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Android without the mothership

lwn.net

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Re: Android without the mothership

#31

Post by pjmlp »

aikah wrote: post #14
zmmmmm wrote: post #3

I am wondering how long it is before we see an effort to do to Google Play Services what Google did to Java - copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideally one can then choose what to do from just stubbing them out, filling them with 3rd party alternatives, or providing custom implementations. I would th…

EDIT : wanted to update my message but deleted it!pasting it here : the value of Android,for most people, is in Google services... not in Linux.People dont care what os android is running,the fact that it is Linux is irrelevant for them,(but not for google). > copy all the APIs and create an independent alternative that lets you build apps that use features from Play Services, without tying your app to Google. Ideall…

> the value of Android,for most people, is in Google services... not in Linux.People dont care what os android is running,the fact that it is Linux is irrelevant for them,(but not for google).

This is what most people fail to realize.

Google could just swap Linux with BSD, QNX, VxWorks,.... and no one would notice, besides those that hack around the official APIs.

Re: Android without the mothership

#33

Post by ausjke »

As always, LWN publishes great articles, a proud subscriber here.

Android is used in more and more fields other than phones and tablets these days, in those fields Google service is deemed not helpful, and totally unneeded. A working AoSP plus a few specialized apps will do that job perfectly well. I hope Cranogenmod will provide a viable approach in that space(non-phone and non-tablet market segment)

Re: Android without the mothership

#35

Post by iamshs »

wutbrodo wrote: post #26
iamshs wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is really informative post for separating Android from Google, to the maximum extent for conscientious people. Location, contacts, wifi access points getting shared with Google very much annoys me. But I was even more peeved of Android when there was no way to store contacts locally. No option to store on the phone, but instead you had to save to google account. I am not doing that. So I went the whole hog and i…

> But I was even more peeved of Android when there was no way to store contacts locally. No option to store on the phone, but instead you had to save to Google account. Are you sure about this? This may be unique to Touchwiz or something, but you can save a contact to either the device or to Google contacts.

I am using Nexus 4, so no touchwiz. Only way (or the one in my knowledge) is to disable Google Contacts Sync. The problem with this one is if the switch somehow gets enabled one day, there goes your privacy.

Re: Android without the mothership

#36

Post by zak_mc_kracken »

psbp wrote: post #16
mkozlows wrote: post #6

It seems notable that trying to run a modern computer without Google is about as quixotic as was trying to run a '90s-era computer without Microsoft.

Apple seems to have done fine in both examples.

Apple almost went bankrupt and had to be rescued by Microsoft during that period.

Re: Android without the mothership

#37

Post by ZeroGravitas »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #32

I'd also rate Opera Mini as an alternate web browser... if you can install it sans Play Store.

I guess you can a) because its the new default browser on Nokia X devices, and b) Opera have their own Android app store:

http://apps.opera.com/en_gb/opera_mini_51.html

Re: Android without the mothership

#38

Post by zak_mc_kracken »

zurn wrote: post #19
mkozlows wrote: post #6

It seems notable that trying to run a modern computer without Google is about as quixotic as was trying to run a '90s-era computer without Microsoft.

PCs were for boring suit types in the 90s. Windows 3.1, ugh. Lots of people ran Amigas or Macs at home and RISC workstations at university or work. Then Linux happened and you could run something nice even on a PC. It involved tinkering but advancing by leaps and bounds, certainly not quixotic.

Running something nice on Linux is still challenging today, in 2014. It was no picnic in the 90's.

Credentials: I was running Linux before Linux was cool, it was called Minix.

Re: Android without the mothership

#39

Post by [deleted] »

joenathan wrote: post #30
zurn wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PCs were for boring suit types in the 90s. Windows 3.1, ugh. Lots of people ran Amigas or Macs at home and RISC workstations at university or work. Then Linux happened and you could run something nice even on a PC. It involved tinkering but advancing by leaps and bounds, certainly not quixotic.

You forgot to turn off your hipster vision.

[deleted]

Re: Android without the mothership

#40

Post by 616c »

jcr wrote: post #9

It's a good article. Those who prefer to have their phones disconnected from Google for whatever reason at least have some options to limit exposure, but unfortunately, preventing the mobile web browser in the phone from leaking information like location, history, and habits to Google (and plenty of others) is going to be really tough. Also, the article glossed over an important issue; the need to use closed-source p…

I obviously cannot speak to your comments re baseband process and firmware/OS. That is basically the unsolvable problem in all of this without social/legislative change in the US. I cannot see the FCC or the rest of the government piggybacking on these advantages ever changing.

As for mobile browsers, this is specifically why I use NoScript, even in beta on Android (ironically called NSA-NoScript Anywhere).

http://noscript.net/nsa/

It might not be perfect, but most of the time, like my laptop, I do not need JS or Flash unless there is a very specific reason, and I will not help these a-holes trace me.

And I am also, like others here, who got a new phone and now exclusively use FDroid. No Google Apps. It is a lower power cheaper phone with shoddier processor, and I can run minimally 2+ days without Google Play and shitty proprietary apps. So at least I recommend it.

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