XPost: misc.phone.mobile.iphone, comp.mobile.ipad
Joerg Walther wrote on Wed, 15 May 2024 14:33:32 +0200 :
Google can't stop developers from giving people what they want.
It actually could, but prefers not to do so: I do not have to use the
Play Store to install apps, I can use alternative stores or just apk
files because Google lets me do it, it's just a switch in settings and I
can install apps from unknown sources. They could remove that switch in coming versions of Android, but I'm quite sure they won't.
You're right in some ways but there's more to the story so allow me to
flesh out your correct statements above so that others learn from it.
First off, you _can_ download apps from the Google Play Store without
setting up a Google Account on your phone. It's called "Aurora".
<
https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore/-/releases>
Aurora is nothing more or less than a Google Play Store client clone.
That means you get EXACTLY the same apps since it's just an open-source playstore client that uses the Google Play Store repository for apps.
You get those apps with anonymity.
And yet the Google Play Store antivirus still does its daily scans
(if you want it to).
And it still scans the app upon installation (if you want it to).
And the Aurora client auto-updates all the APKs off Google Play Store repo
(if you want it to).
In addition, the bonus is that the Aurora store playstore client has better filters than does the Google Play Store client and the Aurora store
playstore client SAVES the APK by default for reuse (if you want it to).
Notice this is stuff people want that Google won't give you but which
generous developers of open source apps give you for free without ads.
Now, Google could try to put an end to this open source google play store client, especially since the code is open source, Google knows exactly what
it does and exactly how it gets the apps off of the Google Play Store repo.
But Google doesn't do that. Just as Google knows exactly what the YouTube client NewPipe does, since it too is an open-source client that doesn't
need you to create a Google Account on your Android phone either.
<
https://newpipe.net/>
Again, notice that the NewPipe youtube client does many things the YouTube client doesn't do such as download and rip videos and subscribe to channels without needing to create a Google Account on the Android device too.
These are NOT "alternative" stores. They're _exactly_ the Google store.
a. Auroa is NOT an alternative store - it's EXACTLY the Google data.
b. NewPipe is NOT an alternative store - it's EXACTLY the Google data.
So you're right that Google could try to put a stop to these clients,
but they don't. Probably they can't (for legal reasons) but they don't.
Mind you there are many alternative Google apps such as the Ungoogled
Chromium app which is not on the Google Play store but which can be
obtained outside which would be an alternative repo as you speak of.
<
https://github.com/ungoogled-software/ungoogled-chromium-android>
In summary, since Google allows you to install any app you want to from anywhere you want to get it from, you end up with more functionality than
you would have had with only using the limited functionality Google apps.
Which is why I accurately posit:
1. Developers create most of the functionality on your phone
2. Apple severely limits what developers can provide to you
3. Google can't (or if they could, they don't)
This is why it's always going to be the case that
A. There is nothing an iOS device can do that Android doesn't already do
B. Yet there is a lot of useful functionality the iOS device can't do
Those are all facts.
My assessment of those facts is that the iPhone/iPad is nothing but a toy.
Worse... almost all the nice things are inside the walled garden, which
means they require an Apple tracking account to use them, and which means
that you're logging into Apple's tracking servers every moment of your
life.
With Android, you don't even need an account on the phone or tablet and it works just fine. I haven't had an account on the device for years, and I do probably far more than most people do on a phone.
I also have iPads & iPhone but they are crippled in what they can do.
People who don't know that don't have any clue what functionality is on
Android that no iPhone or iPad can do - which is why there is no iPad in
the world that can do what even the least expensive Android tablet can do.
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