4 ms·

I hear a lot of people complain they got falsely banned by some automated process. But automatic processes are easy to game, so just do what the spammers likely

by z3t4 8y ago

I hear a lot of people complain they got falsely banned by some automated process. But automatic processes are easy to game, so just do what the spammers likely do, slightly edit the app, re-upload using another account and IP, etc, repeat. I'm sad every time I install an Android app, thinking how much crap/spyware it will install on my device ... Android should allow other "app stores", just like you can have different browsers, you should also be able to have different "app stores". Just like there is not just one "store" in the physical world. Then there could be niche stores that focus on some category, or quality.

pmx 8y ago
There is nothing stopping you from using other app stores on android. Amazon has their own (amazon underground) and samsung have their own (galaxy store). There are others out there, too!
- onli 8y ago
  There is F-Droid (https://f-droid.org/ https://f-droid.org/) especially. Horribly broken UI, but still a great app to get other (free!) apps.
  - trickstra 8y ago
    try G-Droid for better UI
- Svoka 8y ago
  Google is de-facto monopolist if you want to make money off your apps/games. Company was publishing same game on basically all android stores, and returns were less than one hundredth comparing to the Play Store; even if it was featured in other stores.
  - Faark 8y ago
    Its sad so few people can acknowledge strong network effects is all it needs to create a de-facto monopolist. Can you say what resources company invested to get listed on other stores? I'd expect it to be rather simple and would hope the tiny earnings would still pay for itself. But even for strategical reasons, I don't understand why even Google-competitors like Microsoft Office don't offer an optional PlayStore free download. At least for those not integrating Google services... and most of the apk's i got from "other" source did indeed work fine. But maybe there is just no way to avoid a tragedy of the commons without regulation.
yorwba 8y ago
The niche store focusing on open-source software is https://f-droid.org/ https://f-droid.org/ . The only apps I get from Google are various proprietary messaging apps where network effects prevent me from deleting them. There are also OEM-specific stores (Amazon, Chinese manufacturers) and some focusing on countries where Google Play is unavailable like https://cafebazaar.ir/?l=en https://cafebazaar.ir/?l=en for Iran or, again, various Chinese stores. Edit: the situation is a lot like that of browsers, actually. There are many alternatives, but most people are only aware of the one they're using.
praestigiare 8y ago
This comment also illustrates a big problem with Google's automated processes: The people willing to put in the work to comply with them / get around them are more often the spammers. You see it in search too. Who researches and does tests on page ranking and SEO? The spammers.
tpxl 8y ago
>Android should allow other "app stores", just like you can have different browsers, you should also be able to have different "app stores". Just like there is not just one "store" in the physical world. Then there could be niche stores that focus on some category, or quality. IIRC there was some issue where they would disallow usage of their app store if you used any other app store on any of your devices, for which they got fined in the EU (eg. you can't sell a device with Google AppStore and a device with f-droid or something).

by z3t4 8y ago

pmx 8y ago

There is nothing stopping you from using other app stores on android. Amazon has their own (amazon underground) and samsung have their own (galaxy store). There are others out there, too!

onli 8y ago
There is F-Droid (https://f-droid.org/ https://f-droid.org/) especially. Horribly broken UI, but still a great app to get other (free!) apps.
- trickstra 8y ago
  try G-Droid for better UI
Svoka 8y ago
Google is de-facto monopolist if you want to make money off your apps/games. Company was publishing same game on basically all android stores, and returns were less than one hundredth comparing to the Play Store; even if it was featured in other stores.
- Faark 8y ago
  Its sad so few people can acknowledge strong network effects is all it needs to create a de-facto monopolist. Can you say what resources company invested to get listed on other stores? I'd expect it to be rather simple and would hope the tiny earnings would still pay for itself. But even for strategical reasons, I don't understand why even Google-competitors like Microsoft Office don't offer an optional PlayStore free download. At least for those not integrating Google services... and most of the apk's i got from "other" source did indeed work fine. But maybe there is just no way to avoid a tragedy of the commons without regulation.

yorwba 8y ago

The niche store focusing on open-source software is https://f-droid.org/ https://f-droid.org/ . The only apps I get from Google are various proprietary messaging apps where network effects prevent me from deleting them. There are also OEM-specific stores (Amazon, Chinese manufacturers) and some focusing on countries where Google Play is unavailable like https://cafebazaar.ir/?l=en https://cafebazaar.ir/?l=en for Iran or, again, various Chinese stores. Edit: the situation is a lot like that of browsers, actually. There are many alternatives, but most people are only aware of the one they're using.

praestigiare 8y ago

This comment also illustrates a big problem with Google's automated processes: The people willing to put in the work to comply with them / get around them are more often the spammers. You see it in search too. Who researches and does tests on page ranking and SEO? The spammers.

tpxl 8y ago

>Android should allow other "app stores", just like you can have different browsers, you should also be able to have different "app stores". Just like there is not just one "store" in the physical world. Then there could be niche stores that focus on some category, or quality. IIRC there was some issue where they would disallow usage of their app store if you used any other app store on any of your devices, for which they got fined in the EU (eg. you can't sell a device with Google AppStore and a device with f-droid or something).