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Next year digital markets act will go in full power in EU. Google will have to allow alternative app stores on Google Play. Right now Google does not allow alt

Next year digital markets act will go in full power in EU. Google will have to allow alternative app stores on Google Play. Right now Google does not allow alternative app stores like F-Droid (FOSS), Steam etc. on Google Play. The important part is that it will be user-friendly install, instead of preinstalled app or hacky dev-like experience.

systemicdanna 4y ago
Looking forward to a new insidious workaround Google and Apple will use to limit the impact of this legislation.
- Isinlor 4y ago
  EU Commission has quite extensive and nimble executive powers with regard to gatekeepers like Google and Apple to prevent that.
  - vezycash 4y ago
    A simple workaround is region lock - follow the regulation for EU residents only.
    - Isinlor 4y ago
      That's fine for me as I'm in EU :) .
    - SXX 4y ago
      AFAIK this workaround did not work in case of GDPR so I doubt it will work in case of stores regulation. Basically figuring out who is or not EU resident is complicated and huge legal minifield.
danpalmer 4y ago
> Google will have to allow alternative app stores on Google Play. Play is a store. It's used on Android, which allows other stores, of which there are many.
- ncann 4y ago
  But you can't install the store itself (e.g. fdroid) from Play Store at the moment
  - danpalmer 4y ago
    Ah right I see what you mean. That's a whole different can of worms.
  - YetAnotherNick 4y ago
    It's not that complicated to download APK and install it. Most people don't download is because they don't trust other stores the way they trust Google. And Google could definitely make it much more harder to download F Droid in play store by presenting warnings(some of which are legitimate) or even not allowing it on search.
    - Isinlor 4y ago
      If Google will keep applying taxes on apps on Google Play then other companies will educate users that it's ok to install alternatives the same way it works on Windows with Steam, GOG Galaxy etc.
    - Retric 4y ago
      I think your “not that complicated” threshold is well past what most users are ok with.
    - qzx_pierri 4y ago
      >It's not that complicated to download APK and install it It's not complicated to reset your windows password either, but there are entire careers dedicated to helping average people do it because not everyone is technically inclined.
    - mayankkaizen 4y ago
      I practically don't know anybody (except for tech literate guys) who doesn't install non-Play store apps because of security reasons. Also, average guy doesn't know about APK stuff. If another app store is allowed, people will definitely download apps from there, though I believe percentage would be quite low.
izacus 4y ago
No, they don't need to allow alternative stores on their store. They need to allow alternative stores on Android - which already exist (Galaxy Store, Amazon Store, F-Droid, et. al.) They just need to give them fully equal status than Play Store (I think they promised this for Android 13, not sure what the state is.)
- xxpor 4y ago
  what would "fully equal status" mean? for as long as I can remember, as long as you give the store permission to install apps, it works basically the same?
  - JCWasmx86 4y ago
    I can only guess, but automatic updates maybe?
  - indymike 4y ago
    The installation process requires extra user intervention vs. Play store.
  - izacus 4y ago
    The big one was the fact that silently installing apps was a privileged permission only allowed to preloaded system apps (with good reason). This prevented 3rd party stores from background updating apps because you had to manually confirm each update via system dialog. The API seems to have been added in Android 12 actually [1], but I'm not sure if app stores use it already. [1]: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/PackageInstaller.SessionParams#setRequireUserAction(int) https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/P...
    - charcircuit 4y ago
      fdroid doesn't. They still have horrible UX for installing updates and it fails to install more than half of the time.
pmx 4y ago
From the start google has allowed alternative app stores on android, samsung phones come with the samsung app store installed by default and there are many, for example f-droid you can install yourself.
- Isinlor 4y ago
  Now they will be forced to allow them on Google Play directly with user-friendly install.
- dathinab 4y ago
  But not through the existing app store, you have to go through what google termed "side-loading" which was pushed to be seen as "very dangerous thing no one should ever do no matter what"
- otikik 4y ago
  I owned 2 Samsungs and that wasn’t possible on any of them. Either it wasn’t “from the start”, or it wasn’t on all models, or it involved rooting the phone first, which voids the warranty, at which point I wouldn’t count that as “allowed”.
alphabetting 4y ago
are there alternative app stores on iOS?
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

systemicdanna 4y ago

Looking forward to a new insidious workaround Google and Apple will use to limit the impact of this legislation.

