There have been multiple accounts created with the sole purpose of posting advertisement posts or replies containing unsolicited advertising.

Accounts which solely post advertisements, or persistently post them may be terminated.

Vlhacs ,

I’m not exactly sure when it started, but Play Store now has “Limited time events” that further block what I’m actually looking for. I don’t give a damn about some gacha/loot box promotion some soulless pay2win app is advertising, I just want to browse for apps I might like.

sol ,

don’t use that shit

StealthToad ,

They’re everywhere

PipedLinkBot ,

Here is an alternative Piped link(s): piped.video/XPGgTy5YJ-g

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.

stackPeek ,
@stackPeek@lemmy.world avatar

Mine is worse: oftentimes it’s just filled with ads for an online loan servicesand I feel like most of those are just scams. It’s disgusting how they allow this.

qwertychomp ,

Everytime I open google play, I play a little game where I try to find a gacha anime game in the ads as fast as I can

Hextic ,

Mine is that damn screaming face that all mobile games have.

kibiz0r ,

I mean, it’s Google. What did you expect? Android is free because having it on a ton of cheap phones helps Google collect data and sell ads.

Side-rant:

Apple’s got plenty of problems and anti-consumer behavior, too, don’t get me wrong… but it’s incredible how far they’re able to enforce privacy, down to the hardware level, while still giving devs almost the same level of control over OS features as Android.

Like, look at how ARKit does point cloud sharing vs ARCore. iOS limits sharing scanned AR environments to peer-to-peer local connections, and it’s a totally opaque object. Android meanwhile uploads your scanned room to a Google server, and the privacy terms for that data are the same as the ones for Youtube, search, maps, etc.

It drives me crazy how many FOSS nerds will rail against Facebook’s data collection and chokepoint capitalism, but then go on to praise Android for standing up to that no-good Apple. They hear “I can sideload apps” and they drop all of their recent cynicism about why they’re getting nifty stuff at a hefty discount.

marmo7ade , (edited )

deleted_by_author

    •
    nottheengineer ,

    Google has much better software and they charge for it in data/ads instead of money, but there’s a much better reason to choose android over IOS: It’s open-source, so people have created free software variants of it that retain compatibility with existing apps while respecting your privacy and freedom.

    In case you care about that, give grapheneOS or calyxOS a shot on your pixel.

    TheCraiggers ,
    @TheCraiggers@lemmy.world avatar

    If you install a custom build, doesn’t that break OS verification (or whatever the name of it was)? Meaning things like Google wallet, but more importantly some banking apps, will fail to work?

    snor10 ,

    I mean, FOSS nerds run android de-googled (or more specifically never install google services on a custom ROM).

    Sir_Kevin ,
    @Sir_Kevin@discuss.online avatar

    That’s not an Android problem, that’s a Google Play Services problem. You can run Android without all the Google bullshit.

    filister ,

    Not to mention that you can at least install third party app stores like f-droid. For me Apple is the epitome of evil giant corporation that is consistently abusing it’s market power and getting a pass from regulatory bodies.

    Don’t get me wrong, Google aren’t great either, but if I have to choose between them I would pick Google any day.

    squozenode ,

    I’ll give apple this one thing.

    They are really, really good at backup.

    I recently had to wipe my dad’s iPhone, I manually backed up his pictures just to make absolutely certain they were all saved but everything else I didn’t even bother.

    I logged him back into his apple account and everything immediately started downloading again.

    With Google, you’ll get your text messages. Your contacts, your pictures, your videos. Maybe your YouTube history and subscriptions but any random app probably uses Google backup services but it might not.

    Anomalous_Llama ,

    I’ll give Apple another thing

    I was on Android for years. Galaxies and Pixels. Around the 2 year mark they were always barely working and with a battery that needed to be topped off several times a day. Slow, hot, poor battery, glitchy. Always

    I got a 12 pro at release and it’s rock solid as the day I got it and I have no intentions of upgrading it. I’ve used it since launch with no case and yeah it’s for a few scratches here and there but despite all the drops etc it has no cracks either. It’s a tank. A tank that just keeps fucking working as it should.

    magic_lobster_party ,

    Apple makes money by selling expensive devices.

