are. Not sure why the confusion here?
Re: WTF is up with everything using Android?
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Android is a Linux distribution. 100% you can absolutely build C/C++ binaries that you run directly like fairly regular Linux programs. Executables, daemons, CLI, sockets, whatever you want. Rust no problem. I have even run Python and Node.js
I run jetbrains remote development on my chroot (the backend). Its important to not take termux seriously and go the chroot way.
I do exactly the same!
Re: WTF is up with everything using Android?
#28There are only two choices in mobile OS: Android vs iOS. Android is more open and at the core it is Linux. Yeah, I dislike JVM too. What I don't get is that even a simple app, e.g. FB Messenger (not the whole of FB) requires an 84MB download. What on earth lurks in that massive download when the actual app could probably fit into a couple kB?
It has an integrated web browser.
Re: WTF is up with everything using Android?
#29Google is far more privacy invasive than Apple, and Apple has an ecosystem that works fairly smoothly across devices. Yes, it infuriates me at times. But anything with the Google touch on it can be counted on to be spyware. I do find everything on the desktop to be vastly more efficient, powerful, feature-full and stable than mobile (stable as in text box cache like this not vanishing with an app switch ) so I expect…
I can show you a wireshark dump from a rooted android phone that has been degoogled, versus a wireshark dump from an iPhone. Guess which one sends less traffic back home.
And a de-Googled Android phone can run how many apps that depend on Google Play Services?