4 ms·

>Anyone can go install F-Droid or Amazon or whatever on their Android phone. F-Droid/Amazon/whatever can't automatically update installed apps unless the phone

by iicc 7y ago

>Anyone can go install F-Droid or Amazon or whatever on their Android phone. F-Droid/Amazon/whatever can't automatically update installed apps unless the phone is rooted. It's not an even playing field - Google has a de facto monopoly on Android.

nolok 7y ago
> unless the phone is rooted. That's absolutely not true at all. All that happens is that, the first time you try to install from such an application (or any other application other than your store, eg: the first time you try to install an apk after you download it from your browser), a settings windows appears telling you this application can't install more applications on your phone until you give it permissions. From there giving the permission is a two click matter, and you don't need to look for it the link is given. See the exemple 2 pictures (and that's the only two steps - note that the "settings" button in the first takes you directly to the second picture, aka straight to the right settings page for the correct application, no looking around needed): https://imgur.com/a/Vafqyic https://imgur.com/a/Vafqyic Then you press back one time after giving the permission, which is the normal way to go back to what you were doing on android, and it works at expected, aka it goes back to the install screen except this time it enables the install button. Any porn site like youporn and pornhub, or epic with fortnite, etc ... Do it this way with no major issue, because the messages are super clear, and where to click to allow it is super clear, no need to look for it. If anything, this is almost too easy and I'm surprised there is not a bigger spread of malware through browsers using that, and I would be for it asking you to confirm your password before enabling that permission. EDIT: it appears I missed that parent was talking about UPDATING apps, not installing.
- resfirestar 7y ago
  Comment you replied to was talking about automatic updates, not installing apps. Google Play and vendor installed apps can automatically update apps in the background without needing to prompt the user for permission to install each individual update, while a typical f-droid install requires the user to click through each update and press “install” at the prompt. This can be fixed by making f-droid a system app, which requires root or an unlocked bootloader.
- Fradow 7y ago
  That's absolutely true. To install apps without user prompt on Android, you need INSTALL_PACKAGE permission. Guess what? You cannot use that permission on third-party apps (meaning any app installed by the user, in opposition to apps that are pre-installed on the ROM), since it's for first-party apps only. The documentation backup this claim: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission#INSTALL_PACKAGES https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.per... Without that permission, you cannot have automatic updates. The feature you are referring to and shows in your screenshot refers to the ability to launch an APK install prompt (that the user have to click through) using an Intent. It cannot be considered as automatic update. So, yeah, it's not an even playing field.
  - vbezhenar 7y ago
    May be you're right but many people don't need automatic updates. I'm using iPhone and I don't update apps automatically.
    - resfirestar 7y ago
      Still not quite comparable. On iOS it takes 1 to n clicks to update n apps (click “update all” or “update” on each app). On a non privileged install of f-droid it takes at least 2n+1 clicks (“update all” to download the new apks, then “update” and “install” on each app, more clicks if any permissions changed).

by iicc 7y ago

nolok 7y ago

> unless the phone is rooted. That's absolutely not true at all. All that happens is that, the first time you try to install from such an application (or any other application other than your store, eg: the first time you try to install an apk after you download it from your browser), a settings windows appears telling you this application can't install more applications on your phone until you give it permissions. From there giving the permission is a two click matter, and you don't need to look for it the link is given. See the exemple 2 pictures (and that's the only two steps - note that the "settings" button in the first takes you directly to the second picture, aka straight to the right settings page for the correct application, no looking around needed): https://imgur.com/a/Vafqyic https://imgur.com/a/Vafqyic Then you press back one time after giving the permission, which is the normal way to go back to what you were doing on android, and it works at expected, aka it goes back to the install screen except this time it enables the install button. Any porn site like youporn and pornhub, or epic with fortnite, etc ... Do it this way with no major issue, because the messages are super clear, and where to click to allow it is super clear, no need to look for it. If anything, this is almost too easy and I'm surprised there is not a bigger spread of malware through browsers using that, and I would be for it asking you to confirm your password before enabling that permission. EDIT: it appears I missed that parent was talking about UPDATING apps, not installing.

resfirestar 7y ago
Comment you replied to was talking about automatic updates, not installing apps. Google Play and vendor installed apps can automatically update apps in the background without needing to prompt the user for permission to install each individual update, while a typical f-droid install requires the user to click through each update and press “install” at the prompt. This can be fixed by making f-droid a system app, which requires root or an unlocked bootloader.
Fradow 7y ago
That's absolutely true. To install apps without user prompt on Android, you need INSTALL_PACKAGE permission. Guess what? You cannot use that permission on third-party apps (meaning any app installed by the user, in opposition to apps that are pre-installed on the ROM), since it's for first-party apps only. The documentation backup this claim: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission#INSTALL_PACKAGES https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.per... Without that permission, you cannot have automatic updates. The feature you are referring to and shows in your screenshot refers to the ability to launch an APK install prompt (that the user have to click through) using an Intent. It cannot be considered as automatic update. So, yeah, it's not an even playing field.
- vbezhenar 7y ago
  May be you're right but many people don't need automatic updates. I'm using iPhone and I don't update apps automatically.
  - resfirestar 7y ago
    Still not quite comparable. On iOS it takes 1 to n clicks to update n apps (click “update all” or “update” on each app). On a non privileged install of f-droid it takes at least 2n+1 clicks (“update all” to download the new apks, then “update” and “install” on each app, more clicks if any permissions changed).