this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
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Android

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[–] [email protected] 195 points 11 months ago (4 children)

I can advise Pichai to lick my nuts

[–] [email protected] 30 points 11 months ago (1 children)

It's not often I upvote a comment suggesting someone lick their nuts.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I on the other hand will always upvote someone suggesting nut licking

[–] [email protected] 12 points 11 months ago

That's the spirit

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

Surprised Pichai face

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[–] [email protected] 85 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I don't know why this is news. Most consumer Android phones, Google's included, require you to acknowledge a warning before the ability to sideload is enabled. Their stance has always been "at your own risk, we don't recommend it" and we always just laugh and say "okay, whatever dude" before we do it anyways.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

we always just laugh and say "okay, whatever dude" before we do it anyways.

The thing is for people who aren't used to modding and you try to side-load a random cool app on their phone (or somehow they end up doing it themselves) they might be frightened and may even cancel the installation.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 11 months ago (1 children)

But there are also users who interpret dialogs like that the old way:

[–] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago (1 children)

A family member always downloaded and installed APKs from the internet and didn't know about the Play Store cause that is how you did things on Windows.

The person is question has low tech literacy, and they were doing this for years

[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yup. Some people try out Linux (and to some extent MacOS, although their app store is a lot less all-encompassing) and attempt to do the same thing, finding random executables online that may or may not cause issues and may or may not even be from the actual developer themselves.

The ubiquity of Windows means that MS's software decisions - good or bad - have knock on effects to other software, such as people doing as you say to find apps, as well as things like ignoring security prompts because of how poorly they implemented Window's User Account Control dialogues.

It's not always a bad thing, sometimes it can act as a positive pressure to improve - e.g. Window tiling/snapping becoming a much more widespread feature after Win7 included it. But man it really can be a bad thing sometimes.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 months ago

Because it's an excuse.

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[–] [email protected] 54 points 11 months ago

Can someone please tell Pichai that I can do whatever I want with my phone that I paid for. (Also tell him to fuck off and that he can suck ma balls)

[–] [email protected] 50 points 11 months ago

Be Pichai.

Tell people not to sideload apps fOr SaFeTy.

Find out [Insert Malware App] has been on the play store for months and tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people have downloaded it.

[–] [email protected] 49 points 11 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 47 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (6 children)

Could you imagine Laptop manufacturers saying "do NOT download apps from other websites. ONLY download from the Windows App Store"

Like, fuck off Pichai, you're insane

Are phones the only devices out there that receive such scrutiny in the tech world?? My laptop can literally do the exact same thing but better

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[–] [email protected] 46 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What he really means is β€œwe want our 30% cut”

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 11 months ago

I agree with him. If you don't know what you are doing and just blindly install something off the Internet, it's a security concern. I would not recommend that most users side-load apps, either. You have to remember that this crowd is not representative of the average user.

Just don't take the option away from those of us who do know what they are doing.

[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months ago (1 children)

FOSS via F-Droid is gaining momentum, they don't like it.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 11 months ago (2 children)

They don't like Epic Game Store gaining momentum. They don't care that much about F-Droid.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

It's kinda funny to watch two garbage corporations fighting each other

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Yeah, no a lot of lost revenue from f droid

[–] [email protected] 38 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I'll keep sideloading if they don't allow F-Droid, NewPipe and LibreTube on the Play Store.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 11 months ago

To late already formatted and installed lineageOS and f-droid

[–] [email protected] 32 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I own my device. I get to choose what I install on it.

Google Chrome isn't on the Microsoft Store on Windows or macOS Store on macOS. Should I stop "sideloading" it according to his advice?

Edit: Found more about the quote on The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/14/23960811/pichai-we-dont-want-to-allow-you-to-completely-compromise-your-phone

β€œWe’re trying to strike a balance. Apple’s iPhone only allows the App Store, but we believe in choice, so on Android we allow you to sideload and install additional applications.”

I'm so conflicted about it. I don't want people to have to suffer for intentionally or unintentionally installing garbage on their phones, but I can't let that take away from how I use my device as well.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Google Chrome isn't on the Microsoft Store on Windows or macOS Store on macOS. Should I stop "sideloading" it according to his advice?

