3 ms·

Being able to side load apps was why I switched to android 10 years ago

ux266478 6mo ago
Yeah. Computing freedom to have a root shell and do as I please is the entire reason I put up with Android. Google is positioning Android to just be nothing more than a worse iOS. There's pretty much no point to it anymore.
matheusmoreira 6mo ago
Same. If Google does this, my next phone will be an iPhone. Freedom is the only reason to put up with Android's shittiness. If they turn it into a walled garden, then we'll choose the better kept garden and it sure as hell isn't Google's.
- foxes 6mo ago
  What? So you dont value freedom at all? Theres other alternatives too.. graphene, lineage
  - m4rtink 6mo ago
    Sailfish OS - they even run a device preorder right now.
    - anonzzzies 6mo ago
      But is it open? Seems not; parts are closed so is that not just more of the same?
      - fsflover 6mo ago
        postmarketOS, Mobian, PureOS are open.
      - m4rtink 6mo ago
        Yeah, some bits (parts of the GUI & some of the default apps) are still closed. But I think there is a good chance they will finally open those now - never really made any sense to keep them closed and preventing the community from contributing. Rumors had it it was due to non-cooperative investors. Not Jolla is finally independent again, so at least in theory they can finally do the right thing. :)
  - matheusmoreira 6mo ago
    GrapheneOS is Android's last hope. They're making great progress with deals with smartphone manufacturers. However, the threat of remote attestation looms eternal. I have essential apps that I cannot afford to lose and if they refuse to work on a non-Google phone the usefulness of GrapheneOS is severely degraded.
    - fc417fc802 6mo ago
      If attestation ever became ubiquitous the difference between iOS and Android would cease to exist for me. I'd need a black box that lived in a desk drawer for interfacing with specific services and otherwise I'd cart around a camera in my pocket that happened to double as a linux tablet.
  - linuxmobile 6mo ago
    No, the solution is having a linux micro-computer. You buy an iPhone shitphone to do banking and whatnot, and never touch it, then just do everything you need off a retroconsole since it runs literally 120% of the other apps a phone would.
tejtm 6mo ago
Please call it what it is and always has been: I.N.S.T.A.L.L.I.N.G S.O.F.T.W.A.R.E "side load" is like "jay walking' seeks to stigmatize humans being human.
- tredre3 6mo ago
  When you jay walk you take the risk of being hit by a car, causing injuries to you, to the driver, and to other nearby people. So I don't understand your analogy? Are you suggesting that pedestrians own the streets and should do what they please, as users own their phone and should have the right to do as they please? Or something else?
  - deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
  - Xirdus 6mo ago
    The term jaywalking was invented (or possibly hijacked) by automotive lobbyists as part of a campaign in 1910s and 1920s to convince the public and the lawmakers that crossing streets outside designated points is bad and should be made illegal. Before then, it was generally considered basic human right to walk anywhere on a street. Whether you agree that jaywalking is bad or not, that's the history of the term. Grandparent is saying that the term sideloading was invented in a similar fashion to delegitimize a previously completely normal way to use an electronic device.
  - spaqin 6mo ago
    Yeah, I'm willing to use my brain and look at incoming cars and just walk when it's empty and safe to do so? Where's the problem in that? I have eyes and can judge distance and speed?
  - wiseowise 6mo ago
    > Are you suggesting that pedestrians own the streets and should do what they please In the cities? Yes, absolutely.
  - pjc50 6mo ago
EvanAnderson 6mo ago
I switched from iOS to Android about three years ago. I saved all the APKs for everything I installed (or updated) on that first phone. When I got a new phone last fall it was pleasantly like getting a new PC. I imported my SMS and contacts from my last backup (taken with an open source took I'd installed from an APK), then installed all the apps I use and imported or manually set any settings I wanted to customize. Every non-stock app on my phone was installed from an APK directly downloaded from the manufacturer or open source developer's site / Github releases. I've never had a Google Play account and have never used any Android "app store". The biggest pain was having to manually logon the couple of sites I allow to keep persistent cookies since device owners aren't allowed to just import/export cookies from mobile Chrome. It has been a very nice experience. I appreciate the feeling of sovereignty and ownership of my device (even though it does have a locked bootloader and I don't actually have root). Of course Google would take this away. >sigh<
- wishfish 6mo ago
  I did something similar. Wanted a Pixel with Graphene OS but the screen hurt my eyes. Went with a Motorola with an IPS screen. Uninstalled or disabled all the crap. Never logged into Google. Went with Obtanium and F-Droid for most software. Aurora for a couple of apps that were only on the Play Store. Used NetGuard with a whitelist to lock it all down. After all that was done, the phone felt like mine in a way that my iPhone doesn't. Was a good feeling. With luck, the Motorola + Graphene partnership will produce phones with screens better than the Pixel and I can keep doing this.
  - EvanAnderson 6mo ago
    I ended up with a Motorola phone, too (albeit with an AMOLED screen so not the model you have). I got hooked on Motorola phones because of the "chop/chop" flashlight gesture. I don't think I can use a phone without that gesture ever again! >smile< I'm hopeful, too, re: Motorola + Graphene. I wanted to use Graphene last fall wehn I got the new phone but I was committed to not giving Google any money.
  - drnick1 6mo ago

