US judge says Google must open Android phones to rival app stores

Comments

• sxan@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Oooo! Oooo! Do Apple next!

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  • 9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    All I can see is the big giant security hole this opens up for both platforms.

    Text messages, photos, contacts, sleep patterns, bank information, heart rates, stocks, phone calls, menstrual cycles, voice memos, 2 factor authentication apps, password managers, medications, blood oxygen levels, baby monitors, cameras, wifi lights, internal home network servers, hotel rooms, emails, etc harvested, sold, and exploited all because superrootuser420@lemmy.world wants his Pixel 6 to be able to install fornite aim bot mods.

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    • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      It wouldn’t be such a problem if it was just about quality control. But the app stores pocket big bucks from the apps you download, including a large cut of subscriptions to services entirely unrelated to the store just because you downloaded the app through them. If I recall, Google takes something like 20 percent and some takes something like 30 (I can’t recall the exact numbers, just that Apple is marginally worse about it).

      For example, I love Dropout, a comedy media platform from the former people at College Humor. They offer a $5.99/month subscription for access to their entire catalog. If I went to their website, created an account and bought a subscription, that is $5.99 directly into the hands of the creators I wish to support. I can also then go download the app and enjoy the same service throught thag account on my phone or other devices.

      However, if I go to the app store, download the app, and buy my subscription in it, Dropout now has to pay Google or Apple a sizable chunk of that $5.99. And not just for that month. For every month that follows for the life of that subscription. Just for the benefit of having an app available to users on devices that hold monopolies on these services.

      You might be thinking, well, they could just raise the price for the subscriptions when you sign up through the app to offset the extra if i recall correctly. You wowould think that, but no. If I recall correctly, Apple and Google both also require apps to sell subscriptions at the same price as they would be sold outside the apps. If you don’t comply with that, they’ll drop youyour app altogether. That means that everyone has to pay more, whether you got your subscription through the app or not, to offset those extra costs.

      There are many other problems, including anti-competitive/antitrust practices, and ironically, shitty quality control. But such things are inevitable with monopolies.

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    • Anticorp@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      “Is there any reason why this calculator needs permissions for my camera, microphone, contacts, and files?”

      —said no one ever who posts on facebook that their account was hacked

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• evidences@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m confused is there a limit to which app stores I can install on my android phone right now because last time I checked there wasn’t.

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  • BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    This is apparently partially about exclusive deals that bar app developers from putting their apps on additional third party app stores.

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    • LodeMike@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Oh right like how Apple is going to maintain its monopolistic advantage in the EU - if you want to list your app on a “third party” store and the Apple one, you have to pay the blood sacrafice for both the app on the apple store and off it.

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• Mountaineer@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I’m just glad that this judgement travelled back in time!

  It must have, otherwise Samsung phone’s wouldn’t have the Galaxy Store on them.
  And Huawei phones wouldn’t have AppGallery on it.

  And things like aptoide, f-droid and taptap wouldn’t exist.

  This is about Epic wanting their store to be available on the google store, and none of these articles understand that at all.

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• AndrewZabar@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I already have several on my Android devices.

  What do they mean? Does Google have to start preloading them? lol.

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