6 ms·

Why the hell should we "mother may I" with Google for running apps on our own phones if it isn't sourced from the Play Store? The "security" rationale is horse

Why the hell should we "mother may I" with Google for running apps on our own phones if it isn't sourced from the Play Store? The "security" rationale is horseshit given just how much malware is readily download able on the Play Store. Google never cleans its own house before going after others.

hparadiz 7mo ago
Don't you know? If one elderly person gets scammed we all deserve to be infantilized.
- RedComet 7mo ago
  Wouldn't it be something if, given all the surveillance already in place, law enforcement punished the scammers instead of the innocent?
  - Ms-J 7mo ago
    But then how would they police what you install? Maybe you have the criminal idea of installing an adblocker, for example. That is not allowed since corporations need to make money. The government and ad networks need to track you for your benefit. Ads are needed before listening to each minute of a song. You must submit to crpyto miners running in the background from the ads, increasing your electricity bill and pollution. Only USA sanctioned and approved ads are allowed, also. We wouldn't want you seeing an ad from a competing entity, right? If you install an ablocker, you are a terrorist and broke 324582 American laws.
  - miki123211 7mo ago
    The scammers are often in a very different country than the victim. Finding the scammer is only 50% of the work, the other 50% is diplomacy and hoping the other side is willing to extradite. This is not made easier if the police force in the scammer's country is extremely corrupt. This is why those scams so often rely on gift cards (or sometimes on cash which a local mule converts to crypto).
    - cute_boi 7mo ago
      Many banking scams involve fake checks and deposits into other accounts, but I don’t see the government or banks taking active steps to stop them.
    - gzread 7mo ago
      Maybe they can just sanction that person? Block them from making phone calls to the country and publishing apps?
- benoau 7mo ago
  (nevermind that the scams are extraordinarily likely to come through Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon)
  - fluidcruft 7mo ago
    The scams are likely to some from outside Play. In the US, these scams don't run because iPhone is the dominant platform and side loading in iOS is not possible. In the rest of world they are widespread.
    - benoau 7mo ago
      Outside Play, on YouTube or via Google Ads for many of them. Likewise for Meta ads.
      - fluidcruft 7mo ago
        The scams that are happening in the rest of world are calls posing as bank support about urgent security issues and telling people to install apps to protect their accounts.
        direwolf20 7mo ago
        In the USA they tell you to install AnyDesk and remote access your computer. Or they just ask for your password. Or forge a check.
        fluidcruft 7mo ago
        Does not sound like an Android problem. Maybe ask Microsoft or Apple about that.
        happymellon 7mo ago
        All the scams are for apps that are already in the Play and App store.
- packetlost 7mo ago
  Ok, but the vast majority of people do need their hand held because they're incompetent, naive, or both. IMO this is pro consumer move
  - AlBugdy 7mo ago
    We shouldn't let naive or mentally disabled people to dictate how computing should work. That's the same logic behind the age verification shit that's happening worldwide. If you (not you specifically) are unsure of your abilities to use computers, let a friend or a family member buy a dumbed down device for you or install parental controls or something. Or maybe have clicking the build number 7 times reveal "toddler mode" where you can lock your device down irreversibly as much as you want.
  - bigstrat2003 7mo ago
    No. Society should not be holding the hands of adults. It's unnecessary and it's insulting.
  - schubidubiduba 7mo ago
    It might be pro consumer if the power were lying in some kind of democratically justified organization, which then decides which apps are allowed and which are not. This way, consumers are helpless victims of the same megacorporation, which will use its near-absolute power over the mobile ecosystem (shared with one other megacorporation) to profit on the back of consumers.
  - xigoi 7mo ago
    If Google actually wanted to protect people from malware, they would not approve Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, …
  - goku12 7mo ago
    This is as pro-consumer as cutting off one's nose to cure a cold. Let me say this for the... I don't know how many times, that security, child protection, scam prevention, terrorism, miniaturization, sophistication, etc are all lies peddled by trillion-dollar megacorps to justify their cash grab, and by despotic governments to justify their consolidation of power over citizens. Nobody wants to know why all those problems still occur despite these unpopular measures. Meanwhile, NONE of those draconian restrictions on users' freedom and privacy are technically necessary to achieve any of those ideals. It's a lie that they convince the people by repeating incessantly. This is 2026, for God's sake! How long has this grift been playing out? At least two decades? What will it take people, much less the tech savvy ones, to learn that all these are designs of greedy and power lusting minds?
- expedition32 7mo ago
  Ha if we follow that to it's logical conclusion we should ban smartphones.
jojobas 7mo ago
Somehow if you replace Google with Apple in the same sentence you'll get cursed to hell. Go figure.
- goku12 7mo ago
  Says who? The fanbois? What makes you think that ordinary people are any happier with Apple's abuses than Google's? This is not a worthwhile justification for what either one of them does.
otabdeveloper4 7mo ago
It's not about malware. It's about Google complying with USA's geopolitical adventures. Basically, Google needs an answer when men in suits ask them why they have technology that enables users to install sanctioned Iranian banking apps.
Onavo 7mo ago
It's not just the US, story through the grapevine is that Google is under a lot of pressure Asian governments over "online scams". (Allegedly the main actor behind this push is Singapore)
- tosti 7mo ago
  Poor, poor Google
- rockskon 7mo ago
  They're free to make changes to Asian country phones and not let the political pressure of Asian countries impact non-Asian countries.
- Zak 7mo ago
  Singapore is not big enough to dictate terms to Google. If Singapore wanted this change and Google didn't, Singapore's most extreme option would be to ban the import of standard Android phones to a market of a few million people.

hparadiz 7mo ago

Don't you know? If one elderly person gets scammed we all deserve to be infantilized.

