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>Instead, they could have gotten all the Android apps and the popularity of Android essentially for free. No they wouldn't have. They would not get Google Play

>Instead, they could have gotten all the Android apps and the popularity of Android essentially for free. No they wouldn't have. They would not get Google Play Services and your MicroG "solution" is ridiculous from a commercial perspective and a violation from a TOS perspective that would be shut down by Google. >It's even possible they could have overtaken Google and became the effective steward of the Android platform I don't think you understand the army of developers it takes to maintain and enhance Android on an annual basis nor the millions of dollars it costs Google. To even suggest that they would have overtaken Google and become the steward of the Android platform is ridiculous.

eadmund 9y ago
> They would not get Google Play Services If I have Firefox and thus can load up any Google web page, do I need Google Play Services?
- ocdtrekkie 9y ago
  As a strange event, I actually upvoted bitmapbrother, we agreed on something! As he says, MicroG is a hack, and there's no reasonable point where someone is going to take stewardship of Android away from Google. (Other than antimonopoly action.) There's no point in having Android if you can't run Android apps, and most Android apps users want are now dependent on Google's proprietary libraries (Play Services). So why would you want an Android fork if you aren't going to be able to run Android apps? Might as well go with KaiOS at that point.
- bitmapbrother 9y ago
  What does a browser have to do with Google Play Services? Google Play Services, like the name implies, supplies services to apps and games. Without these services a large majority of apps that rely on them will cease to work on an Android phone without Google Play Services.
  - eadmund 9y ago
    I was thinking that with a browser the need for on-phone apps is significantly reduced. If one does want or need native apps (e.g. for security), then is it possible for a third party to emulate Google Play Services? Or do they use a certificate to prevent third-party clones?

eadmund 9y ago

> They would not get Google Play Services If I have Firefox and thus can load up any Google web page, do I need Google Play Services?

ocdtrekkie 9y ago
As a strange event, I actually upvoted bitmapbrother, we agreed on something! As he says, MicroG is a hack, and there's no reasonable point where someone is going to take stewardship of Android away from Google. (Other than antimonopoly action.) There's no point in having Android if you can't run Android apps, and most Android apps users want are now dependent on Google's proprietary libraries (Play Services). So why would you want an Android fork if you aren't going to be able to run Android apps? Might as well go with KaiOS at that point.
bitmapbrother 9y ago
What does a browser have to do with Google Play Services? Google Play Services, like the name implies, supplies services to apps and games. Without these services a large majority of apps that rely on them will cease to work on an Android phone without Google Play Services.
- eadmund 9y ago
  I was thinking that with a browser the need for on-phone apps is significantly reduced. If one does want or need native apps (e.g. for security), then is it possible for a third party to emulate Google Play Services? Or do they use a certificate to prevent third-party clones?