    Google makes money by selling ads.

    You can figure out the rest of the equation.

    deweydecibel , (edited )

    but it’s incredible how far they’re able to enforce privacy, down to the hardware level, while still giving devs almost the same level of control over OS features as Android.

    I don’t give a shit about devs. I want that control for users. Until they allow users to do what they want, they can get fucked.

    Privacy through the use of user restrictions is not acceptable either. It’s my god damn phone, don’t you dare tell me what I can’t do on it “for my protection”.

    It’s like saying a security firm is the best in the world at keeping clients safe, because they lock those clients in a vault and don’t let them leave.

    Privacy for freedom is not a good trade for those enthusiasts your frustrated with. They will accept Google’s shit because the alternative is getting in a fucking cage.

    Snapz ,

    Apple does objectively suck for many reasons though.

    Also, important to note that what you’re describing as their privacy focus is a deliberate rebranding exercise after a huge ,global failure with icloud and things like police access to their systems/data and public backlash.

    They are only here now, in this brief moment, because of necessity and like any of this, it’s typically a pendulum. As soon as they don’t have to do this (which probably sounds a lot like users like you defending their security bonafides publicly on their behalf), they will start to creep away and de-prioritize privacy and security.

    gila , (edited )
    @gila@lemmy.world avatar

    I can’t scrobble my music to last.fm on iOS without some janky workaround. The “almost same level of control” part of what you said relies on an assumption that only the set of use cases explicitly determined by Apple as ones that “matter” are worth supporting. That it’s more important to prevent the user from explicitly allowing a scrobbling app permission to read the music player app’s now playing notification than for the device to be able to perform this simple function.

    This point of difference doesnt have any meaningful impact on collection of my data. It just stops the device from being able to do the function I want. So that what, I can sleep easier knowing that Apple designed a slick interface to point out data vectors which were already implied to be collected? It used to feel like a smartphone with training wheels, now they’ve just locked up the handlebars so that it’s easier to go straight.

    Acid ,
    @Acid@startrek.website avatar

    I’m with you on this, I used to avoid using apple products at all costs due to the way they are so anti consumer and lock you in heavily to their ecosystem.

    But in terms of security and privacy they aren’t even playing on the same level. Android will never be as privacy or security focused as apple due to the way google runs its business so long term a Linux mobile operating system would be the dream.

    Until then I stick with what I can use which is the apple products for now.

    Gorilladrums ,

    Psst listen up losers. There’s this godly app that you could download off the web called Blockada. It can block add inside of games and apps. If you’re not a masochist, you should get it.

    andthenthreemore ,
    @andthenthreemore@startrek.website avatar

    Or just set your DNS to nextdns.io or similar. No need for any app.

    Gorilladrums ,

    That’s also true, but I find the ability to decide what gets blocked and what doesn’t to be useful sometimes

    nottheengineer ,

    But always use blokada 5, because blokada 6 sends all your traffic to a cloud service to be filtered there instead of filtering locally like 5 does.

    sagrotan ,
    @sagrotan@lemmy.world avatar

    One word: F-Droid! I’m literally only searching there for Apps first, often I find it. Send them some love, if you can afford it! Wouldn’t know how to watch YouTube anymore without New Pipe and stuff, listening to music via ViMusic, all ad-free. f-droid.org/en/

    lucho ,
    @lucho@lemmy.world avatar

    i just discover ViMusic thanks to your comment, i love it!! thank you for mentioning it!!!

    SwallowsDick ,

    Saved this comment, thank you!

    Gamey ,

    I discovered ViMusic a while ago but Youtube music keeps cencoring the songs I like so I will probably seitch back to mp3’s soon, cool app tho!

    RandomLegend ,
    @RandomLegend@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

    If you do, check out plexamp.

