Lee DunaGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai Warns Android Users Not to Sideload Apps
youngalfredNo definitely don’t sideload a YouTube client that doesn’t play ads!
What color do you like? I like Gray.
I like the red one with a pipe
LemmyNameMyselfBasically everything outside fdroid is riddled with trackers and ads so no, thanks
ConditionOverloadHonestly been steadily becoming less happy with the way Google/Android has been going even since Pichai took over.
Enshittification.
just another devWhat makes you say that, specifically?
It’s a term coined by Cory Doctorow, Sci-Fi writer and ex-EFF, who has been writing about (tech) monopolies, and in particular monopsonies, and how those types of two sided markets originally grow by given users something they need, often for an artificial low price or even free, until they dominate that side of the market, after which they focus mostly on the other side of the market, in this case advertisers, and step by step, slowly disagreeing the reason users originally liked their product… Enshittification.
Doctorow has lots to say, so here’s a link.
SandraNow that the concept has caught on so widely, I’ve often wished @pluralistic had gone with a less scatological term. But maybe that is part of the reason it caught on 🤷🏻♀️
🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 🏆“Ensuckification?”
That’s 100% the reason it caught on.
People around here seem to really really like saying it.
PhilipThere is some perception bias there, because you won't hear that much from people who don't want to use the term (like me), unless they engage in a pointless meta-comment like this one.
That’s fair. I personally hate it, but I see it in almost every thread about what big tech is up to.
I’ve tried downloading some of the games that are on the Play Store for my kids, and by God those apps are cancerous. An ad every 30 seconds and the games are made purely with getting the players to become addicted in mind. Get off your fucking high horse Pichai.
You know what I think I’m going to side load even harder
sundar shut the fuck up
ahriboyAOSP is open source. Better STFU, Sundar.
MudManThat article is... very confusingly written. Anybody got another source with a direct, full quote?
MeanEYEYes, don’t sideload apps. It takes opportunity from us to spy on your usage patterns and enforce ads.
squibletThat doesn’t say they take 70% of our money. It means that Google spends only 30% of what they take in on the store on operating it, which is very different.
That guy’s got Liz-Truss-level understanding of economics
makingStuffForFunThis is the real truth. Man, the gall of that guy.
Hi, we are a spyware company. Be aware. Don’t load apps that don’t meet our surveillance metrics. Only download our spyware. Thank you.
Screw that guy. How about only sideload. There’s another world out there, and it doesn’t equate to surveillance capitalism.
Is there a good guide on f-droid and sideloading you recommend?
Mint_RaccoonAll you have to do is download the APK from the F-Droid website and enable installing from third-party/unknown sources in the Settings app (some versions of Android ask automatically when you try to open the APK). I also recommend disabling unknown sources for your browser once you're done as a security measure.
NicoCharruaFor F-Droid in specific, you’ll need an F-Droid client. I use Droid-ify (GitHub) (F-Droid) (IzzyOnDroid), but you can use whichever you prefer. F-Droid is a good source for open source apps.
If you’re sideloading from different sources, Obtanium (GitHub) (IzzyOnDroid) is useful to download apps, and keep them updated. You can even kinda use it as an F-Droid client.
Google is pretty lax on what it allows on Google play, so unless you’re trying to avoid using Google services or you want to install apps that aren’t on the play store, you don’t need to do it.
If you want adbocking and extra features in some apps (especially YouTube), check out ReVanced.
Google isn’t lying - there are risks to sideloading if you don’t know what you’re doing. Make sure what you’re downloading is coming from legitimate sources you trust. For example, if you look up ReVanced, some unofficial websites show up which may have malware. Triple check everything is coming from an official source.
GunpachiI’m gonna suggest droidify . It’s basically a good looking f-droid client.
I’m gonna suggest droidify . It’s basically a good looking f-droid client.
Just download the apk and install it.
alphacyberrangerstfu pichai
Fuck up Pichai
MelpomeneI find it interesting that these companies are taking something that was once normal... loading your choice of software onto your thousand plus dollar computer... and pretending that its something new and evil.
I'd prefer honesty. They want cash and this undermines thier platform near-monopolies.
Same shitbags who successfully convinced a generation that it’s okay to download programs with ads built-in.
No wonder they think they can get away with anything. It’s like herding sheep at this point.
Recently Android added another scary "malicious" warning to the already numerous scary dialogs if one tries to install F-Droid. The "Install anyways" button also became hidden in the "More details" menu.
It’s not just F-Droid, it’s any app.
This has been the final straw for me to fully de-google my life.
F you Google, Play, etc.
Currently setting up my next phone with no googlage.
I've became used to enabling the play store only when I want to update or install certain specific app. I just leave the play store disable, so I don't get updates for each an every app that I might not even use.
I just wish there was a way to do this without having to browse the apps menu and find the play store each time.
I just wish there was a way to do this without having to browse the apps menu and find the play store each time.
Everyday User Bearofatime warns Prickchai he should lick ma balls.
In court: “Google isn’t a monopoly because we allow sideloading!”
Outside of court: “Don’t sideload. It’s dangerous and terrible!”
They are still allowing it tho
Because the courts made them lol
I don’t have the Play Store on my phone. F-Droid (Droidify), Aurora Store, Obtanium, and Accrescent.
aka “Please only ever buy things off the Google Play store”
Sideloading is one of the greatest things we have.
I’m so glad we have it. It almost feels like power and control from a bygone age.
Of course this guy whose net worth is >$100m will be telling us not to use it.
Fuck him.
That’s literally the entire point of using Android my dude
Ironically, I see articles every month telling android users to uninstall a slew of shit malware apps that were on the play store. Thanks Pichai, but I’ll take my chances with more reputable sources.
Scan them with play protect, it’s an amazing piece of development that makes me feel truly safe in what I install on Google’s device they have lended me.
I really can’t wait until we have a Linux-Mobile OS which supports android apps rather than having an entire fucking operating system running on java.
Running your OS on java is like building your house on quicksand.
I don’t think Android apps will be necessary on Linux mobile, at least GNOME is working on making their apps mobile-compatible
To transition from Android to Linux Mobile, It absolutely will be.
Some apps are only on Android/iOS and some desktop linux desktop apps do not support a mobile layout even on mobile linux.
Right now, sure. Waydroid should enable that
Both GNOME & KDE already have builds you can do this with. E.g. Mobian, which uses a lot of the work Purism has done with PureOS, is working to make even default Debian work. You can install Android apps with Waydroid, and install it on Android devices like Pixel, OnePlus, in addition to Linux native devices.
It’s really not consumer ready though, I’ve tried desperately to use OnePlus and like devices as daily drivers but it’s just not there yet sadly. The more people that try tho the better off we will be
Java is only the languages some apps are programmed in. There is no JVM in android. And no, the OS does not run on Java.
So they argue that they want to protect users… from epic games? Like they are going to make a virus filled app? I kinda agree people need to be protected from fortnite, but its kind if a silly disingenuous argument.