4 ms·

> i want no part of it. when a phone maker comes to the market without this locked down model i will buy it, and if windows goes this route i will drop it for l

> i want no part of it. when a phone maker comes to the market without this locked down model i will buy it, and if windows goes this route i will drop it for linux. > and yea i know you can sideload on android, but the unwashed masses don’t know that so it doesn’t matter. I don't totally understand what you want. You say you want a phone (presumably OS?) that does not require an app store then totally dismiss a very popular operating system that has exactly that feature. Who cares if a large segment of Android users don't side load apps, that does nothing to prevent you from doing it. I've been using Android without Google Play services for a few months and everything works fine. My bank apps work, the few social media apps I use work, WhatsApp/Signal work, Bing/Cortana work, I could go on but I think you get the idea. Most of my apps have been side loaded (or downloaded via F-Droid).

dzdt 8y ago
So if google's app store is so bad (and I tend to agree it isn't great) what is preventing the rise of a better alternative app store? They exist, but as far as I can tell none have gained any traction.
- thekyle 8y ago
  Well I'd say Google Play's dominance is mostly because it is default. Additionally, there is a natural vendor lock-in as you begin buying apps since your purchases won't be available on other app stores. There are other apps stores that have become relatively popular when pre-installed such as Amazon's and the various Chinese app stores. https://www.appinchina.co/market/app-stores/ https://www.appinchina.co/market/app-stores/
- deogeo 8y ago
  Google's illegal anticompetitive contracts with phone manufacturers that forbid them from developing/selling non-Google-app-store-infected phones if they want to sell any phone's with Google's app store: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/Google-s-Confidential-Android-Contracts-Show-Rising-Requirements https://www.theinformation.com/articles/Google-s-Confidentia...
  - linuxftw 8y ago
    How do people still not know about this?
pravda 8y ago
>I've been using Android without Google Play services for a few months and everything works fine. What about maps? or Waze? Gmail?
- thekyle 8y ago
  I use the Google Maps PWA and never really used Waze to begin with. For email, I just use the stock Android email app which looks and acts very similar to the old Gmail app before the recent redesign.
- Yetanfou 8y ago
  Maps -> OsmAnd~ The usability of OsmAnd~ will depend greatly on the area where it is to be used. It can use a host of map tile providers and/or vector maps, the detail level of these varies from very good to hardly any. I use it in Sweden where it generally works fine. Waze -> ... OsmAnd~ can be used for navigation but it does not offer live traffic updates. Gmail -> my own mail server + K9 on Android Gmail is more or less equivalent to a mail user agent, right? Mail is an internet standard which has been around for a while, long before Google was launched from a scruffy server under a desk. With a bit of luck mail - or some other open protocol like it - will be around when Google has gone the way of so many of its predecessors. The list goes on: Google Search -> a private Searx instance Google Drive/Documents/etc -> Nextcloud on a private server Google News (remember that?) -> News application on the above mentioned Nextcloud server, using either the web front or one of the Android apps available on F-Droid. Youtube -> private Peertube instance on the already mentioned server Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram -> No need for such Whatsapp -> private XMPP (ejabberd) server using Conversations Android client, using OMEMO encryption. Also using Telegram app from F-Droid. Spotify et al -> Airsonic on that server I mentioned, feeding off my private collection and also serving internet radio stations (which it also sometimes uses to update the private collection). Using Dsub (from F-Droid) on Android, the web interface on PC's. The same collection can be reached through a host of MPD instances scattered about the place, these are controlled through MPDroid or M.A.L.P (both from F-Droid). There are also a few Kodi instances, controlled through Kore (from F-Droid). The list goes on. There is no Google-proprietary code on any of my Android devices yet they provide me with all these services.

dzdt 8y ago

So if google's app store is so bad (and I tend to agree it isn't great) what is preventing the rise of a better alternative app store? They exist, but as far as I can tell none have gained any traction.

thekyle 8y ago
Well I'd say Google Play's dominance is mostly because it is default. Additionally, there is a natural vendor lock-in as you begin buying apps since your purchases won't be available on other app stores. There are other apps stores that have become relatively popular when pre-installed such as Amazon's and the various Chinese app stores. https://www.appinchina.co/market/app-stores/ https://www.appinchina.co/market/app-stores/
deogeo 8y ago
Google's illegal anticompetitive contracts with phone manufacturers that forbid them from developing/selling non-Google-app-store-infected phones if they want to sell any phone's with Google's app store: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/Google-s-Confidential-Android-Contracts-Show-Rising-Requirements https://www.theinformation.com/articles/Google-s-Confidentia...
- linuxftw 8y ago
  How do people still not know about this?

pravda 8y ago

>I've been using Android without Google Play services for a few months and everything works fine. What about maps? or Waze? Gmail?

thekyle 8y ago
I use the Google Maps PWA and never really used Waze to begin with. For email, I just use the stock Android email app which looks and acts very similar to the old Gmail app before the recent redesign.
Yetanfou 8y ago
Maps -> OsmAnd~ The usability of OsmAnd~ will depend greatly on the area where it is to be used. It can use a host of map tile providers and/or vector maps, the detail level of these varies from very good to hardly any. I use it in Sweden where it generally works fine. Waze -> ... OsmAnd~ can be used for navigation but it does not offer live traffic updates. Gmail -> my own mail server + K9 on Android Gmail is more or less equivalent to a mail user agent, right? Mail is an internet standard which has been around for a while, long before Google was launched from a scruffy server under a desk. With a bit of luck mail - or some other open protocol like it - will be around when Google has gone the way of so many of its predecessors. The list goes on: Google Search -> a private Searx instance Google Drive/Documents/etc -> Nextcloud on a private server Google News (remember that?) -> News application on the above mentioned Nextcloud server, using either the web front or one of the Android apps available on F-Droid. Youtube -> private Peertube instance on the already mentioned server Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram -> No need for such Whatsapp -> private XMPP (ejabberd) server using Conversations Android client, using OMEMO encryption. Also using Telegram app from F-Droid. Spotify et al -> Airsonic on that server I mentioned, feeding off my private collection and also serving internet radio stations (which it also sometimes uses to update the private collection). Using Dsub (from F-Droid) on Android, the web interface on PC's. The same collection can be reached through a host of MPD instances scattered about the place, these are controlled through MPDroid or M.A.L.P (both from F-Droid). There are also a few Kodi instances, controlled through Kore (from F-Droid). The list goes on. There is no Google-proprietary code on any of my Android devices yet they provide me with all these services.