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Google has no incentive to police the store or protect it’s user’s devices. They only care about getting more people on the Android platform so they can increas

Google has no incentive to police the store or protect it’s user’s devices. They only care about getting more people on the Android platform so they can increase their search and advertising revenue. They could give 2 shits about the Play Store.

kornish 9y ago
One incentive to police the store is that quality is a draw for users.
- noxToken 9y ago
  What's the alternative, iOS? That's great for people with financial stability in developed nations, but that leaves out swathes of those in developing nations.
  - tehwebguy 9y ago
    Old & new previous-gen iPhones are available at Android prices, including “free with contract” (in the US at least). They aren’t cutting edge, but neither are the equivalently priced Androids.
    - noxToken 9y ago
      Good catch. Didn't even think about that.
    - ben_w 9y ago
      I have an Android dev phone that cost £19, no contract, about half-to-a-third the price of a then-equivalent second-hand iPhone. In third world countries even a £19 device is worth stealing, as a friend of my partner experienced.
      - tehwebguy 9y ago
        Wow, that is cheaper than I expected. What brand?
        ben_w 9y ago
        Vodafone sold it (pay as you go, no contract) with only their brand visible, but I think it’s an Alcatel device under the paint. The model is no longer being made, but their current cheapest model is almost as cheap.
    - arvinsim 9y ago
      Old iPhones are still prohibitively expensive in developing countries. Brand new low/midrange Android phones usually cost half or less.
  - jhasse 9y ago
    F-Droid
mcgarnagle 9y ago
But that's counter intuitive. I for one don't use android simply because of the play store. If you take care of the developers, they'll take care of the apps which will bring the people in.
- alphaalpha101 9y ago
  I don't use an iPhone simply because of the ridiculously restrictive and stupid app store. There are so many apps out there that just cannot be implemented on iPhone because of their dumb policies.
Joeri 9y ago
The fact that android is such a mess is the reason I use an iphone. If and when they start caring about the quality of the android experience, including the play store, I may be tempted back.
- rhizome 9y ago
  Meanwhile: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15627880 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15627880
  - skinnymuch 9y ago
    That seems like a rare occurrence. My macOS install is screwed up. I'm not entirely sure if it's something on my end, the hard drive, MacOS or something else. But I'm not going to straight up just blame macOS or Apple MacBook hardware for the issue when maintenance others do not seem to be having the issue. That seems far too assuming and rash.
    - izacus 9y ago
      So you won't blame Apple, but will blame Google? :)

kornish 9y ago

One incentive to police the store is that quality is a draw for users.

noxToken 9y ago
What's the alternative, iOS? That's great for people with financial stability in developed nations, but that leaves out swathes of those in developing nations.
- tehwebguy 9y ago
  Old & new previous-gen iPhones are available at Android prices, including “free with contract” (in the US at least). They aren’t cutting edge, but neither are the equivalently priced Androids.
  - noxToken 9y ago
    Good catch. Didn't even think about that.
  - ben_w 9y ago
    I have an Android dev phone that cost £19, no contract, about half-to-a-third the price of a then-equivalent second-hand iPhone. In third world countries even a £19 device is worth stealing, as a friend of my partner experienced.
    - tehwebguy 9y ago
      Wow, that is cheaper than I expected. What brand?
      - ben_w 9y ago
        Vodafone sold it (pay as you go, no contract) with only their brand visible, but I think it’s an Alcatel device under the paint. The model is no longer being made, but their current cheapest model is almost as cheap.
  - arvinsim 9y ago
    Old iPhones are still prohibitively expensive in developing countries. Brand new low/midrange Android phones usually cost half or less.
- jhasse 9y ago
  F-Droid

mcgarnagle 9y ago

But that's counter intuitive. I for one don't use android simply because of the play store. If you take care of the developers, they'll take care of the apps which will bring the people in.

alphaalpha101 9y ago
I don't use an iPhone simply because of the ridiculously restrictive and stupid app store. There are so many apps out there that just cannot be implemented on iPhone because of their dumb policies.

Joeri 9y ago

The fact that android is such a mess is the reason I use an iphone. If and when they start caring about the quality of the android experience, including the play store, I may be tempted back.

rhizome 9y ago
Meanwhile: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15627880 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15627880
- skinnymuch 9y ago
  That seems like a rare occurrence. My macOS install is screwed up. I'm not entirely sure if it's something on my end, the hard drive, MacOS or something else. But I'm not going to straight up just blame macOS or Apple MacBook hardware for the issue when maintenance others do not seem to be having the issue. That seems far too assuming and rash.
  - izacus 9y ago
    So you won't blame Apple, but will blame Google? :)