"Software gatekeeping is a threat to human rights. Just recently an app to track ICE was banned from the iOS app store even though this should clearly be protected first amendment speech."

gthing, Reddit ↗

"My Pixel 6 just broke, and after 15 years of using Android, I've finally been convinced to move to iOS. If I must live in a walled garden, I suppose I'll choose the one with nicer flowers."

yonato, Hacker News ↗

"Years ago, I wondered how Google would try to get away with locking down Android and shutting the cage door after capturing such a large dependent user base. Now I see how they are trying to get away with it."

chaznabin, Reddit ↗

"Antitrust action is badly needed. It is ridiculous that I need permission from my device manufacturer to install software on hardware I own."

jim201, Hacker News ↗

"Signal, VPNs -- they'll have a list of everyone opting out of government-mandated backdoors."

Max-P, Lemmy ↗

"Requiring a government ID to distribute software. Holy shit. If you are a kid and want to create a game for your friends, you better get that birth certificate ready!"

llitz, Reddit ↗

"Google has no right to be my parent. As long as I can't reject paternalism, I don't believe for a second this is done with the well-being of scam victims as the main priority."

gspr, Lobsters ↗

"This is a war on users that want to keep control of their phones and when it's done, you will not be able to escape the enshittification."

ikidd, Lemmy ↗

"I still remember how in the early days of Android vs iOS discussions, the main point was 'but it's OPEN!' The word 'open' was used as a comma by Google people. It was The Thing. The Difference. Good vs Evil and all that."

jwr, Hacker News ↗

"Google's plan to require developer verification would give Google and governments the ability to ban any app."

Zak, Hacker News ↗

"Give me liberty or give me Symbian."

masterofn001, Lemmy ↗

"We need to start treating phones differently. We're entering a world where we can't choose what we run on them. Their primary purpose is to gather data on us and serve us advertising, they're engineered for addiction, yet engaging in the world is immensely difficult without one."

specproc, Hacker News ↗

"It took them 17 years to finally pull the cage all the way shut."

Apocryphon, Hacker News ↗

"Android was never actually open and now they are abandoning even the thin pretense."

Tiraon, Tildes ↗

"'Sideload' is like 'jaywalking'; seeks to stigmatize humans being human."

tejtm, Hacker News ↗

"Google's own Play Store had over 600 million malware downloads. They keep talking about 'security' but their own store is crawling with fake apps and straight up malware while actual useful stuff gets buried or rejected."

Historical-Employ129 (324 upvotes), Reddit ↗

"The war on General Purpose Computing is the death of innovation and a direct attack on digital freedom."

layfellow, Hacker News ↗

"If the likes of Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and others have their way, you will not own your computer; those companies will effectively own your computers."

RUs1729, Slashdot ↗

"The open Android I knew and loved is long gone."

girvo, Hacker News ↗

"Twice I have had to deal with Google silently disabling my drone app to the point I had to buy an older phone to perform work. When I purchase a device that works with another device, under no circumstances should I be at the mercy of any updates they make."

cbrophoto (drone professional), Reddit ↗

"For 'security' -- always security with these assholes. They're just building the walls of the walled garden higher."

lynxy, Tildes ↗

"Once deployed, there's a near 100% chance of such a mechanism being used for evil."

Zak, Lemmy ↗

"This isn't just a competition between app stores; it's a struggle for choice and dignity. Your phone shouldn't be a cage carefully constructed by others, but an extension of your own will."

renshijian, Hacker News ↗

"I buy a device with my own money, which I supposedly then own, but then I need to ask some corporation permission to use it."

askonomm, Hacker News ↗

"Play store is full of scam apps, F-Droid isn't, but Play Store is considered secure. It's all theatre."

gcupc, Lobsters ↗

"It's not cyclic. It's a ratchet and it gets tighter and tighter."

BenjaminRi, Lobsters ↗

"Google wants the authority of a gatekeeper without the overhead of human accountability."

afferi300rina, Hacker News ↗

"You have no right telling me what I can and cannot run on my own devices."

MrZander, Hacker News ↗

"Making it harder makes it harder to treat ourselves. Software like AndroidAPS is unique. It's hard to find or very expensive and inferior in the proprietary market."

pimeys (diabetic user on life-critical medical software), Lobsters ↗

"You are essentially a child to them. The difference is society has decided not to step in to protect you from your abusive parents."

globular-toast, Hacker News ↗

"If I go down this path, I will stop all development on Android. I implore all other developers to resist this. This will completely lock down the platform forever, there will be no going back."

