This is true in most parts of the world, but in China where almost all phones are Android and Google apps are not preinstalled on any of them, the alternative a

This is true in most parts of the world, but in China where almost all phones are Android and Google apps are not preinstalled on any of them, the alternative app store hijacking definitely happens. In particular Tencent is notorious for not being the default app store on any phones, but somehow "mysteriously" if you follow links from WeChat or QQ or even certain websites, it will try to make your phone download the Tencent app store to install the app instead of just using your phone's default app store. Even your phone gives a warning not to do it, people still install it. And, sure enough, Tencent app store is now the biggest app store in China, with 25% of the market. Tiktok is owned by Bytedance, which doesn't even have an app store in China, so i can't see them making a play. Fortnite, on the other other hand, is owned by Epic who definitely used the popularity and income from Fortnite to leverage their way into the PC gaming marketplace, disrupting the major player (Valve). They might not have won this battle for the phone marketplace, but by the sounds of it they still haven't given up the war. So, i do think it's fair for the grandparent poster to consider a future where users bypass whatever protections came from their phone manufacturer and end up shooting themselves in the foot. But i also think you're right that it doesn't matter. That's the "price of freedom". We already see it a little bit now where some people choose Android over iOS (or vice versa) for ideological reasons. Loosening manufacturer restrictions even further seems reasonable to me. Some people would choose ultra-safety through open source, others would choose to use closed source from a company they consider trustworthy. Most would not care and just use whatever environment they are most familiar with, and install whatever plugins and cleaners they need to make them feel more secure. That's basically the PC market right now, and i think it's largely fine.