They've already been actively doing it. The paid live wallpapers from KittehFace software from yeeeears back just disappeared from my purchased software history 2 months ago, and the APKs will no longer install. Not even malicious software. Just. Old and outdated, but it worked.
this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2024
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Android
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This is kind of insane. I personally am not affected as I don't use Google play or even have Google software but I know people who use a lot of these apps. I guess it is time to tell people about F-droid.
I mean, I know lemmy has an open source hardon and hates anything walled, but is this really such a bad thing? Google is getting rid of a bunch of shitty apps and risky apps. Nothing is stopping you from still sideloading them if you really need them.
I really fail to see the actual issue aside from "google bad"
I hane lost the use of so many Android app I paid for because they were delistd from the Play store. Not happy.
I now resort to creating a backup apk for my most usd ones. I also create a backup befors updating. Never know if an update will break something or even worse, remove a feature.
Sounds like so much worrying and work for barely anything. Your last issues don't even have anything to do with Google or the Play Store
That final part isn't really Google's fault no? But just the devs cutting functions?
Google's not been very open source for a long time.
Android continues to remove open source from their OS over the years for proprietary binaries. They are also continuing to abstract away openness. Stock file managers can't see inside the /sdcard/Android folder anymore. Only via USB on a computer. USB on a computer won't copy some kinds of files into that part of the filesystem. ADB still allows you, for now.
If you try to go to the Android File Transfer app page, it now redirects to Quick Share.
Low level stuff continues to be taken away from the OS. Samsung Android phones in the US aren't even allowed to turn off 5G on some carriers. All Android phones are having carrier select and network mode menus neutered in the US. Apple has more flexibility there, hilariously.
Fun fact: Back when it all kicked off, iPhone had a pretty big open source component in the underlying Mach microkernel and supporting software and there was a whole slew of OSS on their platform.
Did you read the article? Simple text and PDF readers are in the cross hairs. Apps that aren't "engaging" are in the cross hairs.
I expect developers of perfectly fine apps will have to manually vet those apps with Google.
Yeah, I read it. Didn't think much of it. Are those apps that common? Don't use them, as my browser can read pdf and text files.
Sounds more like some fringe apps will get caught in the cross hairs. Still sounds like a good change for the average end user. For the average power user, it won't make a difference imo.
You only ecosystem where only the big players and big products are allowed to exist?
Ofcourse not, I also use fdroid and I sideload a shitton of apps. But Google is not killing off alternate stores, they're just making their store safer. My whole point is that this change is not that negative. If anything it'll have a positive effect on non tech savvy users. It'll save me time by potentially causing less issues on the devices of family members.
What percent of users will ever sideload? If it's not commonplace, it's not relevant.
For those who dont know these already:
Aurora Store - Install Google Play Store apps without a Google account - I recommend to switch all non-paid apps to be installed with this, and use an anonymous login if possible.
F-Droid: Install apps from centralized repositories (like a package manager) - I recommend to gradually switch all FOSS apps to be installed with this (not all Google Play apps can be installed with F-Droid of course). Other repositories can be added.
Obtainium: Install apps from the 'releases' page of the app's Github/Gitlab - I prefer this to F-Droid if possible, but there is little difference and it is slightly harder to set up, so I don't recommend this initially.
And last of all, installing an APK manually from the internet (works similar to an EXE installer).
Each of these options should work on all Android distributions or ROMs.
P.S. Please consider using a FOSS android ROM, such as GrapheneOS, LineageOS, /e/, CalyxOS, etc.
What's your opinion on APKMirror? I have a fire tablet for which I've been trying to get apps that aren't available throug the Amazon appstore. I just want to make sure that I'm not loading malware.
APKMirror uses the hash from the Play Store to verify they're serving you the legit apk.
It's been around for years, the owner is very keen about their little baby, but relies on adverts. If you can put up with the latter you're gucci
I think it is relatively trustworthy, and I have used it to install Youtube to be patched with ReVanced. I would still be a little cautious downloading a apk from any website, but apkmirror might be the safest option due to it's popularity. but still use F-Droid or similar if you have the option.
Thanka for this comment, I wasn't aware there are so many other options
Meaning, simple apps which are doing one thing well are targeted too for deletion in play store?
I don't think so. If the app is doing something useful it will stay. If it provides just a wallpaper, a static PDF to read (think of user manual apps) it will be removed.
... if an update suddenly enables Play on my phone I'm calling EU. Will I still be able to uninstall stuff via adb?
Until I can reasonably have a Linux phone again (my beloved N900, oh how I miss you), I need to find out which of the Lineage/Calyx/e(/Graphene) supported phones has the best cam system.
Calling EU lol
I didn't even vote bcs I was sick.
I'm running Graphene on a pixel - google camera works as it would normally. The only issue is the preview-click-to-open-gallery bit not working. It needs the Photos app which I have not installed on purpose.
If you add the Calyx repository to F-droid, you can install their shim that will allow you to use a different gallery app.
Oh, that's great, thx for sharing. One of my concerns (with other brands I mean) is how much better the manufacturers camera app is.
What does any of this have to do with Google removing apps from the Play Store?
Oh, I understood they want simultaneously also limit sideloading.
Bad reading comprehension?
Illiterate af
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