    You can self host a small Plex server on a raspberry pi and store all the music there. Play via plexamp and Plex does all the metadata for you

    Gamey ,

    That sounds awesome!

    Cosmocrat ,

    Use jellyfin instead, its FOSS and amazing.

    RandomLegend ,
    @RandomLegend@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

    The eternal debate, Jellyfin vs. Plex 😀

    I tried both, i prefer Plex (also because my TV doesn’t have a Jellyfin App and i don’t want to have another mini-PC just to play Jellyfin on my TV)

    Cosmocrat ,

    To each their own of course, I just want other people to be aware of an alternative to Plex if they haven’t heard about it.

    SpooneyOdin ,

    I hear great things about Jellyfin, but I’m in the Plex camp too. The availability of the Plex app is a big factor. I’m a bit biased in that I bought a lifetime membership years ago so I get all the premium features as well. I believe they still offer deals on plex lifetime membership from time to time. It is really worth it!

    RandomLegend ,
    @RandomLegend@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

    Yup, got the 20% off of lifetime a couple months ago.

    Didn’t regret it.

    illectrility ,
    @illectrility@lemmy.world avatar

    I run /e/OS with a custom app store, App Lounge. It combines F-Droid and the Play Store via Aurora. It even embeds Exodus Privacy Ratings and is simply awesome. You can even log in with your Google account and download paid apps that way. Pretty neat.

    CommunityLinkFixer Bot ,

    Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn’t work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !e_os

    ramplay ,

    Hmm, seems your regex isn’t perfect mister bot. That’s ok

    rikudou ,

    I’m probably not seeing the error…? Can you point it out to me so I can fix it?

    stochasticity ,

    Is there an easy way to see which of my installed apps are available through f-droid? Or do I need to search for each one manually.

    UnknownQuantity ,

    I’d also like to know that.

    nudnyekscentryk ,
    @nudnyekscentryk@szmer.info avatar

    yes; I use Foxy Droid to access f-droid and it detects Play Store-installed apps and displays them under Installed as long as the package name matches. This also works vice-versa

    emanresu ,

    Anyone got any of that Linux phone

    drasticpotatoes ,

    I wish some of the apps I use were feasible on a Linux phone. I would love to switch.

    kebabslob ,

    Waydroid has you covered… Soon™

    drasticpotatoes ,

    I’ll be sure to hold my breath.

    SwallowsDick ,

    Do they make phones?

    deweydecibel ,

    “Linux” does not make phones, no.

    But there are several small projects currently working on a linux-based alternative to iOS and Android. A true 3rd option has been sorely needed for a very long time, but never as much as it is now.

    Tag365 ,
    @Tag365@lemmy.world avatar

    Wait? Android isn’t Linux based?

    Gamey ,

    Yes but it’s still more of a toy than actually worth using.

    deweydecibel , (edited )

    It’ll get there eventually, it always does.

    I think what’s worrying is what the landscape will look like when it’s done. E-sims are a very bad sign for the future. It gives much more granular choices in what phones they permit on the network.

    I worry that as long as Apple is out here spouting bullshit about scanning people’s messages to protect them from “nudes”, eventually we’ll reach a place where any phone that isn’t actively monitoring its user will be perceived as doing something criminal and blocked out.

    Gamey ,

    You mean the EU and German government proposals for a few years? :/ Luckily courts block that so far but who knows what will be next and where in it will happen!

    SocializedHermit ,

    Just a moment to note that Apple backtracked on all those threats about CSAM scanning and now doesn’t support the technology being implemented.

    kebabslob ,

    Sxmo postmarketos pinephone is definitely daily driveable! Fediverse apps have webapps n stuff. Its doable, but you gotta be willing to put up with a lot :/

    Saneless ,

    They also pester you with notifications and they’re always some candy crush trash shit

    drasticpotatoes ,

    The Apple App Store isn’t much better. I searched for the Mint Mobile app the other day and the top hit was an ad for something completely unrelated that didn’t even have mint or mobile in its name.

    wrongturn ,

    Maybe they don’t have enough info on you to show targetted ads. Lucky you

    drasticpotatoes ,

    Dunno about that. Ads are ads to me. I hate em all. Funny thing is is that the app stores for Google and Apple are pretty much the only places I’ve seen them in quite awhile.

