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Having only one app store allowed on a device is anti-competitive and is an area where I would approve regulators forcing changes. The fact that Apple has exclu
by seibelj 8y ago
Having only one app store allowed on a device is anti-competitive and is an area where I would approve regulators forcing changes. The fact that Apple has exclusive right to approve what I can install, and then extracts monopoly rent on top of depriving me of software, should be banned.
- dmitrygr 8y agoAndroid allows as many app stores on device as you'd like. Popular ones include f-droid and Amazon store. Both can be easily installed without rooting by simply downloading them from the web. Both provide app signing, updates, and authentication.
- hooluupog 8y agoYou are allowed to install other app stores on a android device.You can even install apps from unknown sources.But you need to be responsible for your own security.
- mtgx 8y agoHowever, you can't install other app stores from the Play Store itself. That seems pretty anti-competitive. Google also bans ad-blockers from its Play Store. Why? Because they interfere with its business model. Again, anti-competitive. No different than Verizon banning Skype from its network. It's a shame the EC didn't hit Google over these, too.
- lern_too_spel 8y agoYou can install ad blocking web browsers just fine. The rule is that you can't publish an app that interferes with another app.
- uxp100 8y agoIt's kinda a chain of trust. One of the value of the Play Store is that you trust it not to include malware (if you do). If they allowed other app stores to be installed through it, google can't be confident in saying if you use our store, you won't get malware.
- scarface74 8y agoYou trust the Google Play Store not to have malware?
- lern_too_spel 8y agoIt's certainly far more trustworthy than the iOS app store and Chinese app stores, all by a wide margin.
- scarface74 8y agoBased on what metric? Google doesn’t even pretend to review apps and the Google app permissions framework is laughable.
- lern_too_spel 8y agoBased on total malware installs, where Apple has everybody beat by even just Xcodeghost alone. Google doesn't pretend that manually reviewing apps prevents malware because it obviously (to any software engineer) doesn't. It does, however do both static and dynamic analysis of the apps in its store, unlike Apple and the Chinese app stores.
- scarface74 8y agoAnd that really hasn’t help. Xcodeghost basically affected the Chinese App Store where app authors downloaded a non Apple hosted version of Xcode. https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-mobile-android-vs-ios-which-is-more-secure.html https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-mobile-android-vs-ios... https://www.sophos.com/en-us/security-news-trends/security-trends/malware-goes-mobile.aspx https://www.sophos.com/en-us/security-news-trends/security-t... That doesn’t even consider all of the unpatched Android security holes. https://www.esecurityplanet.com/mobile-security/how-secure-is-android-if-google-wont-patch.html https://www.esecurityplanet.com/mobile-security/how-secure-i... Or the fact that most Android phones are running older versions that will never get patched. https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/ https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/ Compared to iPhones running the latest versions.... https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/ios-distribution-news/ https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/ios-distribution-news/
- s73v3r_ 8y agoThat doesn't sound anticompetitive in the least. Alternative stores are allowed on Android; Google just isn't going to bend over backwards to do everything for you.
- genericid 8y agoGoogle allows basically everything on the Play Store. To not specifically restrict their competition would not be "bending over backwards" at all.
- wmf 8y agoyou need to be responsible for your own security. Or they could make sandboxing actually work.
- sigstoat 8y agoif you can produce a flawless, performant, sandbox, fame and fortune awaits you.
- yjftsjthsd-h 8y agoI am not aware that anyone has ever made this work. Full VMs are escapable, iOS jails have been broken and even permissions technically allowed can be abused, etc. There is room to improve, but "just make it impossible to escape the sandbox" is massively oversimplifying. It also makes it harder to make useful apps if you reduce API surface.
- eridius 8y agoBanned on what grounds? Apple doesn't have a monopoly, so there's no anticompetitive angle here.
- seibelj 8y agoThey have a monopoly on what can be installed on my phone, and censor what gets into the app store, so they are therefore censoring me.
- sieabahlpark 8y agoThey don't control it though, you could root your phone and install whatever you want.
- paulryanrogers 8y agoThis isn't always an option, and may violate the DMCA
- s73v3r_ 8y agoNone of those words mean what you are implying it means.
- kup0 8y agoThis only matters if they're the only platform available. But, they're not. You can use Android, its forks, or otherwise. While one can be philosophically opposed to their walled-garden, there is zero legal ground to stand on to regulate Apple in this regard when they are not a monopoly as defined by law. They have the right to control what is available in their own app store, whether we like it or not. Calling their control "monopoly" and "censorship" really dilutes the actual meaning of both terms
- fulafel 8y agoSounds like you are talking cross purposes. S/He argues for changing the law and you are explaining the current law.
- s73v3r_ 8y agoThey don't. You can go buy a different phone.
- scarface74 8y agoYou have plenty of choices. You can choose to buy an Android device like 80% of the rest of the world.... Do you feel that Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft should also be forced to open up their platforms? And yes, they also approve physical game sales and you can’t run a physical disk on either platform without it being cryptographically signed.