Comment by _hao
4 years ago
Google are horrendous (business partner), but at least you can publish and install .apk files without a store. Whether that's a sustainable business model is another thing entirely, but at least you can do it. Not even going to talk about Apple since that's just a more extreme example of the same problem.
From my POV, if you have a business and you rely entirely (or for the majority) of your income from these platforms, then your business is not sustainable and is not competitive. You're playing at a rigged game and you will most likely lose.
I stopped using 3rd party game engines for the same reason. I want to control my source and the potential income I get (if any). A lot of people won't agree with that. That's fine. Google and Apple's duopoly and their respective ecosystems are not good for the future of software. People have to take a stand at some point. These companies want to control every part of the tech stack (and our lives to extent), you should fight against that. We should all fight against that.
> You're playing at a rigged game and you will most likely lose.
Then the whole smartphone market is rigged. This is why I as a consumer will not buy a new smartphone anymore.
I went for a year or so without a smartphone at all. What I missed the most was maps, but you'd be surprised to learn how better off you are without social media pinging you 24/7.
I now use a second-hand smartphone without a Google account, and I use OsmAnd for maps.
> Then the whole smartphone market is rigged.
Yes, it is rigged. I've had Android, WP (which I liked the most because of the tiles) and now I'm on iOS. I don't have social media on my phone. I use it for banking and maps mostly, but I also communicate with family through WhatsApp :/ I wish I could just get rid of it, but it's not possible for me to just use e-mail... At least not yet.
It genuinely does wonders for mental health to disable notifications for social media apps. Definitely agree there.
Sharecropping in these rentseeking App Stores is a model which caps your maximum amount of success and increases your odds of failure.