Yes, actually no one on this planet should be using Chrome or any proprietary browser when superior FLOSS alternatives like Firefox and LibreWolf exist.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Google CEO Pichai can go fuck himself.

Fuck you Pichai, fuck you Google, fuck you Big Tech. I'm not doing what you are telling me, I'm not using your crappy proprietary services that are built to spy on everyone, I'm not watching your shitty advertisements, I'm definitely not giving you any of my data. I hope your piece of shit company goes bankrupt and you end up on the street, that's where you belong to. I'm not a slave of your totalitarian system, I'm free to choose where I download my software and what software I want to run on my devices. I do everything to avoid your surveillance capitalism, I use FLOSS software wherever I can. Your business model is a piece of trash, it will inevitably fail at some point. I am sure that you will try to do everything to mislead the public and to get them to believe your lies, but not everyone is as stupid as you would like them to be.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago

Fuck you I won't do what you tell me 🎡

[–] [email protected] 29 points 11 months ago

Well, not all the apps I want are on your store, so πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Pichai advises Android users not to sideload apps for security reasons

s/security/financial

[–] [email protected] 25 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Clearly this is BS. Sideloading is perfectly safe if you just reputable resources.

What he's really saying if that the average user is too dumb and will install any rubbish from anywhere. He's not wrong but that shouldn't prevent competent users from sideloading.

At least they've made the process scary enough that the average user don't even bother to do it

It's a non issue that shouldn't be given any time.

I've sideloaded for years and never had any malware.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

He doesnt want to name specific types of people or it might make it seem like google attacking specific people. So instead all users get bundled in this. They will use the most careless users as a reason to take it away from all users. It benefits them.

I think that Google really just wants to get less and less people to sideload and then shame others that do through public shaming. 'oh that's dangersous son; you shouldn't be sideloading that Fdroid app! Google said so.' That's why they brought it up to begin with, this is as google goes over court with epic games over the app store fee.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Want to know why they might really be saying to not sideload apps, because they are saying without saying it "screw you epic games, screw you 3rd party YouTube clients that get rid of our ads and screw you f-droid for offering something to people for free that isn't piracy, now we have to compete with that and make good products, or do we mwahaha."

[–] [email protected] 21 points 11 months ago

Yeah and it feels like there's a "study" coming out every other month how many hundreds or thousands of apps on the playstore are filled with spy- and malware, I'd think that can also "really compromise your safety, very significantly." So πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

[–] [email protected] 21 points 11 months ago

If we're not careful there will be a new generation of users who have no concept of "apps" at all, and will conflate sideloading (or anything 'not authorized') with an illegal process.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 months ago

Ok asshole I won't sideload apps from the Play Store anymore.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (1 children)

naa i'll keep doing what I'm doing

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Sorry, not sorry, not giving up on New Pipe. Best ad-free YouTube experience, period.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 11 months ago

I advise Pichai to suck my dick

[–] [email protected] 13 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (4 children)

oh oh. a new tech war is coming for independant app developers.

I hope this doesn't lead to Google to keep saying this repeativly for awhile and eventually removing the feature to side loading apps in the feature, them saying saying something like 'sideloading an old outdated way we use to use the internet and it has security flaws'

They really just want to kill f-droid. Once they do that, it gets harder to block Youtube ads after all. Apps like new pipe would have to find a new home.

Are devs people going to wake up and make a new commercial os that will actual compete with android and iOS? no a new Linux distro is not going to come anywhere close to even, Macos marketshare. It needs to be new, and needs to be preloaded on computers and sell in stores. It needs to be simple.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago

"CEO says" annnnd ignored. next time get someone with a soul to say whatever it is.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Oh well, I guess I'll return the Pixel 8 I just ordered.

Nah, I'll just install Calyx, and invite Sundar to suck my dick.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago (3 children)

If playstore wasn't utter shite maybe I wouldn't sideload apps

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Id rather become a hermit than pay for and give up all my privacy like these assholes want. Boycott everything, enough is enough. Even grocery companies are gouging us with record profits.

Stop spending $$.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

K thx bye I'm not logging in with a google account on my phone

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Of course i do, and install more and more sideload apps. Newpipe is good, smarttube is great, youtube premium is lame ;)

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago

Yeah I'd advise that too if that was a source of income

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Haven't he heard of F-Droid?

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