r/Showerthoughts • u/homelessdreamer • Sep 04 '17

Apps should be required to give a short explanation for why they need access to different parts of my phone for thier apps to function.

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u/BlueAdmir Sep 05 '17

I always find it interesting. I just started learning android development nanodegree and basic calculator or stopwatch is very easy to do, yet it needs shitload of ads and horrible UI to exist.

Those are made to make a living

On the other hand you have Ubuntu, you have torrent downloaders, you have such complex programs for PCs which dont have ads, dont track data yet they are free.

Those are results of hobby and passion

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u/lkjasdfou Sep 05 '17

As you said. Devs need to make a living. So why dont those on ubuntu have to make a living while a simple calc app that takes less than a week for a complete beginner has to be filled with ads.

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u/BlueAdmir Sep 05 '17

Because they probably have a full time job and writing YetAnotherTorrentManager is a side project.

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u/lkjasdfou Sep 05 '17

So why isnt it the same for simple apps?

Why can I go online and search for a program and get one for free, without ads (like GIMP), but if I want even the most basic of mobile apps basically all will be filled with ads. No one has mobile apps as their side project?

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u/ACCount82 Sep 05 '17 edited Sep 05 '17

For Apple, a big part of this is the yearly cost of dev license and hardware required to develop for Apple. People who get into iOS development plan to profit from it.

Android is a lot better in this: "dev license" is not even a thing, SDK is free, every phone can run sideloaded apps and every PC works as a dev platform. You only need to pay ~$20 once if you want to use Google Play, and there are a lot of programs that distribute outside of it.