It's still perfectly possible (for now) to use an alternative app store like F-Droid on Android phones. It requires sideloading an .apk (literally "install an

It's still perfectly possible (for now) to use an alternative app store like F-Droid on Android phones. It requires sideloading an .apk (literally "install an app from a file") and jumping through a couple hoops (basically: changing your security settings to allow installing apps from a file) to get started, but it's not an insurmountable barrier. Apple is of course a totally different story, as their devices are 100% locked down walled gardens where Apple is the sole arbiter of what software you're allowed to install. It continues to astound me that a substantial number of HN users see absolutely nothing wrong with this.