951–960 of 1001 posts
It used to be a huge scandal because people (rightly) feared that it would enable Microsoft to have a say on what can be executed or not, or only allow DRM protected content to play.
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…
I may prove to be wrong but I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out & genuinely think it could be good, holistically.
There's a number of possibilities:
1. This drives most people to Apple & Android dies. iOS is mostly a better product than Android, with the exception that Android is semi-open. This removes Android's only competitive advantage.
2. This drives most people to Apple which motivates Google to do a U-turn.
3. This drives people to Graphene in such large numbers that it gets financial support, & some banks are pressurised into dropping Play Protect requirements.
I honestly don't know which of these 3 is most or least likely but all move us away from the current stagnant position of Google being the best reasonable option of a set of very bad options. A complete Apple monopoly would obviously be bad in the short term but would at least leave an opening for fresh competitors.
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…
> This is really bad. I think that most people on HN will agree with that. I may prove to be wrong but I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out & genuinely think it could be good, holistically. There's a number of possibilities: 1. This drives most people to Apple & Android dies. iOS is mostly a better product than Android, with the exception that Android is semi-open. This removes Android's only competitive…
The core benefit of Android over iOS for me has always been that it's my device, not Google's. They've been chipping away at this over the years. Safetynet was the first offense, but if they start restricting app installation from sources of my choice (I hate the term "sideloading"), there's not much advantage left.
Google is trying something which will be a net negative for everybody, instead of keeping this _massive_ USP that also keeps a core userbase. Might as well switch to iOS now, I don't have anything which keeps me on Android.
The reason I chose the Android ecosystem over the Apple ecosystem, once I found out that the Maemo/Meego ecosystem was a dead end and the Openmoko ecosystem was a non-starter, is that the Android ecosystem allowed me to develop and install my own apps on my own devices whenever I wanted to, without arbitrary limitations like having to periodically plug the phone into my computer to renew some authorization. Additiona…
They are cheaper and come full of spyware preinstalled by manufacturer and carrier.
Customer see the price advantage, everyone else see the data harvesting (including Google). Everyone benefits in selling cheap Android phone.
Now you would be pretty stupid to buy 1k€ Android phone like Samsung ones because they still come with preinstalled and privileged Samsung, third party and Google spyware.
For instance, my s23 had 3 preinstalled meta app. 2 systemized app, 1 was Facebook client.
Meaning to use your device you need to have a contractual relationship with a foreign (unless you are in the US) third party that decides what you can or cannot do with it. Plus using GrapheneOS is less of an option every day, since banks and other "regulated" sectors use Google Play Protect and similar DRMs to prevent you from connecting from whatever device you want. Client-side "trust" means the provider owning th…
I always wonder, who are the developers doing this? don't they feel bad about going through with these changes or do they fool themselves thinking it's the right thing? is it greed? many other fields have an explicit or implicit ethics code which we seem to lack. I'm thinking about other fields like medicine, engineering, etc. Probably since the entry level to development is low and anyone can do it, it means there's…
They sure as hell must feel good about their fat checks for killing freedom.
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…
It's never safe when there's no freedom.