Comment by b3orn
5 hours ago
I wouldn't call Android user hostile. What makes most Android phones user hostile is Google Play Services.
5 hours ago
I wouldn't call Android user hostile. What makes most Android phones user hostile is Google Play Services.
I can call Android user hostile. Most Banks and gov apps require play services nowadays, and Google is about to ban app installation outside of their store. Cherry on top, the play store is mostly adware junk. My parents phones are full of adware, bloatware, notification spam, it's almost worse than windows 11.
In your earlier comment you said that deGoogled Android alternatives are what's "slowing us down from leaving Android entirely", but that is not consistent with saying that most banks and government apps require play services.
If these apps cannot run on deGoogled Android, then deGoogled Android cannot be slowing us down from leaving Android because using deGoogled alternatives is as inconvenient for banking and government services as using a non-Android alternative would be.
There are tweaks to enable banking apps on deGoogled Android, but it's an exhausting cat and mouse game. Most of my friends gave up after years of fighting, and now they are back on Google Android because there is no alternative.
so it's the play services. /e/OS has none of these problems except for apps that require original play services. so yeah, those don't work.
interesting tidbit: my bank offers their app from google and from huawei store. it doesn't work on /e/OS however. (but that might also be a /e/OS bug).
this means what we really need is a viable play store alternative. EU regulations could make that happen.