Edit: Nvm, just read the article, apparently a feature in latest OneUI. So unless you use Samsung you wouldn't know it. That aside, with android 15 you will get some sort of "feature" which discourages sideloading.
How about all app stores (including Play Store and Samung own app store) not installed as system apps and show warnings equally when user install something new?
So if I'm reading this correctly, this is only a change in One UI, which Samsung makes, and only affects their devices... So why is Google being sued other than for headlines?
Also, it's still not blocked, just additional warnings educating users about security, or lack thereof with side loading.
You're talking about the same Epic that intentionally broke TOS, threw a tantrum when it was correctly kicked off the store, responded with a prepared 80-page lawsuit a day later, lost on all but one count, and is now strutting around pretending it was all for the players while taking their money by the fistful.
They broke TOS in order to serve the letter. You can’t sue for something that doesn’t affect you. Saying they threw a tantrum is disgraceful
And they should have won the Apple suit but Apple was deemed to not have a large enough market share to have a monopoly…even if they have a monopoly on Apple products
Eh a lot of TOS bullshit is exactly that. And Apple is very far from perfect, especially with anything that could even think of threatening their walled garden. I assume everything Apple does is bad for the consumer, because 99% of the time that's accurate.
Doesn't seem too different from the old enable unknown apps aside from Samsung requiring an additional step. Unless third party apps get completely blocked having to enable it doesn't seem like a bad thing with how clueless lot of people are about apks and risks associated with them if they didn't get it from a safe source.
Because sideloading is definitely a major security issue if you don't know what you're doing?
edit: obviously I am very much against banning side loading. Sideloading is close to being the only reason I use Android. But I can't understand how few warnings really make people angry.
It's definitely not a great idea to let general public just willy nilly install minecraft_cracked.apk without at least few warnings. I love Fdroid/Obtanium and I'm not going to deny it's rather inconvenient to update apps with them but cmon..
The issue is treating all third party stores as side loading, when no other category of device does this. It violates EU anti trust laws, and possibly US antitrust laws as this lawsuit explores. We trust people to have figured this out for PCs and macs, mobile is quite literally no different at this point.
Modern Windows gives you warning when you try to execute unsigned executables.
Android is not outright banning sideloading. It's just showing you some annoying warnings, which, for me personally, is not enough deterrant to stop people from installing bad shit on their machine that has close to everything about that person.
I'm very happy my 12y old kid can't just sideload shit nilly willy. He legit Googles minecraft hacks and downloads random apks and stuff if he gets the chance)
(his phone is also fully locked down with parental because a 12y old should have free reign on the internet, but that's beside the point)
Scammers make old people install malicious app designed to steal user data and obviously much more. It's a trick as old as the Internet itself but it's much more devastating when literally almost every aspect of your life is at stake.
what if I have a store that checks security properly? I mean how do you believe app store and play store then? belive them simply because they are corporate overlords? this is like saying "we don't deserve freedom because we may do crimes"