Yeah. Computing freedom to have a root shell and do as I please is the entire reason I put up with Android. Google is positioning Android to just be nothing more than a worse iOS. There's pretty much no point to it anymore.

matheusmoreira 6mo ago

Same. If Google does this, my next phone will be an iPhone. Freedom is the only reason to put up with Android's shittiness. If they turn it into a walled garden, then we'll choose the better kept garden and it sure as hell isn't Google's.

foxes 6mo ago
What? So you dont value freedom at all? Theres other alternatives too.. graphene, lineage
- m4rtink 6mo ago
  Sailfish OS - they even run a device preorder right now.
  - anonzzzies 6mo ago
    But is it open? Seems not; parts are closed so is that not just more of the same?
    - fsflover 6mo ago
      postmarketOS, Mobian, PureOS are open.
    - m4rtink 6mo ago
      Yeah, some bits (parts of the GUI & some of the default apps) are still closed. But I think there is a good chance they will finally open those now - never really made any sense to keep them closed and preventing the community from contributing. Rumors had it it was due to non-cooperative investors. Not Jolla is finally independent again, so at least in theory they can finally do the right thing. :)
- matheusmoreira 6mo ago
  GrapheneOS is Android's last hope. They're making great progress with deals with smartphone manufacturers. However, the threat of remote attestation looms eternal. I have essential apps that I cannot afford to lose and if they refuse to work on a non-Google phone the usefulness of GrapheneOS is severely degraded.
  - fc417fc802 6mo ago
    If attestation ever became ubiquitous the difference between iOS and Android would cease to exist for me. I'd need a black box that lived in a desk drawer for interfacing with specific services and otherwise I'd cart around a camera in my pocket that happened to double as a linux tablet.
- linuxmobile 6mo ago
  No, the solution is having a linux micro-computer. You buy an iPhone shitphone to do banking and whatnot, and never touch it, then just do everything you need off a retroconsole since it runs literally 120% of the other apps a phone would.

tejtm 6mo ago

Please call it what it is and always has been: I.N.S.T.A.L.L.I.N.G S.O.F.T.W.A.R.E "side load" is like "jay walking' seeks to stigmatize humans being human.

tredre3 6mo ago
When you jay walk you take the risk of being hit by a car, causing injuries to you, to the driver, and to other nearby people. So I don't understand your analogy? Are you suggesting that pedestrians own the streets and should do what they please, as users own their phone and should have the right to do as they please? Or something else?
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]
- Xirdus 6mo ago
  The term jaywalking was invented (or possibly hijacked) by automotive lobbyists as part of a campaign in 1910s and 1920s to convince the public and the lawmakers that crossing streets outside designated points is bad and should be made illegal. Before then, it was generally considered basic human right to walk anywhere on a street. Whether you agree that jaywalking is bad or not, that's the history of the term. Grandparent is saying that the term sideloading was invented in a similar fashion to delegitimize a previously completely normal way to use an electronic device.
- spaqin 6mo ago
  Yeah, I'm willing to use my brain and look at incoming cars and just walk when it's empty and safe to do so? Where's the problem in that? I have eyes and can judge distance and speed?
- wiseowise 6mo ago
  > Are you suggesting that pedestrians own the streets and should do what they please In the cities? Yes, absolutely.
- pjc50 6mo ago

EvanAnderson 6mo ago

I switched from iOS to Android about three years ago. I saved all the APKs for everything I installed (or updated) on that first phone. When I got a new phone last fall it was pleasantly like getting a new PC. I imported my SMS and contacts from my last backup (taken with an open source took I'd installed from an APK), then installed all the apps I use and imported or manually set any settings I wanted to customize. Every non-stock app on my phone was installed from an APK directly downloaded from the manufacturer or open source developer's site / Github releases. I've never had a Google Play account and have never used any Android "app store". The biggest pain was having to manually logon the couple of sites I allow to keep persistent cookies since device owners aren't allowed to just import/export cookies from mobile Chrome. It has been a very nice experience. I appreciate the feeling of sovereignty and ownership of my device (even though it does have a locked bootloader and I don't actually have root). Of course Google would take this away. >sigh<

wishfish 6mo ago
I did something similar. Wanted a Pixel with Graphene OS but the screen hurt my eyes. Went with a Motorola with an IPS screen. Uninstalled or disabled all the crap. Never logged into Google. Went with Obtanium and F-Droid for most software. Aurora for a couple of apps that were only on the Play Store. Used NetGuard with a whitelist to lock it all down. After all that was done, the phone felt like mine in a way that my iPhone doesn't. Was a good feeling. With luck, the Motorola + Graphene partnership will produce phones with screens better than the Pixel and I can keep doing this.
- EvanAnderson 6mo ago
  I ended up with a Motorola phone, too (albeit with an AMOLED screen so not the model you have). I got hooked on Motorola phones because of the "chop/chop" flashlight gesture. I don't think I can use a phone without that gesture ever again! >smile< I'm hopeful, too, re: Motorola + Graphene. I wanted to use Graphene last fall wehn I got the new phone but I was committed to not giving Google any money.
- drnick1 6mo ago