> IMO a more precise framing is that what is being removed is the ability of
anonymous developers to have
wide distribution on Android devices. That is, after these changes, you (as an app developer) can either:
>
> - be a registered developer, and target
all Android users (Google Play Store, F-Droid, distributing .apk files, etc), or
>
> - remain anonymous, and target only a subset of Android users (all "power users" who do the one-time 24-hour cooldown, or a small number of users if you use the student/hobbyist path, and of course anyone can install their own apps on their own device with adb).
>
> This is definitely an unfortunate step backwards from Android's prior openness, but is still more open than iOS (my comparison from a previous discussion:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47939361), and is basically Google being forced by the governments of certain countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand) where malicious-app phone scams have led to a lot of people losing their savings (
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47152069 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45909348).
As far as I am aware, the 24-hour cooldown will be required to use F-Droid. Has the situation changed regarding that?
As far as I am aware, the 24-hour cooldown will be required to use F-Droid. Has the situation changed regarding that?