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Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

9to5google.com

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Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#751

Post by Perz1val »

renegat0x0 wrote: post #730

Few my ideas about how things will be going - platforms are going to be forced to collect more data about you - The amount of places without you showing IDs will decrease - There will be more "moderation". You will not be able to provide nsfw contents, then you will not be able to host controversial topics. I suspect games will be more "kid friendly". No more real doom, gta, or Mortal Kombat for you. I remember how t…

I don't think it's coming for games. Kids don't play on PC or console, they play on phones. PC games are "sad dad stories" like "the last of us" now.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#752

Post by fendy3002 »

PeterStuer wrote: post #492
throw10920 wrote: post #393

This is really bad. I think that most people on HN will agree with that. The problem is that most normal people (HN is not normal - mostly for the better) don't even understand what sideloading is - let alone actually care . How can we fix this? (aside from making people care - apathy enables so many political problems in the current age, but it's such a huge problem that this definitely isn't going to be the impetus…

People install games from Steam or the Epic Store on their computers without Microsoft preventing that or taking a cut all the time (not for lack of trying. I know). But somehow, in the mobile world, we went with total lockdowns and platform extortion as the rule? The irony of that iconic Apple 1984 add .

Do you know that Proton is developed as a countermeasure against Microsoft's possibility of vendor locking? It is already anticipated that little or more Microsoft will want that cut.

We're at late stage capitalism, where enshittification occurs at alarming rate.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#753

Post by nisegami »

ozim wrote: post #737
medhir wrote: post #407

Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access

Tell that to all those assholes that are making malware and scamming society on billions. Most of users are not able to keep themselves safe in the internet - they want to install all kind of crap without thinking too much. All of this is companies making it possible that average Joe could just click links, install any kind of crap and still be somewhat secure.

I think we should actively make the web more hostile again.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#754

Post by evilmathkid »

This is why OS is so important for LLMs and the AI ecosystem in general.

Its also why we should not trust large AI corporations that appoint themselves as stewards of "AI safety". If a company that once had the slogan "don't be evil" can do this, so can all the frontier labs

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#755

Post by egeres »

Will it be possible to bypass this limitation for users with rooted devices? If that were the case then I guess that would add more weight to companies who provide firmware and OEM unlocking for android devices: https://github.com/melontini/bootloader-unlock-wall-of-shame

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#756

Post by thecupisblue »

ozim wrote: post #737
medhir wrote: post #407

Every day we stray farther from the premise that we should be allowed to install / modify software on the computers we own. Will once again re-up the concept of a “right to root access”, to prevent big corps from pulling this bs over and over again: https://medhir.com/blog/right-to-root-access

Tell that to all those assholes that are making malware and scamming society on billions. Most of users are not able to keep themselves safe in the internet - they want to install all kind of crap without thinking too much. All of this is companies making it possible that average Joe could just click links, install any kind of crap and still be somewhat secure.

This is not related to malware or scams, and using that is nothing but a PR smoke screen.

While Android is vulnerable, especially to user stupidity, people mostly get scammed by fake credit card charges or by giving access to their notifications and contacts allowing for spam.

And yes, while there are "infected" APK's for popular apps , this again isn't the case here.

The real case here is money.

Apple earns $27B from commision on apps, while Google earns about $3B. Why?

Because Android users are "less willing to pay", which includes pirated APK's and "unlocked" app versions. Eliminating the possibility of using these for 99% of the people will be enough to force them to pay for that app/service in the end, raising the Play store revenues.

Do not trust Google when it comes to "doing it for the user" - their mission is to establish as strong of a monopoly on the platforms and extract as much value as possible. They spent more money on lawyers & policy lobbyists in the last 10 years trying to keep Android closed than some S&P500 companies are worth.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#758

Post by z_open »

jjani wrote: post #471

Thank you, all HNers at Google, for continuing to work there. And yes, before you ask, I have personally quit a job that paid 3x what I was able to get elsewhere over ethics. And no, I'm not rich, probably bottom 5% in terms of assets among my colleagues, coming from a lower-class background.

What the hell do the antitrust people in the US do? Google should have been chopped to bits a decade ago and Microsoft buying Github is just nonsense. Way too much potential for abuse all around.

Re: Google will allow only apps from verified developers to be installed on Android

#759

Post by gspr »

These people. I don't have words.

I'm getting ready to give up on smartphones altogether. I used to think that surely a sufficiently open phone would come along, and that you could then just run a sandboxed Android emulator on that for whenever you needed some proprietary apps where society has stupidly decided you need them. But that also seems to be getting progressively harder.

So maybe I just give up on actually using a phone for much. Has anyone tried living with cheap Android or iPhone as a source of connectivity and making phone calls, perhaps with the odd app you just can't get through daily life without (see above), and then move everything where privacy and control actually matter the most to a small "pocket computer" that connects to the internet through a connection shared by the cheap phone? Are there any sufficiently compact and nice such devices? Surely they're easier to produce when you don't require a phone baseband and all the things that are needed for Google to certify it as an Android phone?

Thoughts?

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