Hacker News Reader

Comment by Melchizedek | Hacker News Reader

We really need tech monopolies like Google to be regulated, in order to stop abuses like this.

They're regulated. The problem is that our threshold for bad monopolistic behavior is that customers suffer, and it can be damn hard to prove when it's indirect, like in this case - how much do customers suffer from not having access to the app in question? But even then, when you aggregate all that across the entire store, I'd say that there's that aspect as well.

Back when our anti-monopoly legislation was first introduced, that wasn't the case - monopolies were busted just as well because they did something anti-competitive, even if that was presented as benefiting their customers (and even if it really did, short term).

https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol81/iss5/6/

Google is regulated in many ways. It just got the fattest antitrust fine in EU history (read all about it https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17556497).

No. They need to be broken apart so they arent so vital individually.

Regulation and anti-trust action are not mutually exclusive.

Regulation isn't a silver bullet. Maybe a little bit for certain things. But, You'll never be able to develop enough rules to make sure everyone is treated fairly.

the best way out of this is to educate users and start getting them to use other search products. we need more diversity of choice.

Google Play is not a monopoly! It takes one checkbox in Settings to open the floodgates to any app (or app store) you want, and device manufacturers (such as Amazon) can ship their own app stores pre-enabled if they want.

What percentage of android devices, in the world, have that box ticked?

Enough for Fortnite to get players on Android

I'd guess most of them, if you actually consider the whole world.

Probably not enough to matter, if you are only looking at the UK.

Oh, good point. I forgot about China.

Actually, alternative app stores can make use of that as well. The installer app needs to be installed as a system app with proper permissions, and it will them be able to background install apps on demand just like Google play does. The F-Droid Privileged Extension[0] does just that. While you need to be rooted to add/register such apps, that's not a problem for device manufacturers.

[0] https://gitlab.com/fdroid/privileged-extension/

As of Oreo Google doesn't allow this for devices if they're to pass CTS without users jumping through multiple hoops first.

If you open an APK it prompts you to go right to Settings and enable it. Actually easier than installing Firefox on a brand new Windows Surface, which requires an MS account to enable unknown app sources.

Correct me if I'm wrong but it's seem that technically 3rd party store can't do unattended upgrade while Google Play can.

Its actually no more single button. A button per apk source

Why is it an abuse for Google to arbitrarily deny you access to Google’s website?

Everyone has the right to revoke consent at any time.

Additionally, why do you believe Google is a monopoly, and in which line of business?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com