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

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522 points josephcsible | 3 comments | 13 Oct 25 15:24 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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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.
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JohnTHaller ◴[13 Oct 25 19:19 UTC] No.45572259[source]▶
You can still side-load signed apps. It's a similar limitation to macOS which won't let you run apps that Apple hasn't signed without command line or control panel shenanigans. Compared to iOS, Android still has the advantage of installing your own full browser (like Firefox) with full-fat ad blocking (uBlock Origin, not Lite). iOS is Safari-only right now though, in theory, some alternative engines may be available in Europe later.
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1. jsight ◴[13 Oct 25 19:57 UTC] No.45572657[source]▶
Agreed. While I do not like this move, ti is weird to me how far people are going in their criticism.

The perfect should not be the enemy of the good.

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2. cnity ◴[13 Oct 25 20:21 UTC] No.45572914[source]▶
"The perfect should not be the enemy of the good" is the wrong analogy here. It's more like "death by a thousand cuts". Limitations on free computer usage are like a ratcheting mechanism: they mostly go in one direction.
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3. ◴[13 Oct 25 21:43 UTC] No.45573664[source]▶