Re:Google Adds WireGuard VPN to Android 12’s Linux Kernel 5....
by extropy on Monday October 19, 2020 @01:51PM
(#24828859)
Almost. Just that it's the OEMs that choose to implement AOSP default privilege scheme to please Google so it gives them access to Play Store and all the other Google apps.
IMHO the leverage is all on the OEM side, they just choose to focus on hardware and allow Google to manage the software.
Independent stores is something that was not really a thing before Android so we are figuring out as we go.
Debian third party repos probably come close, but that is for tech savvy folk that know that they are doing. Now design that for your grandma.
Installing apps silently (as an app store) requires so-called "Privileged" Android premissions currently. Privileged permissions are only attainable by apps that are preinstalled on Android distribution - which means that Samsung/Huawei/other stores can get it, but it's not available for apps that aren't part of original OS distribution.
So the playing field isn't level for ALL the potential Stores - Google gives these privileges to the OEMs that built the devices and them only.
Android 12 will add a mechanism to get these capabilities but it's currently not clear how (whether it's a permission on first run, or whether it's going to be available to a single app like the SMS related permissions).