A) Android doesn't have some vast and ugly problem with malfeasance.
B) It's entirely possible to educate customers that if they go outside of respected shops - they run the risk of problems.
C) The 'Windows' analogy doesn't really hold because mobile OS APIs are totally locked down. Any app installed on Windows/Mac can effectively wipe out your machine. It's a huge risk. An android app has very limited API access, moreover, the user has to grant explicit rights.
Fortnight is not a bad example of anything really.
There's no evidence that people really benefit from fully walled garden.
Moreover, there's evidence that they can't get the apps and functionality they need, because there are quite a number of apps that simply cannot be easily developed and deployed in iPhone - so many corporate and B2B apps. It's possible in only limited scenarios.
The 'security' issue is not real. It's a tactic by Apple to control the market and that's mostly it.
https://drfone.wondershare.com/android-tips/top-android-viru...
It's entirely possible to educate customers that if they go outside of respected shops - they run the risk of problems.
People have been saying the same thing about PCs since the 80s. How has that worked out?
An android app has very limited API access, moreover, the user has to grant explicit rights.
Like “Access File System”,”read phone state”, etc.?
Fortnite isn’t a good example of anything.
https://www.cnet.com/news/just-as-critics-feared-fortnite-fo...
There's no evidence that people really benefit from fully walled garden.
Except that you never hear about the malware on iOS that is able to be installed on Android devices.
There's no evidence that people really benefit from fully walled garden.
There is plenty of B2B software on iOS, a large multinational company I use to work for distributed all types of apps for their employees that never went through the App Store. Another company I worked for distributed B2B software for other customers.
Moreover, there's evidence that they can't get the apps and functionality they need,
What apps does the general non techie consumer “need” or “want” that they can’t get on iOS.
Android - it's very limited what they can do - and they need permission.
This is perfectly fair.
There is basically no reason for a walled garden - that 'there exists some malware' on Android is not evidence that 'open' is a problem, it's just evidence that 'open will have some problems' - which I admit.
The very minor issues that can exist on Android are easily worth the open nature of the platform.
"What apps can't I get" ?
Well, this HN reader for one.
There are 100x more examples of decent apps being rejected from iOS than there are serious problems in Android.
Have you seen the list of permissions that allow an app to do basically anything on an Android phone? And if you think asking for permission before an app is granted these widespread permission are good enough, that’s just about as effective as UAC was on Vista.
There is basically no reason for a walled garden - that 'there exists some malware' on Android is not evidence that 'open' is a problem, it's just evidence that 'open will have some problems' - which I admit. The very minor issues that can exist on Android are easily worth the open nature of the platform.
It may be worth it to you but not to the millions of people that click yes to every dialog box. These are the same people that have ten toolbars on their web browser.
Well, this HN reader for one. There are 100x more examples of decent apps being rejected from iOS than there are serious problems in Android.
The people who want an app to read Hacker News are dwarfed by the amount of people who would just as easily install ransomware on their phone as they would on Windows.
I’ll install almost any app on my phone/iPad/AppleTV just to try out because it can’t do any harm. I would have to treat an Android phone like I treat installing software on Windows - only from a few trusted sources.
You can’t even install CloudFlare’s recently released app without it asking for microphone access and file access.
In any case, this was in the context of app stores. What I meant is the ability to go flip a switch that enables sideloading, as you can do with Android or Win10 Store apps, if you know that one exists - on the assumption that if you do, you also know the risks. On Win10 specifically, this is stashed away in the system settings page titled "For developers", which comes with a bunch of warnings, so it's not something you can turn on by accident.
Or an app like Fortnite....
My mom would never have to worry about getting malware because she searched for a printer driver if she had an iPad. Heck, she wouldn’t have had to worry about a printer driver at all.
And if you want to see what happens on mobile when you have an App Store with an out clause like on Android for the common consumer, look no further than what happened with Fortnight.