So we have these regular announcements like https://lemmy.world/post/48341079
The app stores listed there are only from the big hardware vendors. Not a single mention out of the Open Source world. I guess ut means all these developers were reasonable enough not to play along.
What do you think is going to happen? Is Google really going to cut them all down?
No, open source is here to stay. Much of Google’s own infrastructure is based on open source.
What they are trying to do is limit people from installing apps non storefront sources. The thing Apple has just been slapped in Europe for.
For technical people it won’t be an issue we have ways to ignore Google’s bullshit but for non tech people it may prevent some phone malware from getting installed. Although it doubt it.
The cultural effect will still be massive and deliberate.
I kinda agree, techy people will get around it and non-techy people do not install and use third party stores in the first place (does Samsung store count? They probably get a pass I assume). But it is still shitty and offensive and establishes a monopoly that the EU will have a problem with…
I have been thinking non the less to switch to other more open mobile os. I have tried a few, but my current phone is not well supported. When I upgrade in the future I will go for a more open platform.
I think if Google does this they kinda force devs in non-United Statean countries to develop their apps for other platforms too. If European government and banking apps can only be downloaded from United Statean app stores and the OS on United Statean Android phones are locked to only that store, they might have a problem with that…
Hopefully European government and banking apps become available on open source platforms like F-droid.
So far all the European digital sovereignty talk doesn’t mention mobile operating systems which are 100% controlled by the US. EU identity, banking, and even the new Wero payment app only works on iOS and Android.
That really is the craziest part. Doesn’t matter much if we change everything if the underlying stores and OS still is not sovereign…
The fact that I cannot do banking or log into government sites without a phone with a foreign controlled OS and app store still baffles me…
I’m still hoping SailfishOS will eventually gain more traction. Their functionality and compatibility are not yet where Android or iOS are, but they are Finnish and mostly open source. Their business model is based on users paying for a license, not selling data.