RedComet 7mo ago
Wouldn't it be something if, given all the surveillance already in place, law enforcement punished the scammers instead of the innocent?
- Ms-J 7mo ago
  But then how would they police what you install? Maybe you have the criminal idea of installing an adblocker, for example. That is not allowed since corporations need to make money. The government and ad networks need to track you for your benefit. Ads are needed before listening to each minute of a song. You must submit to crpyto miners running in the background from the ads, increasing your electricity bill and pollution. Only USA sanctioned and approved ads are allowed, also. We wouldn't want you seeing an ad from a competing entity, right? If you install an ablocker, you are a terrorist and broke 324582 American laws.
- miki123211 7mo ago
  The scammers are often in a very different country than the victim. Finding the scammer is only 50% of the work, the other 50% is diplomacy and hoping the other side is willing to extradite. This is not made easier if the police force in the scammer's country is extremely corrupt. This is why those scams so often rely on gift cards (or sometimes on cash which a local mule converts to crypto).
  - cute_boi 7mo ago
    Many banking scams involve fake checks and deposits into other accounts, but I don’t see the government or banks taking active steps to stop them.
  - gzread 7mo ago
    Maybe they can just sanction that person? Block them from making phone calls to the country and publishing apps?
benoau 7mo ago
(nevermind that the scams are extraordinarily likely to come through Meta, Google, Apple, Amazon)
- fluidcruft 7mo ago
  The scams are likely to some from outside Play. In the US, these scams don't run because iPhone is the dominant platform and side loading in iOS is not possible. In the rest of world they are widespread.
  - benoau 7mo ago
    Outside Play, on YouTube or via Google Ads for many of them. Likewise for Meta ads.
    - fluidcruft 7mo ago
      The scams that are happening in the rest of world are calls posing as bank support about urgent security issues and telling people to install apps to protect their accounts.
      - direwolf20 7mo ago
        In the USA they tell you to install AnyDesk and remote access your computer. Or they just ask for your password. Or forge a check.
        fluidcruft 7mo ago
        Does not sound like an Android problem. Maybe ask Microsoft or Apple about that.
      - happymellon 7mo ago
        All the scams are for apps that are already in the Play and App store.
packetlost 7mo ago
Ok, but the vast majority of people do need their hand held because they're incompetent, naive, or both. IMO this is pro consumer move
- AlBugdy 7mo ago
  We shouldn't let naive or mentally disabled people to dictate how computing should work. That's the same logic behind the age verification shit that's happening worldwide. If you (not you specifically) are unsure of your abilities to use computers, let a friend or a family member buy a dumbed down device for you or install parental controls or something. Or maybe have clicking the build number 7 times reveal "toddler mode" where you can lock your device down irreversibly as much as you want.
- bigstrat2003 7mo ago
  No. Society should not be holding the hands of adults. It's unnecessary and it's insulting.
- schubidubiduba 7mo ago
  It might be pro consumer if the power were lying in some kind of democratically justified organization, which then decides which apps are allowed and which are not. This way, consumers are helpless victims of the same megacorporation, which will use its near-absolute power over the mobile ecosystem (shared with one other megacorporation) to profit on the back of consumers.
- xigoi 7mo ago
  If Google actually wanted to protect people from malware, they would not approve Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, …
- goku12 7mo ago
  This is as pro-consumer as cutting off one's nose to cure a cold. Let me say this for the... I don't know how many times, that security, child protection, scam prevention, terrorism, miniaturization, sophistication, etc are all lies peddled by trillion-dollar megacorps to justify their cash grab, and by despotic governments to justify their consolidation of power over citizens. Nobody wants to know why all those problems still occur despite these unpopular measures. Meanwhile, NONE of those draconian restrictions on users' freedom and privacy are technically necessary to achieve any of those ideals. It's a lie that they convince the people by repeating incessantly. This is 2026, for God's sake! How long has this grift been playing out? At least two decades? What will it take people, much less the tech savvy ones, to learn that all these are designs of greedy and power lusting minds?
expedition32 7mo ago
Ha if we follow that to it's logical conclusion we should ban smartphones.

jojobas 7mo ago

Somehow if you replace Google with Apple in the same sentence you'll get cursed to hell. Go figure.

goku12 7mo ago
Says who? The fanbois? What makes you think that ordinary people are any happier with Apple's abuses than Google's? This is not a worthwhile justification for what either one of them does.

otabdeveloper4 7mo ago

It's not about malware. It's about Google complying with USA's geopolitical adventures. Basically, Google needs an answer when men in suits ask them why they have technology that enables users to install sanctioned Iranian banking apps.

Onavo 7mo ago

It's not just the US, story through the grapevine is that Google is under a lot of pressure Asian governments over "online scams". (Allegedly the main actor behind this push is Singapore)

tosti 7mo ago
Poor, poor Google
rockskon 7mo ago
They're free to make changes to Asian country phones and not let the political pressure of Asian countries impact non-Asian countries.
Zak 7mo ago
Singapore is not big enough to dictate terms to Google. If Singapore wanted this change and Google didn't, Singapore's most extreme option would be to ban the import of standard Android phones to a market of a few million people.