BatteryMountain, Hacker News ↗

"Some time in the future, we will look back to this era and ask ourselves what went wrong."

BenjaminRi, Lobsters ↗

"The fundamental problem is that we are relying on the good graces of Google to keep Android open, despite the fact that it often runs contrary to their goals as a $4T for-profit behemoth. The 'don't be evil' days are very far behind us."

paxys, Hacker News ↗

"Any time someone puts a lock on something that belongs to you, and won't give you a key, they're not doing it for your benefit."

vord (quoting Cory Doctorow), Tildes ↗

"Google now has a flag on my phone they can control remotely to keep me from accessing the apps I want."

vala, Lemmy ↗

"If your country is ever in the crosshairs of 'American interests' and bears the brunt of its sanctions, it is possible that you cannot install apps from your fellow citizens. Your own local government, bank, and store apps."

devsda, Hacker News ↗

"I hate this so much. More and more I get the feeling I have no control over the devices I own. My fear is that Windows will eventually follow. For security reasons of course. It's the path we're on now."

cheesyvoetjes, Reddit ↗

"They have stolen a free product and are now actively locking out the people who built it."

TheTearMiser, Lemmy ↗

"They're boiling the frog -- slowly removing features until all choice is gone."

hn92726819, Hacker News ↗

"Anyone else thinking this looks like a precursor to banning Signal and similar? 1) Put Google in control of what you can install. 2) Get Google to block it."

harry8, Hacker News ↗

"After 15 years of professional development on Android I too am now thinking about switching my focus to something different. And it sucks."

MrDresden, Hacker News ↗

"Google selling Android as both open source and open to running any software you like in order to quickly gain market share, only to break those promises after driving competing platforms out of the market is nothing more than fraud."

GeekyBear, Hacker News ↗

"Google seems to actively hate people who develop for their platforms."

hbn, Hacker News ↗

"Computing is infrastructure. Personal computers are a means of expressing agency. This is like banning people from moving furniture around their house without approval from mortgage lenders."

wervenyt, Tildes ↗

"Modern life practically forces you to put all your eggs into a phone controlled by one of two profit-seeking companies."

koala, Lobsters ↗

"Software gatekeeping is a threat to human rights. Just recently an app to track ICE was banned from the iOS app store even though this should clearly be protected first amendment speech."

gthing, Reddit ↗

"My Pixel 6 just broke, and after 15 years of using Android, I've finally been convinced to move to iOS. If I must live in a walled garden, I suppose I'll choose the one with nicer flowers."

yonato, Hacker News ↗

"Years ago, I wondered how Google would try to get away with locking down Android and shutting the cage door after capturing such a large dependent user base. Now I see how they are trying to get away with it."

chaznabin, Reddit ↗

"Antitrust action is badly needed. It is ridiculous that I need permission from my device manufacturer to install software on hardware I own."

jim201, Hacker News ↗

"Signal, VPNs -- they'll have a list of everyone opting out of government-mandated backdoors."

Max-P, Lemmy ↗

"Requiring a government ID to distribute software. Holy shit. If you are a kid and want to create a game for your friends, you better get that birth certificate ready!"

llitz, Reddit ↗

"Google has no right to be my parent. As long as I can't reject paternalism, I don't believe for a second this is done with the well-being of scam victims as the main priority."

gspr, Lobsters ↗

"This is a war on users that want to keep control of their phones and when it's done, you will not be able to escape the enshittification."

ikidd, Lemmy ↗

"I still remember how in the early days of Android vs iOS discussions, the main point was 'but it's OPEN!' The word 'open' was used as a comma by Google people. It was The Thing. The Difference. Good vs Evil and all that."

jwr, Hacker News ↗

"Google's plan to require developer verification would give Google and governments the ability to ban any app."

Zak, Hacker News ↗

"Give me liberty or give me Symbian."

masterofn001, Lemmy ↗

"We need to start treating phones differently. We're entering a world where we can't choose what we run on them. Their primary purpose is to gather data on us and serve us advertising, they're engineered for addiction, yet engaging in the world is immensely difficult without one."

specproc, Hacker News ↗

"It took them 17 years to finally pull the cage all the way shut."

Apocryphon, Hacker News ↗

"Android was never actually open and now they are abandoning even the thin pretense."