Isinlor 4y ago
EU Commission has quite extensive and nimble executive powers with regard to gatekeepers like Google and Apple to prevent that.
- vezycash 4y ago
  A simple workaround is region lock - follow the regulation for EU residents only.
  - Isinlor 4y ago
    That's fine for me as I'm in EU :) .
  - SXX 4y ago
    AFAIK this workaround did not work in case of GDPR so I doubt it will work in case of stores regulation. Basically figuring out who is or not EU resident is complicated and huge legal minifield.

danpalmer 4y ago

> Google will have to allow alternative app stores on Google Play. Play is a store. It's used on Android, which allows other stores, of which there are many.

ncann 4y ago
But you can't install the store itself (e.g. fdroid) from Play Store at the moment
- danpalmer 4y ago
  Ah right I see what you mean. That's a whole different can of worms.
- YetAnotherNick 4y ago
  It's not that complicated to download APK and install it. Most people don't download is because they don't trust other stores the way they trust Google. And Google could definitely make it much more harder to download F Droid in play store by presenting warnings(some of which are legitimate) or even not allowing it on search.
  - Isinlor 4y ago
    If Google will keep applying taxes on apps on Google Play then other companies will educate users that it's ok to install alternatives the same way it works on Windows with Steam, GOG Galaxy etc.
  - Retric 4y ago
    I think your “not that complicated” threshold is well past what most users are ok with.
  - qzx_pierri 4y ago
    >It's not that complicated to download APK and install it It's not complicated to reset your windows password either, but there are entire careers dedicated to helping average people do it because not everyone is technically inclined.
  - mayankkaizen 4y ago
    I practically don't know anybody (except for tech literate guys) who doesn't install non-Play store apps because of security reasons. Also, average guy doesn't know about APK stuff. If another app store is allowed, people will definitely download apps from there, though I believe percentage would be quite low.

izacus 4y ago

No, they don't need to allow alternative stores on their store. They need to allow alternative stores on Android - which already exist (Galaxy Store, Amazon Store, F-Droid, et. al.) They just need to give them fully equal status than Play Store (I think they promised this for Android 13, not sure what the state is.)

xxpor 4y ago
what would "fully equal status" mean? for as long as I can remember, as long as you give the store permission to install apps, it works basically the same?
- JCWasmx86 4y ago
  I can only guess, but automatic updates maybe?
- indymike 4y ago
  The installation process requires extra user intervention vs. Play store.
- izacus 4y ago
  The big one was the fact that silently installing apps was a privileged permission only allowed to preloaded system apps (with good reason). This prevented 3rd party stores from background updating apps because you had to manually confirm each update via system dialog. The API seems to have been added in Android 12 actually [1], but I'm not sure if app stores use it already. [1]: https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/PackageInstaller.SessionParams#setRequireUserAction(int) https://developer.android.com/reference/android/content/pm/P...
  - charcircuit 4y ago
    fdroid doesn't. They still have horrible UX for installing updates and it fails to install more than half of the time.

pmx 4y ago

From the start google has allowed alternative app stores on android, samsung phones come with the samsung app store installed by default and there are many, for example f-droid you can install yourself.

Isinlor 4y ago
Now they will be forced to allow them on Google Play directly with user-friendly install.
dathinab 4y ago
But not through the existing app store, you have to go through what google termed "side-loading" which was pushed to be seen as "very dangerous thing no one should ever do no matter what"
otikik 4y ago
I owned 2 Samsungs and that wasn’t possible on any of them. Either it wasn’t “from the start”, or it wasn’t on all models, or it involved rooting the phone first, which voids the warranty, at which point I wouldn’t count that as “allowed”.

alphabetting 4y ago

are there alternative app stores on iOS?

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]