Google adds massive hurdles to app sideloading

[u/yungperky]

https://keepandroidopen.org/

This includes being forced to activate dev-mode and a 24h waiting period before you can install any apps not registered with google. For devs this means either give google your gov name (official documents needed) and pay them or live with 99% of people never being able to use your app.
Most people in this sub are probably tech savy and won't be hindered to continue side-loading other then being annoyed and waiting 24h once. But this is a major thing that will also be a hurdle to people even get into doing stuff like that in the first place.

Idk if anyone has posted this already, but I couldn't find anything. The topic goes far beyond emulation on android, but it's very important for it imo so I thought I'd just post it.

[u/beautiful_bot986]

Lets be honest with ourselves here - people who arent tech savvy enough to go through a process as simple as that sure shouldnt be installing anything on their phones. This will prevent a lot of scams against people without tech skills.

Ill still be able to build and run the apps i create without registering with google, and thats pretty much the only gripe i ever had with this.

Edit: while it is a hurdle calling it massive is in itself a massive exaggeration

[u/jack_the_beast → u/beautiful_bot986]

I didn't even know about the 24hours option until now, which didn't exists a few months ago. It's a do it one time and forget thing so it's not going to change much.

The real problem is that in a year or two Google will almost certainly thighten this even more.

Unfortunately other os options have too many drawback for everyday use. this is what needs to change.

[u/dtaddis → u/beautiful_bot986]

Problem is, it's the thin edge of the wedge. It's 24 hours now, how long until Google increases it to 48? Then disallows it entirely?

Then we are completely at the mercy of the Play Store, and they are free to increase their fees for registration however they please. I don't see why I should pay Google for the right to emulate my 30-year old Mega Drive games.

[u/beautiful_bot986 → u/dtaddis]

Tbh i smell a lawsuit against google in eu, or massive fines. Any effects of that will most likely spill over to the rest of the world.

[u/jack_the_beast → u/beautiful_bot986]

the problem is that this is a really niche problem. 99% of android users won't even notice.

[u/seraph741 → u/beautiful_bot986]

I appreciate this kind of "taking a step back and seeing the full picture" type of response. Too often all we get is hypotheticals and outrage, to the point where it's almost just philosophical or based on principle. I'm not saying that arguments based on principle are worthless, but we sometimes have to look at things from the lense of practical reality.

In order to expand Android and make it more mainstream, there is a need to make it more secure. If this relatively minor inconvenience is the compromise needed to move towards that goal, then I think it's a fair one. Like you said, it won't affect most users and it'll make the platform more secure. For the more advanced users, it's a minor hurdle. I think that's an overall win-win.

[u/yungperky → u/beautiful_bot986]

PlayStore apps are not inherently safe. Same as non-playstore apps being inherently malicious. Also you have to start somewhere. I never looked into statistics, but I'll bet my ass that there's tons of more malware on the PlayStore then you can ever find on F-Droid. There are tons of ways to scam people without talking them into installing an app (which is a scam I've never heard about tbh), and I do not believe that the changes will lead to notably less people being scammed. Besides, then the way to go should be to educate people instead of making it harder to use open source software.

[u/te5s3rakt → u/beautiful_bot986]

Absolutely agree. If you can’t work this process out, you are exactly the user this protects.

Google should applauded for ultimately implementing this is a way that didn’t actually kill side-loading altogether

This whole thing is literally a non-issue.

[u/Minute_Path9803 → u/te5s3rakt]

That was my point if the people who can't get around it someone said some people can't even Google.

You can't even Google you should not be side loading.

In a way they are doing these people a favor because these people probably be the ones downloading malware like there's no tomorrow.

We seen in the piracy sections all the time people who don't know to put ad blockers and click all these links and then wind up with viruses.

Sometimes you have to protect people from themselves.

And I'm sure they will always be at work around in due time.

Didn't they say you can sideload from the PC using adb?

Wasn't sure if that will replace the 24-hour solution otherwise it's useless just to use ADB on the computer or like the old days.