this post was submitted on 15 May 2025
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Dafuck? Ofc we need the right to sideload but android in no way restricts this.
Android does not restrict sideloading in any way whatsoever.
Only apple does.
Your comment makes it sound like they both do, which would be misinformation.
What percentage of Android users actually install FDroid and how many are stuck with monopolistic defaults?
We just had an antitrust trial where Google got spanked for malicious defaults.
Defaults aren't the same as restrictions. I've had F-Droid since it's inception and got no clue why others don't use it but that's their life and choices.
On iOS I had no such option apart from the inconsistently available jailbreak requiring Cydia.
They're both shitty practices don't get me wrong, I was only saying that that user seemed to be implying Google in any way restricts sideloading on android which is not true.
I'll tell you - average user just doesn't know about it. And doesn't know the benefits.
Source: was an average user before joining lemmy
Well, I'm glad you know about it now, but let's be real nerds won't shut up about it, so there are plenty who do know but choose not to.
That said, I see no way under a capitalist framework to justify Google being forced to explain to users that they can use F-Droid and what the benefits are, nor do I think such average users will understand an explanation or choose to not ignore it and enforce them to word it such that it doesn't end up doing nothing or the opposite.
You're just in those circles.
Most people don't know any nerds, or people who are particularly tech-savvy, and if they do, "alternative app stores" isn't really the most engaging of topics that people have with their friends.
Thanks for your input! What I'd love to know is what are those people into, if not tech? If they don't know any "nerds" then who do they know and what do they talk about?
The vast majority of users exclusively stick to defaults.
Microsoft got in a lot of trouble in the 90s for simply including Internet Explorer in Windows, as it disincentivized people from installing a different web browser such as Netscape.
Requiring the user to jump through hoops is restrictive. Remember, the vast majority of people are not nearly as technically skilled as we.
The only hoop is one setting to enable third party app installs afaik, possibly also turning off play protect.
Idk at this point it's like saying that changing the TV channel is a "hoop" because it requires a button press.
Not defending Google either, every time I install an app from F-Droid it prompts me to "Turn on Play Protect" to "improve security" with an obligatory dark pattern to boot but honestly if someone can't navigate a simple dark pattern idk how they get dressed in the morning or know truth from fiction.
You jest, but...
It's a far cry from a big, red button on the front that says "press to install apps." Navigating a settings menu is seriously advanced for the majority of users.
Whenever you try to install an apk with sideloading disabled, Android will prompt you with a popup that will take you directly to the setting you need to toggle to allow sideloading.
Now try explaining sideloading to grandma
If they're the sort of users who find such hoops restrictive, do you really want them installing shit willy-nilly?
Are you arguing for the walled gardens now?
Doesn't seem like it, but users who don't know how to toggle a setting should be kept faaaar away from sideloading
Now you are also arguing for walled gardens.