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Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] 56 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (25 children)

The Android ecosystem has been feeling more like an invasive chaotic advertisement machine the past few years. The play store is a cesspool, the weather app switch was poorly executed, Google Podcasts went to the graveyard, and Google pay getting shut down meant I had to switch back to vomits Venmo.

I still have Android gaming handhelds, but why wouldn't I just get an iPhone the next time I go to replace my phone? I can't believe I'm even saying that after being so die hard Android so for years.

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  • [–] 42 points 1 year ago (14 children)

    why wouldn’t I just get an iPhone

    Jumping from the frying pan straight into the fire.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (10 children)

    Exactly this. Just left iOS and got a pixel8a and flashed grapheneos on it. Apple is doing the same shit. GOS might be a pain in the ass sometimes but I feel much better knowing that Tim Apple isn't reading my texts and monitoring my bank apps so they can target me with ads.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (8 children)

    I can't do Graphene because of work. I am an IT manager, and one of our guys did graphene and had a host of issues with the work apps. I really can't risk any issues.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    This is the unfortunate hell I am in too. I'm debating an iPhone and I fucking hate Apple with a passion.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It sucks that at this point both systems suck. Apple is not great but at least it’s been pretty stable. If Apple allowed side loading that would be the dream.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It is a tough choice, both companies are gigantic and kind of scumbags. Funny story though, I was also in the market for a new computer recently as my 10 year old Windows 10 tower was really starting to show its age. My frustrations with Windows had also peaked.

    I have been doing a more photo and video editing for fun, and I ended up taking a leap. I got an M4 Pro Mac mini. Mac OS is definitively better (IMO) for home use than Windows, and the M series processors are like wizardry. I liked it so much that shortly after I bought a used M2 Max MacBook Pro off of a coworker.

    Coincidentally, a few months after I got my Macs LTT also switched over first to Snapdragon-based Windows laptops and later to Macs for a 30-day challenge and they ended up staying on the Macs.

    I am an IT manager and I don't think I would ever want to deploy Macs at scale in my workplace, though it is the only computer I look forward to using now.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    I have GrapheneOS for work, everything works fine. The only app that I had trouble with was the Westjet app, it needs a certain capatibily setting turned on and basically wants full access to the phone. Ironically the banking app was fine LOL

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago

    I feel much better knowing that Tim Apple isn't reading my texts and monitoring my bank apps so they can target me with ads.

    That’s some Grade A crack you’re smoking there, my dude.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    I'm sure we all have a different perception, but my current view is that Google sells you a phone that they need to push ads and harvest vast amounts of data from you in order to make money on the phone, and Apple somehow needs to do this less.

    Which company do you feel takes privacy more seriously? From what I understand, Google primarily makes their money from advertising.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    I've never owned an iPhone, but I 100% agree with you. The reason I choose android is because of the freedom to use my phone how i want (for the most part).

    Apple is a walled garden, but their security is good, they're not an advertising company in the same way google is and don't have as much of an incentive to harvest and sell your data. If android is going to be a walled garden like iOS, I trust apple more than i do google and If in the future I can't find a phone that has all the features i want anyway, then i may as well just get an iPhone.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

    Agreed across all points. Android's main advantages after the changes go through with side loading will be:

    1. choice of manufacturer and
    2. the still-deeply-flawed-but-far-superior implementation of a work profile in Android.

    I love being able to press one button and have all of my containerized work apps shut off. It is also quite nice that a remote wipe from M365 could be limited to the work app container rather than the entire phone.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

    Google pay being shut down is news to me. I still pay contactless with Google pay and also for paying on websites...

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    https://www.androidcentral.com/apps-software/google-wallet

    They migrated people over to the wallet. What was shut down was the app called "Google Pay"

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago*

    Yes, sorry I should have clarified. The biggest loss was the person-to-person payments are now gone. I never understood why they had multiple apps that did the same thing. I seem to also remember a time where there was a Google pay and gpay app that lived side by side, so there were a total of three apps when there should have been one.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (4 children)

    Google pay is being shut down?

    Seems like Curve pay could be an alternative

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    Sorry I should have clarified. Google pay moved the payment features to Google wallet, but the biggest loss was the person-to-person payments are now gone. I never understood why they had multiple apps that did the same thing. I seem to also remember a time where there was a Google pay and gpay app that lived side by side, so there were a total of three apps when there should have been one.

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