Marsh Ray3d ago
Tim Bray

RE: https://mastodon.social/@nixCraft/116261526543583522

The reason I joined the Android team in 2010, and that since 2008 I’ve carried Android not iOS devices, was that I could just download software. And other people could download mine.

This new process is a massive breaking of faith with the community.

To be fair, every year or two Apple ratchets up the difficulty of downloading Mac apps.

The doors on every open platform are swinging closed, fast or slow. Capitalism is broken. Another reason we need to protect the Web.

Feaugh.

Mar 20 at 4:52pmWeb
Show threadNelson Minar3d ago
@timbray I don't love this change but I think it's pretty thoughtful. It's a one time 24 hour delay per phone. And it seems thoughtfully designed to break the spell of a scammer. I think it might help.
Show threadMohit Sindhwani2d ago

@nelson @timbray
I did have a scammer try to force me to install an app, and I've seen people in Singapore get scammed that way, and many comments were along the lines of "wouldn't have happened on an iPhone" and "don't tell me - Android user", ...

The pressing problem in tech, I feel, right now is that seasoned users are feeling left out of the freedom and the platforms they liked because that position is different from where the centre of gravity has shifted to due to Korea massive adoption.

Show threadCurioso 🍉 🇺🇦 (jgg)3d ago

@timbray

We can't depend on any commercial OS. We already have more than suitable options on desktop, but the state of open source mobile OS is really bad, and evolving to terrible.

We need a fully open source mobile OS with great hardware and app support ASAP.

Show threadLe Freak3d ago

@timbray
I'm going to switch to /e/os in the near future (android without google).

And to google, I hope people find workarounds if your system is going live.
To the EU this smells, looks and tastes like a disguised monopoly.

Show threadGraham Ballantyne2d ago
@timbray as someone with an aging parent who uses Android, and is having cognitive issues, I'm perfectly fine with this one-time speed bump.
Show threadAnne Delong2d ago

@gnb @timbray

Is anyone considering Linus phones?

linuxstans.com/linux-phone/#google_vignette

Show threadRaw Cast Labs2d ago
@timbray I wonder how this will effect graphenOS devices?
Show threadВинт Прокс2d ago
@timbray I'm sick of people being blind to Play Store having say in what counts as scammy or not. Can you just not OPEN YOUR EYES and see the censorship at play?
Show threadTravis 'Nep' Smith2d ago

@timbray @nixCraft

One great way to protect the open and free Web is by supporting @OpenMediaOrg - by donation or by participating in one of OM’s action campaigns

(You both know this but other folks in your replies might find this a useful bit of information)

Show threadMagnus Ahltorp2d ago
@timbray @nixCraft Both Apple and Google have burned their trust capital when it comes to these things, so it doesn’t really matter when they act in good faith towards their users and when they don’t, because everyone will treat them as if they act in bad faith. And it’s their fault.
Show threadJhooper2d ago
@timbray I'm considering finding or devising a palm top device to use for any real software. I was missing keyboards anyways.
Show threadpoetaster2d ago
@timbray it would be very nice to have you develop for #SailfishOs linux phones :-)
Show threadskybrian1d ago

@timbray

I disagree. This is like having child-proof lids on medicine. For us techies it's an inconvenience, but it serves an important purpose keeping other people safe. It's encouraging that Google wants to protect people from pig-butchering schemes, etc.

Much like it's sometimes possible to buy medicine *without* the child-proof lid, it might be nice to be able to buy a phone without it. But a 24-hour delay disabling it is not so bad, and maybe it's not worth having a separate SKU.