Hal 9000Sep 3, 2025

I don't think this was the author's intention, but I consider this a strawman argument: https://hugotunius.se/2025/08/31/what-every-argument-about-sideloading-gets-wrong.html

We already have well-documented hardware (e.g. PinePhone) and FLOSS software on mobile devices is, 10+ years later, utterly irrelevant in the market.

None of the issues here are technical, they all stem from legal/policy shortcomings.

What we need: legally compelled documentation from chip/device makers, legally mandated unlocked bootloaders, and legally enshrined rights to sideload applications on operating systems (Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android). Even, and especially, if the companies selling devices and developing the OS object.

What we have: none of that.

Until then, anyone from the EU claiming to support the right to repair or regional autonomy is just blowing smoke while the industry lobbyists buy them lunch.

All the major desktop and mobile operating systems are developed by American companies (Microsoft, Apple, Google), running on devices manufactured in Asia, with chips from American or Asian companies.

What Every Argument About Sideloading Gets Wrong

Refuting the common and flawed argument of

Show threadFlower
@hal9000 Yeah, it's only because of trade secrets, etc., that you must use Android on some devices. And you can nearly always run "your code" -- spin up a browser and have it run some asm.js site you wrote. But you're right, that's only part of the point.
Sep 3, 2025 at 12:32pmWeb
Show threadHal 9000Sep 3, 2025

@flower "You can nearly always run 'your code' -- spin up a browser"

On mobile: in the sandboxed browser runtime (Blink or WebKit: 90% market share), which is itself a sandboxed app (approved by your benevolent corporate overlords Apple/Google), on a locked down OS (no side loading unapproved apps), on a locked down device (no unlocking your bootloader, no custom ROMs).

Such freedom!