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From a practical standpoint not being allowed into the Android Market is a death sentence. The only way alternative App Stores would catch on is: a) carrier or
by jsz0 16y ago
From a practical standpoint not being allowed into the Android Market is a death sentence. The only way alternative App Stores would catch on is: a) carrier or handset maker replacements b) piracy stores c) increased restrictions on Google's Market that create a demand for a free App Store. None of these options are good for developers so maybe the FUD is somewhat justified if the only solution is making it more difficult for a user to obtain your app.
That being said it hasn't happened yet so making an issue out of it does seem FUD-ish. It comes with the territory though. If you want to dominate a market you have to expect scrutiny. People are endlessly entertained by (perceived) hypocrisy. Google pimped Android as being the open alternative so anything they do, however minor, to distance themselves from that is going to be big news. Android has clearly hit that critical mass where negative stories are becoming more interesting than positive ones.
- moultano 16y agoYou can install apps that aren't in an app store. You can just download the app from a website like any other piece of software. You have to check a checkbox in system settings to allow it, but you are prompted to do so upon downloading the app.
- evgen 16y agoYou can, and probably just about everyone on HN could do so, but the vast majority of the phone-using public can't/won't. Defaults like this become self-reinforcing and apps that prosper outside of the built-in distribution channels will be very, very rare.
- moultano 16y agoIt's really easy to change the default though. You don't have to go deep into a menu to find the setting, it prompts you when you download the app. It's no worse than any other scary warning that users have become inured to on every other platform.
- jbrennan 16y agoI would be willing to wager the vast majority of users never become "used to" dealing with every other platform. My general understanding is most of them are are completely terrified of computers. Modern smartphone OSes (iOS and Android at least) have a chance to take all the scary away. So far, iOS is doing well, and Android looks to be too. But really only because they have non-scary user interfaces with stellar defaults. And as far as most users are concerned, defaults are just how the OS works.
- CaseOfEmergency 16y agoYep. My mom did it, without any instructions. I sent her an apk in an email, thinking I would tell her how to install it later. Then she called and already had it installed.
- mcantelon 16y agoPeople have downloaded shareware and freeware for their desktops off websites for years. While people definitely veer towards convenience, I don't think acquiring mobile apps from websites is beyond the capabilities of the layman.
- m0nastic 16y agoI feel a little silly replying to this comment in every story about Android, but hopefully I won't always have to (as it will become a non-issue); but you can't download non-market store apps from numerous Android devices (all of the ones sold by ATT for example), as the carrier has disabled the ability to install a non-market application. Hopefully this trend doesn't spread to other carriers (although if Verizon is launching its own app store, they may very well implement this in the future).
- joe_the_user 16y agoYou make your own practicality here. Somewhere in backroads of the computer world, there's this thing called the Internet where I've heard you can find just about anything if search hard enough. Someone might be searching for what you have to offer even as we speak...
- enjo 16y agohttp://www.quickoffice.com/quickoffice_connect_suite_android/ http://www.quickoffice.com/quickoffice_connect_suite_android... They just started with this. I'll be curious to see how it works out.