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Ask HN: Will you stick with Android/Pixel if/when Apple allows “sideloading”?
I've been a long time Android user and supporter as it is the only legitimate mobile operating system these days that allows me to install applications outside of a walled garden. Once this is no longer the case, I fear I'll be eager to jump ship to the OS written in proper C (I suppose Obj. C would be more accurate) without the encumbrance and tech debt of Java at its core, and as much as it pains me, all the good mobile UX patents, such as springy menus (without graphical scaling) and proper page turning + text scaling in the Books app.
I have to admit, as a very long term Android supporter, that there are a lot of desirable things about iOS that Android can't or simply doesn't have. I also have to come to terms with the fact that "sideloading" is the one killer feature Android has that has prevented me from using iOS in any meaningful capacity.
I'm putting sideloading in quotes because I feel like it's been used recently as a slightly disingenuous term to frame what computer users used to simply call "installing" as some kind of hack, or "loading" software around the "side" of the garden wall. In the past, "sideloading" was simply called "installing". But that's a completely different topic that I'll leave to another day to get into.
- itg 4y agoIt depends on how Apple implements the sideloading feature. They always take the "malicious compliance" route when forced to do something by law and I think they will make installing apps outside their App Store as irritating as they possibly can. I'm also going to stick with Android for now since it plays nicer with Linux and have no interest in buying an Apple laptop.
- retrocryptid 4y agomeh. i just bought a punkt mp02. i'm tired of this smart-phone BS.
- dagmx 4y agoIsn’t it still a smartphone though? It runs android and technically has apps. It just hides it from you with a skin.
- retrocryptid 4y agoI think we have different definitions of "smart phone"
- dagmx 4y agoPossibly. IMHO all their devices are just smart phones with forced restraint. Other than the styling, the launcher is just hiding access from any non first party apps. But you’re still running apps that have the full capabilities of a smartphone, which can be quite far reaching.
- smoldesu 4y agoI don't think about my phone enough to justify switching. I get calls, texts, listen to music, sync my notes and do all my other stuff just fine. What do I stand to gain from buying an iPhone at this point? Maybe if there's a killer feature one day. That could be the sideloading if it's robust enough to support Vulkan and Box86, but something tells me Apple will be clipping it's wings a bit. I guess I'm not a heavy enough Instagram or Snapchat user to know the difference. Am I old now? Is this what it feels like to be Grandpa?
- shrimp_emoji 4y agoYep. Apple is a jailor of gilded cages, and I'd feel stupid to trust them. :p