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    Android's sideloading limits are its most anti-consumer move

    (www.makeuseof.com)
    395 points josephcsible | 17 comments | 13 Oct 25 15:24 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
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    itg ◴[13 Oct 25 16:13 UTC] No.45570037[source]▶
    Installing any app I want outside the Play Store was the primary reason I decided to go with Android, despite most of the people I know using iPhones. If I can't do this anymore, I may as well switch and be able to use iMessage and FaceTime with them.
    replies(7): >>45570221 #>>45570261 #>>45570265 #>>45570587 #>>45570668 #>>45572259 #>>45572346 #
    63stack ◴[13 Oct 25 16:29 UTC] No.45570265[source]▶
    Same, I'm tempted to call android just a shittier iPhone now
    replies(1): >>45571133 #
    1. Aachen ◴[13 Oct 25 17:37 UTC] No.45571133[source]▶
    What part of cheaper, better, and open source is shittier exactly?
    replies(4): >>45571473 #>>45571733 #>>45572111 #>>45572569 #
    2. pkulak ◴[13 Oct 25 18:04 UTC] No.45571473[source]▶
    > What part of cheaper

    The iPhone 17 is the same price as the Pixel 10

    > better

    But the iPhone 17 has better hardware features, like UWB, better cameras, and a _far_ faster CPU.

    > open source

    Only if you install Graphene, and then never install anything that requires Google Play Services, which is basically every commercial app.

    replies(5): >>45571707 #>>45572128 #>>45572269 #>>45572541 #>>45572930 #
    3. blackbear_ ◴[13 Oct 25 18:25 UTC] No.45571707[source]▶
    GOS allows you to install and use apps from the Play Store and the vast majority of them works flawlessly.
    4. array_key_first ◴[13 Oct 25 18:27 UTC] No.45571733[source]▶
    1. Not cheaper.

    2. I think it's better, I like the UX but that's subjective.

    3. Not open source. AOSP is open source. Android is not open source.

    replies(1): >>45572286 #
    5. realusername ◴[13 Oct 25 19:05 UTC] No.45572111[source]▶
    Cheaper for sure, better maybe but open source certainly not, AOSP doesn't run on a single device on earth, not even the emulators.
    replies(1): >>45572558 #
    6. xigoi ◴[13 Oct 25 19:07 UTC] No.45572128[source]▶
    > The iPhone 17 is the same price as the Pixel 10

    Too bad there aren’t any other Android phones…

    7. rangestransform ◴[13 Oct 25 19:20 UTC] No.45572269[source]▶
    > and a _far_ faster CPU.

    No longer true with the newest chip that Mediatek cooked up, ARM licensed cores like C1 are catching up rapidly with Apple CPUs (or maybe Apple has hit the limit of their current design philosophy)

    8. stronglikedan ◴[13 Oct 25 19:22 UTC] No.45572286[source]▶
    It's certainly cheaper when you compare phones with like specs.
    replies(1): >>45572445 #
    9. dangus ◴[13 Oct 25 19:36 UTC] No.45572445{3}[source]▶
    Not by much these days. The Pixel 10 actually gives you half the storage as the iPhone 17 at the same price.

    The only Android phones that are significantly cheaper than equivalent iPhone tend to come with some kind of compromise (and don’t forget that Apple’s phones start at $600 - the iPhone 16e exists).

    replies(1): >>45572750 #
    10. ◴[13 Oct 25 19:44 UTC] No.45572541[source]▶
    11. floxy ◴[13 Oct 25 19:46 UTC] No.45572558[source]▶
    I'm out of the loop on this. What is Graphene doing?

    https://grapheneos.org/features

    >GrapheneOS is a private and secure mobile operating system with great functionality and usability. It starts from the strong baseline of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) and takes great care to avoid increasing attack surface or hurting the strong security model.

    12. constantcrying ◴[13 Oct 25 19:48 UTC] No.45572569[source]▶
    Over the last years Android has gotten increasingly worse, which is something you just have to expect from a Google product.

    It is still unbelievable to me that Google is shipping a product which takes 10 seconds to show anything when I search through my phones settings. What are they doing?

    >open source

    Sure. If you buy the right phone you get some open source components. Of course half the Android companies are trying to funnel you into their proprietary ecosystem as well. The rest just wants you to use Google's proprietary ecosystem.

    replies(1): >>45572864 #
    13. vbezhenar ◴[13 Oct 25 20:04 UTC] No.45572750{4}[source]▶
    Try Xiaomi.
    replies(1): >>45573054 #
    14. surajrmal ◴[13 Oct 25 20:14 UTC] No.45572864[source]▶
    Everything in settings loads near instantly for me including search. What exactly has gotten worse with Android recently?
    15. terminalshort ◴[13 Oct 25 20:22 UTC] No.45572930[source]▶
    In terms of cameras, my pixel takes way better pictures than any iphone, and people I know with iphones (which is basically everyone) admit it.
    replies(1): >>45573017 #
    16. krabizzwainch ◴[13 Oct 25 20:30 UTC] No.45573017{3}[source]▶
    Mine was better until Google kept forcing AI sharpening and making things look worse.
    17. all2 ◴[13 Oct 25 20:34 UTC] No.45573054{5}[source]▶
    I did. I cannot recommend it. There is no real way to unlock bootloaders on these. They've locked it down so much that you can't really do anything but run what they give you.