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Aurora Store Accounts Blocked by Google
- mikece 3y agoI don't know when it started but I had the same issue on a Samsung tablet yesterday afternoon. If Google permanently blocks access to the Play Store from Aurora then that will be sufficient for me to finally spend the money to get an iPad.
- jeroenhd 3y agoI get that you want to send a message, but what problem does moving to iOS solve? You have the same restrictions, in fact even worse ones, with way fewer options for accountless downloads.
- lost_tourist 3y agoiOS doesn't spy on you nearly as much google. They also don't sell your data to 3rd parties for a couple of pennies. They have their issues but google absolutely data mines everything on your phone to sell to their clients
- mikece 3y agoI am less concerned that Apple will exploit my data because they make plenty on the hardware; in the case of Android gear Google's whole point is exploit any data they can for profit. I have few use cases for a tablet as it is (photography being the big one: Canon Camera Connect) so if Google makes it impossible to get/update that app I'll just switch platforms. (If not an iPad then perhaps a laptop but that's far more bulky to take on a photo shoot.)
- Stiffly6471 3y agoThe part where you said:"I am less concerned that Apple will exploit my data because they make plenty on the hardware." feels like such a naive way to think about Apple. This is what Forbes had to say about it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2021/10/19/apples-ad-network-is-the-biggest-beneficiary-of-apples-new-marketing-rules-report/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkoetsier/2021/10/19/apples-...
- malicka 3y agoPeople switching from Android to iOS for privacy reasons seems myopic to me. Apple is, ultimately, a company. There is no such thing as them “making enough money.” If they can double-dip by both selling data and selling hardware, they will. It's not a matter of if, but when. De-Googled Android is objectively a more privacy-friendly option than iOS.
- CharlesW 3y ago> People switching from Android to iOS for privacy reasons seems myopic to me. Apple is, ultimately, a company. They're not the same. Google generates ~80% of its revenue from an ads product built on user data. Apple has an ad product which generates ~5% of its revenue (mostly from App Store ads), collects far less info¹, does not share user info with third parties, and lets users turn off personalized ad targeting with a simple toggle². ¹ https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/apple-advertising/ https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/data/en/apple-advertisin... ² https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202074 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202074
- NewJazz 3y agoNobody said they were the same, just pointing out in the end both will pursue the ad market.
- CharlesW 3y agoMy point is that Google's business model is intrinsically privacy-eroding¹, and Apple's business model is (for the foreseeable future) privacy-supporting¹. This is not to claim that Apple is "good", but that privacy is good business to Apple and is odious to Google. This is why switching is not myopic, in my estimation. ¹ (because that behavior supports their primary sources of revenue)
- lmm 3y agoBoth of them are trying to make as much money as they can from hardware and ads. Currently Apple is doing better at one and Google is doing better at the other, but that seems like a contingent fact rather than a deep difference.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- worik 3y ago> . If Google permanently blocks access to the Play Store from Aurora then that will be sufficient for me to finally spend the money to get an iPad. Google is a clumsy puppy compared to Apple. Good luck making a client for the iOS play store. It would be funny, if not for the fact that this duopoly is a dreadful break on innovation in the mobile software space. It is tragic
- usernew 3y agoI'm seriously not getting this POV, which I see a lot. Yes, some apps are only available in the play store, and the maker of them does not publish them anywhere else. How's that google's fault again? Are you mad at Twitter because Starbucks doesn't sell their coffee there? There is no vendor "duopoly" between google and apple. There are about a thousand flavors of Android, and a bunch of phone makers - and google isn't even the top Android seller. The only one I've used with a play store was for like a year in 2010. There is a technology duopoly, but the technology part has nothing to do with google. Much like there's no triopoly between windows/macos/linux. Because "Linux" is not a vendor. Linux is like "car," not like "Toyota." Windows is like "bicycle with lawnmower engine held on with duct tape." Macos is like "you're eating this absolute shit, and it does taste good"
- lmm 3y ago> Yes, some apps are only available in the play store, and the maker of them does not publish them anywhere else. How's that google's fault again? Are you mad at Twitter because Starbucks doesn't sell their coffee there? I can buy from Starbucks anonymously, or give my friend money to buy something for me. If they're calling it a "store" then that comes with an implication that you don't have to consent to being creeped on to get stuff from there. They also did a bait-and-switch where they initially touted android's openness, but then moved an increasing amount of core functionality into google play services and encouraged app makers to depend on that. > There is no vendor "duopoly" between google and apple. There are about a thousand flavors of Android, and a bunch of phone makers - and google isn't even the top Android seller. The only one I've used with a play store was for like a year in 2010. There is absolutely an app store duopoly - it's a different duopoly in China than the rest of the world, but that's a distraction. The fact that they're able to sustain their 30% cut shows how much market power they have.
