Comment by owebmaster

1 day ago

I hope this push from Google (and also from Apple) forces us, the developers, to create and most important USE the alternatives.

12 comments

owebmaster

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cnst  1 day ago

The F-Droid app store app is usually already the first app I ever install on any Android device:

https://f-droid.org/

The second app is often the Aurora Store app store app, from within the F-Droid app, which then lets you install Google Play apps without having to have a Google Account:

https://f-droid.org/packages/com.aurora.store/

With these two apps installed first, on any Android device, whether locked or not, without any need for any computer or any other device, without having to type-in any Google Account details, you can then do pretty much whatever you require on the device, including installing bank apps, Amazon, Amazon Music, Audible, Prime Video, etc.

Sadly, iOS has no alternatives like this. Apple proudly reports terminating 128,961,839 customer accounts in 2024 (yes, Apple has terminated 129 million customer accounts in just one year), and they do NOT allow using an iOS device without an Apple customer account:

https://www.apple.com/legal/more-resources/docs/2024-App-Sto...

  • butshouldyou  1 day ago

    How do you even get to the point of installing F-Droid without first setting up Android, which, in my experience, requires a valid Google login.

    When I set up my Android device, there wasn't an option to set it up without a Google Account.

    • cnst  1 day ago

      There's always a "later" or equivalent button in all of these setups, sometimes it does have a few prompts.

      I personally have iPhone, Google Pixel, OnePlus, Motorola and Samsung devices, without any accounts on them. The iPhones are very limited without an account, obviously, but I never feel that way on Android.

      All that I did to set them up, is click on the screen a few times, no extra tools or anything. Then just go into the browser, and follow the instructions for F-Droid installation; which can be done entirely on the phone, without a computer or any other phone, or any username/password.

      1 reply →

    • Semaphor  1 day ago

      That's not normal, that will probably be the vendor skin you use enforcing that. Maybe samsung, as they tend to try and be apple at home.

      1 reply →

    • immibis  1 day ago

      Whenever I buy a new Android device I take the opportunity to pretend I'm a grandma getting her first piece of technology and create a brand new Google account, since it's one of the only signup pathways that doesn't require some kind of identity verification.

      3 replies →

  • swiftcoder  1 day ago

    > Top 10 guidelines or DPLA provisions cited for removal > 1. Guideline 4.0 — Design: 42,2527

    Does that line item mean that Apple is rejecting the largest body of apps for not meeting the design guidelines? Man... if I had a penny for every app still on the App Store that blatantly disregards the human interface guidelines...