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I could go one step further: Build another open source OS that can run Android app but not Android. Many Chinese companies already tried it (non-open source tho

by rqs 7y ago

I could go one step further: Build another open source OS that can run Android app but not Android. Many Chinese companies already tried it (non-open source though) before but been persuaded not to, I guess they're feeling a little bit different now. The good part is, by building that OS, the domestic tech communities could receive a huge boost. So far for Huawei, Google's blockage is partly useless. As long as Huawei can sell device globally, they can just build their devices in such way that allowing their users to load custom ROM into it without effect warranty, then their users can just use LineageOS (Huawei's Android UI is a crap anyway) or a Linux distro etc. (Maybe the first hackable phone from a major manufacturer) BTW: In China, not a single one domestic phone manufacturer I know of ships Google service with their phone. So Google service is largely an non-existence.

disiplus 7y ago
as somebody that bought an huawei device from a carrier, if carriers wont sell your devices you are just like dead. and i cannot imagine carriers selling devices that need to sideload google play and stuff.
- PeterStuer 7y ago
  The dominance of bundled sales by carriers is not a universal practice around the world. In Europe this was even forbidden for long time as it gave the Telco's too much power over the nascent mobile industry.
  - disiplus 7y ago
    its not forbidden, i thing it's the way most of the cell phones are sold in europe. https://shop.a1.net/handys-telefonie/alle-handys/?ProcessType=EA&tarif=EAA1S19_5&manufacturer=Huawei https://shop.a1.net/handys-telefonie/alle-handys/?ProcessTyp...
    - PeterStuer 7y ago
      It is not anymore, it used to be years back. This is why I said 'was'.
- karambir 7y ago
  No, you are not. I believe you are just speaking from US perspective. A lot of countries in the world don't have this practice of carrier selling phones. (I know for sure for India and China and that's more than 2.5billion people)
maccard 7y ago
> As long as Huawei can sell device globally, they can just build their devices in such way that allowing their users to load custom ROM into it without effect warranty The number of people who will buy a device without Android just to sideload Android on to it is absolutely miniscule. My girlfriend and parents (who all have Huawei devices) absolutely would not.
- estranhosidade 7y ago
  It's true. I mean, there are people using freaking bing just because it is the default search engine on Windows.
  - TjajectaTore 7y ago
    There are those people, my friend, but You and I are not. Spoken in the voice of the sword fencer in the movie called "The Princess Bride," or any Antonio Banderas movie if you feel trashy.
  - TjajectaTore 7y ago
    Let's shuck hold till the rooster's old, who knows how these Mexicans speaks. Let's white it up for these white hacker news
dharma1 7y ago
"Build another open source OS that can run Android app but not Android." It's not as easy as it may sound like. There have been attempts: https://sailfishos.org/wiki/Android_Compatibility https://sailfishos.org/wiki/Android_Compatibility https://github.com/anbox/anbox https://github.com/anbox/anbox https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/04/new-project-brings-android-apps-to-the-linux-desktop https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/04/new-project-brings-andro... ChromeOS Android container approach is probably the best, but isn't fully open source to my knowledge. That's not to say that a state actor like China couldn't pull it off. It would actually be quite interesting if the outcome of these developments was significant effort into a Linux distro that runs well on multiple devices, and is capable of also running Android apps seamlessly.
- rchaud 7y ago
  It's doable to a good extent. I had a Blackberry Passport from 2014 that ran BBOS, which was a non-Android OS. Around 2016, BB added a "Android compatibility layer" (not sure how it works), that allowed for the install of APKs for Whatsapp, Instagram and a number of other apps BB users didn't have native equivalents for. Worked fine, but I'm sure app firmware updates caused issues.

by rqs 7y ago

disiplus 7y ago

as somebody that bought an huawei device from a carrier, if carriers wont sell your devices you are just like dead. and i cannot imagine carriers selling devices that need to sideload google play and stuff.

PeterStuer 7y ago
The dominance of bundled sales by carriers is not a universal practice around the world. In Europe this was even forbidden for long time as it gave the Telco's too much power over the nascent mobile industry.
- disiplus 7y ago
  its not forbidden, i thing it's the way most of the cell phones are sold in europe. https://shop.a1.net/handys-telefonie/alle-handys/?ProcessType=EA&tarif=EAA1S19_5&manufacturer=Huawei https://shop.a1.net/handys-telefonie/alle-handys/?ProcessTyp...
  - PeterStuer 7y ago
    It is not anymore, it used to be years back. This is why I said 'was'.
karambir 7y ago
No, you are not. I believe you are just speaking from US perspective. A lot of countries in the world don't have this practice of carrier selling phones. (I know for sure for India and China and that's more than 2.5billion people)

maccard 7y ago

> As long as Huawei can sell device globally, they can just build their devices in such way that allowing their users to load custom ROM into it without effect warranty The number of people who will buy a device without Android just to sideload Android on to it is absolutely miniscule. My girlfriend and parents (who all have Huawei devices) absolutely would not.

estranhosidade 7y ago
It's true. I mean, there are people using freaking bing just because it is the default search engine on Windows.
- TjajectaTore 7y ago
  There are those people, my friend, but You and I are not. Spoken in the voice of the sword fencer in the movie called "The Princess Bride," or any Antonio Banderas movie if you feel trashy.
- TjajectaTore 7y ago
  Let's shuck hold till the rooster's old, who knows how these Mexicans speaks. Let's white it up for these white hacker news

dharma1 7y ago

"Build another open source OS that can run Android app but not Android." It's not as easy as it may sound like. There have been attempts: https://sailfishos.org/wiki/Android_Compatibility https://sailfishos.org/wiki/Android_Compatibility https://github.com/anbox/anbox https://github.com/anbox/anbox https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/04/new-project-brings-android-apps-to-the-linux-desktop https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/04/new-project-brings-andro... ChromeOS Android container approach is probably the best, but isn't fully open source to my knowledge. That's not to say that a state actor like China couldn't pull it off. It would actually be quite interesting if the outcome of these developments was significant effort into a Linux distro that runs well on multiple devices, and is capable of also running Android apps seamlessly.

rchaud 7y ago
It's doable to a good extent. I had a Blackberry Passport from 2014 that ran BBOS, which was a non-Android OS. Around 2016, BB added a "Android compatibility layer" (not sure how it works), that allowed for the install of APKs for Whatsapp, Instagram and a number of other apps BB users didn't have native equivalents for. Worked fine, but I'm sure app firmware updates caused issues.