- josephcsible 3y agoThat feels like cutting off your nose to spite your face, since iOS is still way more locked down than Android. If your employer cut your salary from $100k to $90k, would you respond by quitting and going to work somewhere else for $50k?
- Aachen 3y agoPer another comment, and keeping with your analogy, they think the work at the 50k$ employer is nicer | that Apple isn't as evil as Google. Not saying they're right or wrong, but that's valid logic if true. Personally I find the other ways in which you get locked down+in to already be so not worth it that it's not even a question I've needed to consider.
- hef19898 3y agoIsn't Google forban antitrust fine from the EU with that? With all those new rules about sideloading?
- fodmap 3y agoYes, IANAL but that sounds like a clear abuse of a market dominant position to me.
- sigmar 3y agoTo be clear, aurora store is an alternative method to access the google play store and download apps from it. This change isn't making sideloading more difficult, it is making it more difficult to access play store apps without installing the play store.
- CobrastanJorji 3y agoI'm unfamiliar with what's going on here. It sounds like this thing vends Google account credentials for a small pool of accounts to be used anonymously? I've gotta be misunderstanding something because that sounds like something that definitely should be blocked and would be wildly outside of Google's terms. How does this thingy work?
- CameronNemo 3y agoYou've got it exactly right. Unfortunately, Google's Play Store is the only source for a number of proprietary applications that work mostly okay on degoogled android systems, including: * my bank app, and probably your's too * iNaturalist * various dating apps such as tinder, bumble, hinge, coffee meets bagel Edit: wonder if I could use a mirror instead? Edit2: ugh tried apkmirror. Might work. The client has ads (pretty sure google ads...) and popups. Some of the ads contained a download button? I got confused and concerned. Dipped out. I'll just be more dependent on my workstation(s). Phone still works as a phone, I presume.
- darkmighty 3y agoI really wish commercial apps would support alternative app stores. There are far worse offenders than Google, but it's currently quite intrusive and who knows if it won't get worse. I doubt the billions in rent they must collect every year on app sales really go on improving the OS experience. F-droid repository format would be easy enough to support a commercial repository you could manually activate, with signing and all.
- londons_explore 3y ago> I doubt the billions in rent they must collect every year on app sales really go on improving the OS experience. Google has huge numbers of engineers working on Android... Although I do kinda wonder exactly what they're working on, considering each release of Android seems to be not very different from the previous one...
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- kornhole 3y agoThis is a major problem for most people with a degoogled phone. Luckily I am using Graphene which provides a sandboxed Google Play services. This means that the only access you need to give it is network access rather than the promiscuous normal access it has to just about everything on your device. https://grapheneos.org/features#sandboxed-google-play https://grapheneos.org/features#sandboxed-google-play It would be helpful if others can share here how to extract and install APK's outside the Play store.
- fodmap 3y agoGraphene OS is a very interesting option but it only runs in Google's Pixel phones for now, so I'm waiting for the day it could be installed in other devices.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- fyloraspit 3y agoYou might be waiting a while. If you read the documentation I think they get into to the reasons for that pretty thoroughly. As a side note, I think the prices for 5's and 6's is pretty reasonable right now (they seem to have fallen a bit from a year or 2 ago).
- brewdad 3y agoI've always loved the irony of needing a Google phone so that you can run an OS the de-Googles your phone.
- nibbleshifter 3y agoIIRC the devs are only supporting Pixel devices because they are at least vaguely sane. Supporting random other devices would be a nightmare.
- noman-land 3y agoAbsolutely loving GrapheneOS for the past year plus. It's my primary device and I have no problems.
- netfortius 3y agoHuge issue with those having to use a phone from one country with apps local to another country - very common for extensive travel, as the formal Google play store locality change is only allowed once per year.
- lazycouchpotato 3y agoI'm not sure how many different countries you visit, but if it's 2-3 you can set up multiple Google accounts and quickly switch between them in the Play Store by swiping up/down on your profile picture.
- Freak_NL 3y agoYeah, that's annoying. Public transport companies sometimes have this issue, where they don't offer travel planning on their normal website, but tell everyone to use their app, only you can't install it because you're not from that country nor in that country when you're preparing to travel there from the comforts of your home.