Tiraon, Tildes ↗

"'Sideload' is like 'jaywalking'; seeks to stigmatize humans being human."

tejtm, Hacker News ↗

"Google's own Play Store had over 600 million malware downloads. They keep talking about 'security' but their own store is crawling with fake apps and straight up malware while actual useful stuff gets buried or rejected."

Historical-Employ129 (324 upvotes), Reddit ↗

"The war on General Purpose Computing is the death of innovation and a direct attack on digital freedom."

layfellow, Hacker News ↗

"If the likes of Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and others have their way, you will not own your computer; those companies will effectively own your computers."

RUs1729, Slashdot ↗

"The open Android I knew and loved is long gone."

girvo, Hacker News ↗

"Twice I have had to deal with Google silently disabling my drone app to the point I had to buy an older phone to perform work. When I purchase a device that works with another device, under no circumstances should I be at the mercy of any updates they make."

cbrophoto (drone professional), Reddit ↗

"For 'security' -- always security with these assholes. They're just building the walls of the walled garden higher."

lynxy, Tildes ↗

"Once deployed, there's a near 100% chance of such a mechanism being used for evil."

Zak, Lemmy ↗

"This isn't just a competition between app stores; it's a struggle for choice and dignity. Your phone shouldn't be a cage carefully constructed by others, but an extension of your own will."

renshijian, Hacker News ↗

"I buy a device with my own money, which I supposedly then own, but then I need to ask some corporation permission to use it."

askonomm, Hacker News ↗

"Play store is full of scam apps, F-Droid isn't, but Play Store is considered secure. It's all theatre."

gcupc, Lobsters ↗

"It's not cyclic. It's a ratchet and it gets tighter and tighter."

BenjaminRi, Lobsters ↗

"Google wants the authority of a gatekeeper without the overhead of human accountability."

afferi300rina, Hacker News ↗

"You have no right telling me what I can and cannot run on my own devices."

MrZander, Hacker News ↗

"Making it harder makes it harder to treat ourselves. Software like AndroidAPS is unique. It's hard to find or very expensive and inferior in the proprietary market."

pimeys (diabetic user on life-critical medical software), Lobsters ↗

"You are essentially a child to them. The difference is society has decided not to step in to protect you from your abusive parents."

globular-toast, Hacker News ↗

"If I go down this path, I will stop all development on Android. I implore all other developers to resist this. This will completely lock down the platform forever, there will be no going back."

BatteryMountain, Hacker News ↗

"Some time in the future, we will look back to this era and ask ourselves what went wrong."

BenjaminRi, Lobsters ↗

"The fundamental problem is that we are relying on the good graces of Google to keep Android open, despite the fact that it often runs contrary to their goals as a $4T for-profit behemoth. The 'don't be evil' days are very far behind us."

paxys, Hacker News ↗

"Any time someone puts a lock on something that belongs to you, and won't give you a key, they're not doing it for your benefit."

vord (quoting Cory Doctorow), Tildes ↗

"Google now has a flag on my phone they can control remotely to keep me from accessing the apps I want."

vala, Lemmy ↗

"If your country is ever in the crosshairs of 'American interests' and bears the brunt of its sanctions, it is possible that you cannot install apps from your fellow citizens. Your own local government, bank, and store apps."

devsda, Hacker News ↗

"I hate this so much. More and more I get the feeling I have no control over the devices I own. My fear is that Windows will eventually follow. For security reasons of course. It's the path we're on now."

cheesyvoetjes, Reddit ↗

"They have stolen a free product and are now actively locking out the people who built it."

TheTearMiser, Lemmy ↗

"They're boiling the frog -- slowly removing features until all choice is gone."

hn92726819, Hacker News ↗

"Anyone else thinking this looks like a precursor to banning Signal and similar? 1) Put Google in control of what you can install. 2) Get Google to block it."

harry8, Hacker News ↗

"After 15 years of professional development on Android I too am now thinking about switching my focus to something different. And it sucks."

MrDresden, Hacker News ↗

"Google selling Android as both open source and open to running any software you like in order to quickly gain market share, only to break those promises after driving competing platforms out of the market is nothing more than fraud."

GeekyBear, Hacker News ↗

"Google seems to actively hate people who develop for their platforms."

hbn, Hacker News ↗

"Computing is infrastructure. Personal computers are a means of expressing agency. This is like banning people from moving furniture around their house without approval from mortgage lenders."

wervenyt, Tildes ↗

"Modern life practically forces you to put all your eggs into a phone controlled by one of two profit-seeking companies."

koala, Lobsters ↗