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Keep Android Open

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Re: Keep Android Open

#411

Post by singpolyma3 »

Marsymars wrote: post #214
zie wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thankfully you don't really need an adblocker for apps on an iPhone. Your browser could use one, but thankfully those do exist :) That said, I want off the iOS ecosystem, but Google has basically said guess what? We are going the way of Apple, so we don't care about you either. So right now there isn't really anywhere else to go. I'm going to keep trucking in iOS for now, but I hope I find something better soon.

> Thankfully you don't really need an adblocker for apps on an iPhone. Your browser could use one, but thankfully those do exist :) uBlock Origin on Firefox Mobile is significantly better than any Safari adblocker I've been able to find. (1Blocker's the best I've found for Safari.)

I use ublock origin lite in safari

Re: Keep Android Open

#412

Post by ddxv »

I've finally started de-googling and removing google from my life as much as I can. It's difficult with how much of everything is soaked in Google. I'm sure other's here have gotten much further, but everything you do to reduce their monopoly control helps.

Re: Keep Android Open

#413

Post by themafia »

paxys wrote: post #95
handity wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A hard fork doesn't matter when the vast majority of phones have a locked bootloader.

Google's own phones do not have a locked booloader. You can buy a Pixel and put GrapheneOS on it in like 10 minutes. But basically no one does this, because no matter what people say in online forums they actually value ease of use and shiny features over privacy and software freedom.

> no matter what people say in online forums

The people who speak in forums are a minority.

> they actually value ease of use and shiny features over privacy and software freedom.

There's no actual competition so we don't know this on any level.

Re: Keep Android Open

#414

Post by jaza »

ipdashc wrote: post #317
cwillu wrote: post #299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It won't though, because there's a ecosystem of banking/insurance/whatever apps that have bought into the android/iphone lockdown mindsete that people will simply be locked out of. Open alternatives can grow when there is a viable means of slow growth, and cutting off the oxygen to such things is the implicit intent.

> banking/insurance/whatever apps I know banking apps are the typical example, but I've always wondered why. I use my bank's app maybe once or twice a year when I need to Zelle someone, which I only need to do when they don't have Venmo. (Unless we consider Venmo a banking app.) I only have one bank's app installed, the rest of my banks I only interact with over their website, on desktop. As for insurance, I've never…

My main bank is Commonwealth aka CBA (one of the "big 4" banks here in Australia). For a long time, I held out against installing their mobile app (on Android), and managed fine with their web UI (and with 2FA codes via SMS). Then, 2 or 3 years ago, I needed to start using PayID (sort-of Australia's version of Venmo, ie free instant transfers, except it's supported directly by all the major banks here). And I discovered that CBA had (deliberately?) only added PayID support to their mobile app, you absolutely can't use it in their web UI (last I checked). So I had to finally relent and install the mobile app. I started out only opening it on the rare occasions when I needed to send money to someone via PayID.

Then, a while later, CBA pretty much phased out SMS-based 2FA (or they said that if you had the mobile app installed then you can no longer use it?). Only other supported option is in-app 2FA (no support for third-party TOTP apps). So I had to start opening the mobile app every time I needed a 2FA code. Then, within the last year or so, they made a new rule, that in order to log in to the web UI at all (just initial login, I'm not talking about sending money or any other high-risk action), you had to receive a push notification via the mobile app and tap "allow". So now I literally can't log in to the web UI without also logging in to the mobile app!

So, unfortunately, "just keep using the bank's website on desktop" is increasingly and deliberately becoming not an option. I assume there are many similar stories with other banks around the world.

Re: Keep Android Open

#415

Post by themafia »

nimbius wrote: post #25

This isnt going to be a popular post because the HN crowd is very much a "China bad" crowd but I hypothesize China will likely step in and offer a fork that's compatible with open ecosystems not under the direct control of the us state department. This might be in the form of commits and investment in fdroid and pinephone, or a tiktok like alternative to the wests walled garden. Edit: this will likely exist "uncensor…

> a "China bad" crowd

Government bad. Big government worse.

Re: Keep Android Open

#416

Post by godelski »

cwillu wrote: post #299
arcanemachiner wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this finally pushes adoption of truly open Linux phones, then this will end up being a good thing, and the greatest favor that Google could do for the open source community. Tragically, Linux phones have languished and are in an absolute state these days, but a lot of the building blocks are in place if user adoption occurs en masse. (Shout out to the lunatics who have kept this dream alive during these dark years…

It won't though, because there's a ecosystem of banking/insurance/whatever apps that have bought into the android/iphone lockdown mindsete that people will simply be locked out of. Open alternatives can grow when there is a viable means of slow growth, and cutting off the oxygen to such things is the implicit intent.

Microsoft's shit show seems to be pushing Linux adoption

Re: Keep Android Open

#417

Post by themafia »

hparadiz wrote: post #3

I would caution the decision makers on this. The line between a secure device and a useless toy is perforated and hard to see.

The line between a phone and a computer is what has been perforated. What I need is a modem. I don't need the modem baked into a computer that has a permanently affixed screen and battery. That then pretends to be some kind of secure enclave for my deepest secrets.

"Security."

As if I'm in the government or something. Why can't the people who need military level security get their own platform? Shouldn't they just have that already?

Re: Keep Android Open

#418

Post by blueg3 »

kevincox wrote: post #395
blueg3 wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot of misinformation here. > I guess it means the Play store will be the only way to install an app No, non-Play stores will still work, but developers will need to register a developer account with Google that is tied to some real identity. They already need to do this to distribute through the Play store, but now it'll apply regardless. This is to make it harder for scam apps to churn app signatures. Kin…

I mostly agree with your points. > > That users won't be able to install what they want > No, sideloading will still work, but it won't work if the APK isn't signed by someone in the Google developer registry. So the user can't install what they want. They can only install stuff signed by developers Google has "approved". Yes, in the happy situation this is everything except for developers that Google has revoked. Bu…

That's pedantically fair. I broke up a longer statement:

> That users won't be able to install what they want and that they would need a google account to install apps

It was split up because "need a Google account to install apps" is strictly untrue, but "won't be able to install what they want" is more nuanced.

I did clearly say, "it won't work if the APK isn't signed by someone in the Google developer registry".

So, it depends on what the user wants.

If they're running certified Android; otherwise it doesn't matter.

It is only for registered developers, so of course that very much depends on the registration system.

Re: Keep Android Open

#419

Post by 4nonverbal-alit »

bpye wrote: post #242
_factor wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

KDE Connect works just fine on iOS.

It "works" but it is significantly less useful. Notification mirroring doesn't work, you can't read/respond to text messages, it can't reliably run in the background. These are all due to limitations imposed by Apple.

Regarding notifications, both iOS and android doesn't support reading and responding to text messages. The feature works on android because of a workaround: apps create a global notification listener and they can also interact with notification - read UI contents and respond.

I know it's still better than not having a workaround at all like in iOS. But just pointing out that Google probably never meant to let others access notification mirroring.

Re: Keep Android Open

#420

Post by keeda »

gethly wrote: post #142

Just like Microsoft screwed up Windows, Google will screw up Android and people will move to Linux on PCs and some open version of Android, or Harmony, or whatever new mobile system comes up, on their phones. Nothing lasts for ever. The sooner you make the switch, the better off you will be.

I wouldn't hold my breath:

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/01/windows-11-has-hit-1...

https://gs.statcounter.com/os-market-share/

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