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Re:Browsers are essential and how operating systems are hold... by rezonant on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @05:47AM (#34706461)
This is actually another example of where OSes get in the way of browser freedom. Because of Google Play Services and its dependency on phones that have Google Play Store, it may be more difficult to support multiple builds of the app than it should be. Still, this is a good point, would love to see Mozilla support non-GMS Android devices.
Re:Browsers are essential and how operating systems are hold... by severino on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @06:24AM (#34706697)
> Still, this is a good point, would love to see Mozilla support non-GMS Android devices

Well, actually, they "support" non-GMS Android devices in the sense that no Google services are required to run Firefox on Android. But you have to get the APK from unofficial sites like APKpure or APKmirror (trusting you're downloading a non-tampered file) or finding the appropriate build among all the releases in Github.

Re:Browsers are essential and how operating systems are hold... by rezonant on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @06:28AM (#34706721)
Oh maybe I should have checked before replying. I don't think this is too hard for someone who wants a direct APK https://github.com/mozilla-mobile/fenix/releases

Perhaps the complaint is that they are not releasing to competing stores like Amazon? I would find it hard to believe that legit Firefox builds are not already on Fdroid

Re:Browsers are essential and how operating systems are hold... by severino on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @06:57AM (#34706923)
It's not the same as clicking on a direct APK download link as WhatsApp does on their website. You download and install, that's it. Here, first get into Github, browse between beta releases, OK, is this one? Now, should I get arm64 or armeabi? Definitely not a simple process, and of course not suitable at all for non technical users.
Re:Browsers are essential and how operating systems are hold... by rezonant on Wednesday February 08, 2023 @03:52PM (#34714908)
That's fair, thanks for the example!