281–290 of 564 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, if you bother with the rigmarole of escaping walled garden then you should be expected to navigate 20-30 permissions, which is in practice all that's necessary. If users without that level of technical skill are pressured into making those decisions, that's because they're being mistreated.
“Besides that, how was the play Mrs. Lincoln?”
This is not about open source, the government being able to ban apps, or anything else but a principle.
I'm not a child and Google is definitely not an authority respectable enough to tell me what I can't install. They have lied, been sued countless times, had to pay billions of fines,..
At this point, there are 2 alternatives : iphone, grapheneos (don't even start with Linux phone).
Iphone suck just as bad on that matter but at least the software is more suited to professionals, it's not as half ass done as Google software.
Grapheneos, it runs just fine 99% of the time but these last 1% can be so annoying. Like how they disable face unlock, or how some apps refuse to work because of play integrity.
My last hope is that the eu will come once again to the rescue and bring the mfcker at Google who came up with this idea back to earth.
That or ban Google Android version and make an European Android alternative funded and developed by a consortium of tech companies that want to sell phone in Europe.
After all, Europe is even a more interesting market than the usa.
Dare I say it, I think we're being too harsh on Google here. When you own a massively successful consumer product like Android, which is foundational to users' lives, you have an obligation to your users to keep them safe*. Sometimes you will have to choose between protecting users who don't know what they are doing at the expense of limiting users who know what they are doing. In this case, they have chosen to err o…
A relatively small percentage of HN users have empathy for people who haven't the faintest idea how their gadgets work and no curiosity about learning that. It can seem inconceivable.
I agree with you that normal people deserve safety when using their most intimate device, and that backdoors that can give technical people unfettered access will ultimately be abused by bad actors. I wish the world didn't work this way, but it's the one we live in.
Dare I say it, I think we're being too harsh on Google here. When you own a massively successful consumer product like Android, which is foundational to users' lives, you have an obligation to your users to keep them safe*. Sometimes you will have to choose between protecting users who don't know what they are doing at the expense of limiting users who know what they are doing. In this case, they have chosen to err o…
And yes, I while I can still install some alternative OS on my older Pixel (now Google has stopped providing device trees for the newer ones which I therefore won't buy), Google constantly tries to make this as insufferable as possible with their "Play Integrity" crap.
from what i understand: - if you compile from source and deploy via adb nothing changes - if you use a closed source binary, the identity of the owner becomes mandatory so the issue is anonymously published closed source software?
> if you compile from source and deploy via adb nothing changes That's not how I understand it. Do you have a source? "Starting in September 2026, Android will require all apps to be registered by verified developers in order to be installed on certified Android devices." https://developer.android.com/developer-verification
> Android Studio is unaffected because deployments performed with adb, which Android Studio uses behind the scenes to push builds to devices, is unaffected.
Installing any app I want outside the Play Store was the primary reason I decided to go with Android, despite most of the people I know using iPhones. If I can't do this anymore, I may as well switch and be able to use iMessage and FaceTime with them.
Check UbuntuTouch, it's really a nice third option. The OS is refreshing and the dev community active. We do not have to choose the lesser of two evils this time.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. While I do not like this move, ti is weird to me how far people are going in their criticism. The perfect should not be the enemy of the good.
"The perfect should not be the enemy of the good" is the wrong analogy here. It's more like "death by a thousand cuts". Limitations on free computer usage are like a ratcheting mechanism: they mostly go in one direction.
Dare I say it, I think we're being too harsh on Google here. When you own a massively successful consumer product like Android, which is foundational to users' lives, you have an obligation to your users to keep them safe*. Sometimes you will have to choose between protecting users who don't know what they are doing at the expense of limiting users who know what they are doing. In this case, they have chosen to err o…
AOSP is starting to be locked down. Google's idea of promoting safety is charging developers for recognition. When there's a profit incentive involved, no, we are not being "too harsh"
I don't know how much it costs. But if there's any pushback that it costs too much, my comment is not about that.
Installing any app I want outside the Play Store was the primary reason I decided to go with Android, despite most of the people I know using iPhones. If I can't do this anymore, I may as well switch and be able to use iMessage and FaceTime with them.
Dare I say it, I think we're being too harsh on Google here. When you own a massively successful consumer product like Android, which is foundational to users' lives, you have an obligation to your users to keep them safe*. Sometimes you will have to choose between protecting users who don't know what they are doing at the expense of limiting users who know what they are doing. In this case, they have chosen to err o…
> …perhaps you and Google have different notions of who the consumers are. A relatively small percentage of HN users have empathy for people who haven't the faintest idea how their gadgets work and no curiosity about learning that. It can seem inconceivable. I agree with you that normal people deserve safety when using their most intimate device, and that backdoors that can give technical people unfettered access wil…