- CameronNemo 3y agoDoes Amtrak still only tweet whenever their trains are delayed?
- crazygringo 3y agoThat's never been true. That's been available on their site for as long as I can remember. Long before they had an app that would tell you as well. Heck, I'm pretty sure before Twitter even existed.
- gavaw 3y agoYou can change your account's country by opening the store and tapping on your avatar. It's a bit convoluted (requires you to make up an address) but it's not the end of the world.
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- 0xedd 3y agoUse a Linux phone. Contribute. My bank has a website.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Operyl 3y agoSome banks don’t expose everything on their website, sometimes it’s only available in their mobile app.
- staringback 3y agoChange banks then. Free market at work
- Operyl 3y agoI wish it were that simple, sometimes. Not everybody is in a position to, for varying reasons. We’re privileged to have that ability. There are entire groups of people who just can’t because of being “black listed” for one reason or another.
- usernew 3y agoPlease let me know what bank lets me deposit a check on their website by taking a photo of it.
- ktosobcy 3y agooh ffs... i do hope tha we will soon see alter alternative stores. unfortunately android (with iOS) has virtual monopoly and they force dumb stores...
- ewoodrich 3y agoAurora isn't an alternative app store, it's an alternative method of accessing the Google Play Store. F-Droid is an alternative app store on Android usually used by degoogled phones.
- Aachen 3y agoWith alternative stores, I'm hoping that we'll get a choice in where to install public transport apps, Spotify, Discord, games, et cetera from, rather than having the choice between Google and illegal mirroring sites (the app's owner holds copyright and didn't authorise something like apkmirror/apkpure to distribute with ads and potential malware, though they've proven more reliable on the latter front than early apk redistribution sites). That's how I also read GP's comment, but your reading is also a valid one.
- ktosobcy 3y agoCorrect and I do get most of my apps from f-droid but unfortunately majority of big apps (banks, IMs) are on Google play only... because there is no sane/official alternative now (even f-droid can't update the apps automatically... )
- toastercat 3y agoIt's been a great app, but I've found myself relying on APK Mirror more and more. Would be nice if there was a more up-to-date APK Mirror client that can handle updates automatically.
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y agoMany apps are removed from APK Mirror via DMCA takedown.
- flangola7 3y agoWhy would they even honor that?
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 3y agohttps://www.apkmirror.com/dmca-copyright-infringement-notification/ https://www.apkmirror.com/dmca-copyright-infringement-notifi...
- fyloraspit 3y agoWelp.. lucky I updated a couple of days ago.
- blangk 3y agoFor those affected, I just tested, and there was a Signal update available which successfully completed. Perhaps updates for existing / old users will continue to work? Fingers crossed
- foreheadhurts 3y agoIts tangential to your point, but Signal offers apk downloads from its site, and the app itself does auto-update. "Advanced users with special needs can download the Signal APK directly." https://signal.org/android/apk/ https://signal.org/android/apk/
- BiteCode_dev 3y agoSeems like Google is spending way more energy in preventing user to avoid being spied upon by them than they are actually moderating the app store against spywares and malwares. Aurora wouldn't need to exist if they gave us an easy way to get apps from the Play store without giving control of our entire phone to the worst privacy offenders on earth.
- brucethemoose2 3y agoWell yeah, they lose money from the former and (in the short term) make money by ignoring the later.
- wildredkraut 3y agoI hope they file a report to the EU‘s Digital Market Act Commission.
- smnrg 3y agoObtainium is open source and can download/update directly from source on GitHub or GitLab—or even use directly F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid, Mullvad, Signal, APKMirror, APKPure, Steam, Telegram, VLC, Neutron. https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium https://github.com/ImranR98/Obtainium
- t0bia_s 3y agoSolution: 1. Settings -> Apps -> Default apps -> Opening links -> Aurora Store -> Add link -> check both boxes 2. Search for your desired app with any web browser + search engine, long press on the play store link 3. Open link in external app (Aurora Store) 4. No need to de-anonymize yourself or wait for an update. Hopefully this gets fixed soon.
- easyKL 3y agoUnfortunately this workaround doesn't seem to allow you to get the download button on Aurora Store for the searched app: "App purchases not available on Anonymous accounts" But you'll get the Update tab for the already installed apps.
- t0bia_s 3y agoWell clearly you cannot licence purchased apps on play store outside play store. But it works for all free apps.