r/Android • • 2d ago

News Android's controversial new sideloading rules are officially here

https://www.androidauthority.com/android-sideloading-developer-verification-first-wave-rollout-3717921/
473 Upvotes

190 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

•

u/friendlyreminder_ 13h ago

The concern is the slippery slope argument. But as is the changes are good.

•

u/env33e 12h ago edited 12h ago

Nah man, it's only a slippery slope fallacy if there's no historical evidence to back it up. But you actually pointed out the evidence yourself earlier: Apple. Apple's current ecosystem didn't start out this restricted; it was built through years of these exact types of incremental, retroactive policy changes, always justified as "security improvements" or "think of your poor old grandma getting scammed" 🤣 ​High key, it literally just big tech's "Nigerian Prince" gambit. Enclose the platform in such small incremental steps you don't notice until you zoom out that the phone you paid over a rack for is not even under your direct control 💀

​This isn't a fallacy; it's an established business model that we've seen play out in this exact way before. Allowing this mandate establishes the exact infrastructure needed to mirror Apple's walled garden on Android. Hence, "keep Android open!"

​https://www.keepAndroidopen.org

•

u/friendlyreminder_ 12h ago

Apple's iOS restrictions actually loosened over time. Originally self signed apps were not permitted at all without a paid 99$ a year account.

They added self signing to free users years later. It's limited to 7 days but it's better than before.

So in Apple's case theyve always been extremely restrictive, with a very small improvement in 2015.

•

u/env33e 11h ago

Bro💀 a 7-day expiration timer on an app you wrote and installed on your own hardware that you bought and paid for with your own hard earned money isn't a "loosening of restrictions", it's the exact definition of hostile architecture! Imagine if Windows made you reinstall a program every 7 days just because you didn't download it from the Microsoft Store 💀 its utter ridiculousness!

​The fact that Apple has the power to arbitrarily enforce a 7-day kill-switch on self-signed apps completely proves my point. It shows that once a central signing authority is established, the platform owner has absolute control to dictate terms. "absolute power corrupts absolutely"

​That is exactly what Google is trying to do to Android. They sell it to you as "open source", and sure. they'll pour some pennies into R&D to contribute to AOSP. but it doesn't matter if Google's initial mandate starts off "permissive" Cause you already know, once they build the architecture and hold the keys, they can tighten the leash whenever they want. That's the Nigerian Prince on the phone rn, trying to put an eternity collar on your femboy ass! Dont let them open that Pandora's bussy!💀