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The march towards being a half-assed Apple continues. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3700731 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3700731 The disappointme

The march towards being a half-assed Apple continues. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3700731 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3700731 The disappointment continues as well. I never would have thought replacing Eric Schmidt as CEO was a bad thing, and I'm sure there are more factors at play here than just that, but I can trace my waning support of Google to a pretty specific time that happens to coincide with Page taking the CEO spot.

w1ntermute 15y ago
And this is where the strength of Android shows. Just download and install the APK: https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun/downloads https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun/downloads And if this keeps up, someone will just make an alternate market.
- cma 15y ago
  There are already tons of alternate markets, including one run by Amazon...
  - rplnt 15y ago
    Two other (not only) android markets backed by well-known companies: http://apps.opera.com/ http://apps.opera.com/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/apps/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/apps/ (coming soon?)
- georgemcbay 15y ago
  You can jailbreak an iOS device and install whatever you want as well, that doesn't change the fact that Apple makes ridiculous decisions about what can and can't appear on the app store. My problem with this decision isn't that it makes it impossible for me to install this one app, but rather that it looks very much like the path towards where Apple is, where maybe I have to install a custom Cyanogenmod build on my Android phone just to have the option to install non-'Play' APKs (this isn't the situation now, but I can much more easily see this happening today than I could a year ago).
  - keeperofdakeys 15y ago
    Due to the popularity of external markets, like amazon, I don't think this kind of change is going to occur without a very huge shakeup.
    - georgemcbay 15y ago
      This is a good point and I agree. Given that Google has already been looked at for anti-trust violations, I'm sure a move towards disabling APK installing that essentially killed the Amazon market on non-Kindle devices would cause a massive blowup and as such they'll probably avoid doing this. I'd still rather support a company that kept that feature in because they believed in it rather than because they are afraid of what Amazon and/or the US/EU will do if they change it. Unfortunately, I'm less sure than ever that Google will do the open thing because it is the open thing and not because changing it to the closed thing would be too painful. And that sucks.
  - w1ntermute 15y ago
    > it looks very much like the path towards where Apple is, where maybe I have to install a custom Cyanogenmod build on my Android phone just to have the option to install non-'Play' APKs I find it very difficult to believe that Google will remove sideloading. Things have actually moved in the opposite direction. For example, after preventing sideloading for years, AT&T made the decision to enable it last May[0]. Apparently that was thanks to Amazon. So since there are already 2 dominant markets, I don't think it'll happen going forward. Also, keep in mind that Google has a dominant position in the smartphone market, so such restrictions could draw interest from antitrust regulators. 0: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/att-sideload-android-amazon/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/att-sideload-android-...
    - rplnt 15y ago
      And it's not Google's decision either.
  - sp332 15y ago
    You don't have to root or jailbreak your Android phone to sideload apps. You don't have to worry about future updates breaking your jailbreak. Just push one button in the settings and you can install apps from any source, even alternative markets like Amazon's app store. http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b?ie=UTF8&node=2350149011 http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b?ie=UTF8&node=2350149...
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- ZeroGravitas 15y ago
  Since it's open source* it's already available in the F-droid repository (which in this context would be called a Market, if it weren't all free): F-droid installer: https://f-droid.org/FDroid.apk https://f-droid.org/FDroid.apk Web link to RIF http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=reddit%20is%20fun&fdid=com.andrewshu.android.reddit&fdpage=1 http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=reddit%20is%2... * I'm currently using Diode which is a fork of the older RIF app.
Alex3917 15y ago
It's amazing how fast Google has gone from having arguably the most respected brand in America to having a brand that stands for almost nothing. However, this has been something that's been at least five years coming so I don't think it's necessarily fair to blame it on Page taking over.
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w1ntermute 15y ago

And this is where the strength of Android shows. Just download and install the APK: https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun/downloads https://github.com/talklittle/reddit-is-fun/downloads And if this keeps up, someone will just make an alternate market.

cma 15y ago
There are already tons of alternate markets, including one run by Amazon...
- rplnt 15y ago
  Two other (not only) android markets backed by well-known companies: http://apps.opera.com/ http://apps.opera.com/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/apps/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/apps/ (coming soon?)
georgemcbay 15y ago
You can jailbreak an iOS device and install whatever you want as well, that doesn't change the fact that Apple makes ridiculous decisions about what can and can't appear on the app store. My problem with this decision isn't that it makes it impossible for me to install this one app, but rather that it looks very much like the path towards where Apple is, where maybe I have to install a custom Cyanogenmod build on my Android phone just to have the option to install non-'Play' APKs (this isn't the situation now, but I can much more easily see this happening today than I could a year ago).
- keeperofdakeys 15y ago
  Due to the popularity of external markets, like amazon, I don't think this kind of change is going to occur without a very huge shakeup.
  - georgemcbay 15y ago
    This is a good point and I agree. Given that Google has already been looked at for anti-trust violations, I'm sure a move towards disabling APK installing that essentially killed the Amazon market on non-Kindle devices would cause a massive blowup and as such they'll probably avoid doing this. I'd still rather support a company that kept that feature in because they believed in it rather than because they are afraid of what Amazon and/or the US/EU will do if they change it. Unfortunately, I'm less sure than ever that Google will do the open thing because it is the open thing and not because changing it to the closed thing would be too painful. And that sucks.
- w1ntermute 15y ago
  > it looks very much like the path towards where Apple is, where maybe I have to install a custom Cyanogenmod build on my Android phone just to have the option to install non-'Play' APKs I find it very difficult to believe that Google will remove sideloading. Things have actually moved in the opposite direction. For example, after preventing sideloading for years, AT&T made the decision to enable it last May[0]. Apparently that was thanks to Amazon. So since there are already 2 dominant markets, I don't think it'll happen going forward. Also, keep in mind that Google has a dominant position in the smartphone market, so such restrictions could draw interest from antitrust regulators. 0: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/att-sideload-android-amazon/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/05/att-sideload-android-...
  - rplnt 15y ago
    And it's not Google's decision either.
- sp332 15y ago
  You don't have to root or jailbreak your Android phone to sideload apps. You don't have to worry about future updates breaking your jailbreak. Just push one button in the settings and you can install apps from any source, even alternative markets like Amazon's app store. http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b?ie=UTF8&node=2350149011 http://www.amazon.com/mobile-apps/b?ie=UTF8&node=2350149...
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ZeroGravitas 15y ago
Since it's open source* it's already available in the F-droid repository (which in this context would be called a Market, if it weren't all free): F-droid installer: https://f-droid.org/FDroid.apk https://f-droid.org/FDroid.apk Web link to RIF http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=reddit%20is%20fun&fdid=com.andrewshu.android.reddit&fdpage=1 http://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=reddit%20is%2... * I'm currently using Diode which is a fork of the older RIF app.

Alex3917 15y ago

It's amazing how fast Google has gone from having arguably the most respected brand in America to having a brand that stands for almost nothing. However, this has been something that's been at least five years coming so I don't think it's necessarily fair to blame it on Page taking over.

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