People should be able to write software for Android, and distribute it outside Google’s Play store, without having to:
- pay Google
- give government ID to Google
- agree to Google terms and conditions
People should be able to install the software they want on their phone, from sources other than Google’s Play store, without having to jump through Google-imposed hoops.
e.g. via F-Droid.
We’ve got until September this year to stop Google squeezing the open Android ecosystem.
If someone makes an app and I want to install it, that’s between me and the developer.
It’s just okay to you if an unwanted third wheel wants the power to choose which developers apps I can install? They also conveniently collect a fee for it.
It’s a curated app store. App devs are still free to just not put it on that store and host it themselves. You can definitely keep it between you and the dev.
This is not about Google Play it’s an OS level thing.
Oh, I misunderstood.
I do wonder how long until someone figures out a way around it though.
But this has nothing to do with a curated app store? Nobody is complaining about play store verification. Google is planning to block “unverified” developers’ apps from being installed at all, from any source.