    Cyyy ,

    it got worse and worse over the last 1-2 years. this days you can’t even open an app description page on desktop anymore. you search for the name…and you can’t click on the app listing. it just gives you the option to install on your phone but not to read the store page. you only get to it by searching on Google for it. and the mobile app is like you said shit too. often you can’t even find an app and get random ads for other shitty apps.

    oldfart ,

    It sounds like you’re browsing the web signed in to your Google account. Sign out and clear cookies, or go Incognito.

    Cyyy ,

    what has this to do with signed in our not? google does the same if you’re not logged in

    oldfart ,

    Works well here. I just checked on desktop to be sure they have not broken it now - nope, I can browse apps normally.

    Cyyy ,

    maybe it depends on the region then. I’m in germany.

    Cyyy ,

    what has this to do with signed in our not? google does the same if you’re not logged in

    illectrility ,
    @illectrility@lemmy.world avatar

    laughs in F-Droid

    albert ,

    I am so glad F-Droid exists. For the apps I need that aren’t there (Steam and Blizzard authenticator for 2FA) Aurora has been a godsend

    miss_brainfart ,
    @miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml avatar

    What’s up with Steam not untying 2FA from their own app though? That is the one thing I genuinely hate about Steam

    CherenkovBlue ,
    @CherenkovBlue@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    Alright, help me out. I had fdroid before but changed phones. What do I need to do to get fdroid nowadays?

    damnYouSun ,

    You need to install it?

    It won’t carry over because it’s not a local play app but you should be able to install it the same way you did on your old phone.

    CherenkovBlue ,
    @CherenkovBlue@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    I’m trying to document this for others who have no idea where to start when installing things not in the play store.

    null ,

    To be fair, I’d wager the overlap between people that are on Lemmy, know what F-droid is, but wouldn’t think to just Google it is pretty low. Those people probably shouldn’t be messing around with sideloading and alternative app-stores anyways.

    xthexder ,
    @xthexder@l.sw0.com avatar

    I dislike the “Why not just Google it?” argument because I’ve arrived at too many forum/reddit/stackoverflow posts that are the top Google result with comments on them saying: “This information is already on Google”

    I would love it if Lemmy could start to curate information so that instances start showing up in search results more.

    null ,

    I agree up to a point. In an instance like this, what is there to document? The steps to install F-droid are to go to the website and get it.

    For things where there’s actual discussion to be had, or answers that require some degree of critical thinking that can have value in the future, sure.

    gunpachi ,

    You can go to their official website and download it - f-droid.org

    Personally I prefer to use fdroid through Droid-ify.

    CherenkovBlue ,
    @CherenkovBlue@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    Thanks, I will give that a whirl. I remember about having to change some kind of setting - third party apps?

    (I could probably figure this out through some searching but I also want this for people who have no idea where to start.)

    miss_brainfart ,
    @miss_brainfart@lemmy.ml avatar

    The system will prompt you to allow Fdroid to install apps as soon as you download something the first time. Can’t miss it

    Otherwise, you’ll find it under

    Settings > Apps > Fdroid > installation of unkown apps

    (or something like that, my system isn’t in english)

    CherenkovBlue ,
    @CherenkovBlue@iusearchlinux.fyi avatar

    Thanks!

    azims ,

    Thats the price to pay for convenience.

    SkyeStarfall ,

    It’s not even convenience. It’s an app store. You literally pay for stuff there.

    It doesn’t even fit into the “if you don’t pay you’re the product” stuff because it’s not any more free than your local grocery store. Google just goes that far because they can.

    azims ,

    If I change the word ‘convenience’ to ‘ecosystem,’ does it make you happy?

    Lordgeoffery ,
    @Lordgeoffery@lemmy.world avatar

    Double your pleasure double your fun 😉

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