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Comment by supermatt

10 hours ago

> they think they had no choice

And they really don't have a choice. if you don't abide by googles terms then they will not permit you to use google mobile services. That means (at the very least):

  - No "play" services (breaks lots of apps and 3rd party peripherals).
  - No app store (over 90% of apps are distributed solely through the play store. even major android players like samsung have tiny libraries in their own stores).
  - No youtube app (and no way to natively play without play services APIs, you NEED to use a crippled iframe embed in a webview!!!)
  - No push notifications (developers usually target the "built-in" option that is basically play services)
  - Missing apps and api-level integration with loads of other stuff, maps, mail, search, calendar, casting, etc
  - No widevine DRM (no hd/4k netflix, etc)
  - Loads of other insidious stuff I cant recall or articulate right now

You cant even use the word "Android" to describe the OS.

Just look at how crippled Amazons fork is. Or how huawei pretty much lost their entire GLOBAL market share because of a US sanction preventing them having a GMS contract.

No matter what anyone says, android IS google. It is so riddled with google specific behaviours you cant use without a license that companies have even ditched android to make their own OS - because they literally aren't allowed to favorably position their own functionality over googles in any way.

17 comments

supermatt

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mvieira38  4 hours ago

The Play services thing is a major deal for banking apps and such. If anyone has tried dealing with third-party ROMs like LineageOS and GrapheneOS, they would know how much Google tries its best to screw you if you leave their gross leech of an ecosystem

gaiagraphia  6 hours ago

Big shout out to Google Play Integrity/Safety Net (or whatever it's currently called).

Was the one thing which ended my couple of years without Google, as my banking apps started banning my phones fingerprint for being insecure.

Seems like in a major part of '''Pax Americana''' is needing to use a Google or Apple fingerprint to participate in society. Makes you laugh when people whinge about China.

  • conradev  5 minutes ago

    Attesting that a closed source device meets arbitrary closed source standards is a necessary evil.

    One real world problem is that some existing systems are built relying on the integrity of the components within, i.e. BART in the bay area relies on the BART cards being honest and secure. If iPhones are to be allowed into the system, they also have to be honest and secure.

    The capability is being over-used and abused, and we should design systems to never need it, but some do.

  • zb3  2 hours ago

    In Europe, banking apps block root but still work on a custom OS (like LineageOS) without contactless payments. I guess this is because many people here buy Chinese phones and they just can't ignore them.