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Do ordinary people side load at all? Assuming most people use the phone to do something else, and not for the sake of using the phone, after you get the apps yo
by oneplane 1y ago
Do ordinary people side load at all? Assuming most people use the phone to do something else, and not for the sake of using the phone, after you get the apps you want/need, ordinary people are likely to just do the same thing/consume the same apps over and over.
- nashashmi 1y agoYes. We download an apk file. And then install it after it giving it permission that it is ok to install unverified apks. Some of the more savvy ordinary people even export apps as apk for other phones.
- omoikane 1y agoMajority of users don't sideload any apps according to: https://zimperium.com/blog/the-hidden-risks-of-sideloading-apps https://zimperium.com/blog/the-hidden-risks-of-sideloading-a...
- WillPostForFood 1y agoA majority do not, but the article characterizes it more positively: Sideloading is a fairly popular practice. Our research indicates that 18.3% of mobile users globally engage in sideloading. In some regions, such as the Asia Pacific, the impact is as high as 43%.
- godelski 1y agoYou say that like 18% is just some rounding error. About 1 in 5 users sideload?! That's not something to ignore
- fsflover 1y agoThey "sideload" apps on desktop, which we usually call "installing software". They would probably do it on a phone, too.
- godelski 1y agoThis! It's crazy how we act like phones are dramatically different than other computers. An average computer user can go to a website, click "download" and then we think the average phone user can't do the exact same thing? It's the same people! They might be used to downloading from one location but it would be laughable to think they couldn't do the normal thing too (To clarify, I mean apps. Things like GrapheneOS you're going to run into the same issues as expecting my grandma to install Linux. Might be doable but it isn't quite there yet)
- strcat 1y agoGrapheneOS can be purchased preinstalled on devices and https://grapheneos.org/install/web https://grapheneos.org/install/web is far easier than installing a desktop OS.
- godelski 1y agoI appreciate you sharing, but right now this is a bit too much for the average person. I don't think it is too much for a motivated average person, but right now people give up pretty easily and people are a bit scared of it. Maybe it is a self-fulfilling prophecy though.
- ackbar03 1y agoA lot of Chinese apps still do. Mostly cause I guess they don't allow Google play store in China (? I think it's blocked, can't quite remember for sure)
- ge96 1y agoI've only side loaded my own app through Android Studio edit: which I'm not even sure if that counts as side loading
- Jotalea 1y agoit does
- yread 1y agoEveryone should side load the epic games, just to stick it to the MAN/Google
- ikiris 1y agoInstalling the epic games launcher is just sticking it to yourself. I love steam, but epic is very user hostile.
- hiccuphippo 1y agoToo bad Steam doesn't have an app for actual mobile games. I wonder if there is an agreement between them and Google. I heard there was one with Blizzard from the Epic vs Apple/Google case.
- londons_explore 1y agoA lot of my non-techy friends have a sideloaded copy of spotify/youtube to get premium features for free. I think they just blindly follow some guide they find on tiktok.
- plumeria 1y agoSpotify uses something like the Play Integrity API to prevent access using modded APKs.
- porridgeraisin 1y agoThere are still many modded apks that work. My friends still use them.
- plumeria 1y agoI’m talking about the Spotify case, I’m sure there are a lot of naive apps that don’t use APK integrity checks.
- porridgeraisin 1y agoYes... I obviously meant many modded Spotify APKs. I don't know how exactly but there seems to be a way to get around the integrity API.
- bpfrh 1y agoI installed fdroid on a friends phone and they use it install newpipe and keep it up to date, without having a tech savy friend around to download the apk relase from github.
- elzbardico 1y agoIf I haven't prohibited him, I am pretty sure my 11 years old son would have installed dozens of pirated games and apps of dubious provenance on his phone. But I am pretty sure that like any other teenagers since the beginning of time he obeys me, and has only rooted his phone for educational purposes. His friends, though, I am not so sure.
- Jotalea 1y agoWhen I was his age I had an old Android phone, but I couldn't play LAN with my friends because I couldn't sideload nor buy the game due to parental controls. I borrowed an extra phone from my friend and sideloaded the game there and we could play.
- consumer451 1y agoI believe that the official DJI app required side loading on Android. Not sure if it still does.
- croemer 1y agoYes, my health relies on it. I sideload a glucose monitor app that's not available through Playstore (it's FOSS and health is a tricky area with liability). It's a fantastic app and the ability to sideload it is a major reason I use Android over iOS. I also sideload a patched app of the Dexcom glucose reader OEM's shitty app to allow the data to be read by the better (sideload) FOSS app. https://github.com/NightscoutFoundation/xDrip https://github.com/NightscoutFoundation/xDrip https://www.patreon.com/byod/about https://www.patreon.com/byod/about? Ok I'm not an ordinary person, I guess, but if I was I'd still use those apps and I know people who are ordinary and do so.
- inquirerGeneral 1y ago[dead]
- miki123211 1y ago> Do ordinary people side load at all? Yes, usually when somebody calls them, pretends to be from the security department of their bank, and asks them to install an app to "catch the hacker who just stole $2000 from your account in the act." In countries where Android is popular (not the US), this is an extremely common scam vector.
- Jotalea 1y agoeven though I've never seen this method in action, I have thought of it and it could be effective.