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Comment by bjarneh | Hacker News Reader

> Yeah, it's always in the flashlights, the barcode scanners, the background packs.

Why are Google afraid to release a free non-harmful version of those popular apps. Is it to keep the illusion the app-store is a vibrant market place where tons of developers get rich? It just seems nuts to allow all those harmful apps (that does virtually nothing) to float among the top downloads.

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FWIW I've not had an Android phone lacking a flashlight in the OS since... ever, I think. At a guess, the apps are preying on customers not aware of the OS-level functionality.

QR scanning seems a little more complicated. FF for Android integrates a QR scanner, but chrome does not. Google's default camera also opens links, if you allow Google Lens.

About four years ago, when I had a low end Android phone, some kind of "make the screen white" app was really useful.

I remember the play store being scary but I think there was something in fdroid.

I am not so sure on this, but I do not recall my nexus 5 having flashlight in the OS.

I have a Nexus 5, and I can confirm the flashlight is available in the system tray icon. This is true for all Google phones since at least Nexus 4. It is my understanding that AOSP as well as Google's Android implementation has always exposed access to the flashlight hardware (although somebody mentioned this not being the case with Nexus One).

Since it's not an app, but hidden under edit in the pull down notification tray, people may still end up looking for a flaslight app. Perhaps a warning in the Play store that "You already have a flashlight, it's here..." would be a good comprimise? Although that might be considered "MS pushing IE", because the Flashy flashlight app has features(tm) (omg blink S.O.S., gotta have that :s).

> Why are Google afraid to release a free non-harmful version of those popular apps.

They already did; these have both been built-in for years. The flashlight was added in Android 5.0 (https://www.androidauthority.com/android-5-0-lollipop-offici... I'm having a harder time figuring out when the barcode scanner was added, but my phone does it automatically in the camera app now.

(Disclosure: I work for Google, speaking only for myself)

> these have both been built-in for years.

If Android has a built-in QR scanner now, that must be something that came with Android 11, but September 8 2020 cannot qualify as "for years". It takes a while for OEM's to catch up as well.

There are certainly Android phones that ships with this feature (QR-scanner), but stock Android 10 does not. (Google lens != Standard Photo app).

If you know about it, you can start "Google lens" app, but that app does not even come up as a suggestion when you type QR scanner into the play store. I.e. even when you have a QR scanner available on your phone, you wouldn't know unless you somehow knew about "Google lens".

I even have a pixel3 and forgot Lens existed; the first time I was exposed to it by the phone it looked like yet another Google scans all your stuff and gives you questionable suggestions feature. It never occurred to me it would do something as straightforward as decode QRs.

I have a Pixel 3a, and I'm pretty sure it's done this since it was new (Spring 2019). I also thought my previous phone (Pixel 1) did it, though I don't have anymore and can't check.

There are many phones that have it (and have had it for a while like the Pixel it seems). Some can also enable Google lens from within the camera app, I cannot though on stock Android version 10.

I think it was announced in Google I/O 2018 but here is a link [1] talking about in in fall 2018.

[1] https://medium.com/turunen/built-in-qr-reader-on-android-696...

> Why are Google afraid to release a free non-harmful version of those popular apps.

Fear of anti-competition lawsuits and complaints. They're seeing what happens when Apple integrates stuff into iOS / OS X core that previously were third party provided, or the flak that Amazon gets for pushing AmazonBasics products.

> Fear of anti-competition lawsuits and complaints.

They could just create an open source variant that suddenly shows up top when people search for QR or barcode scanner. It would be in their best interest, and it would not violate any anti-competition laws, nobody can demand to see how these apps are ranked I guess?

Manipulating the search results so blatantly? How are they going to do this without generating more criticism?

It’s better to bake it into the OS and push an update. But then you’d have to get an OS update to heaps of phones.

> How are they going to do this without generating more criticism?

From the people who make those crummy apps; criticism surely cannot hurt Google all that much?

> But then you’d have to get an OS update to heaps of phones.

That's not a viable option, this requires tons of work from OEM's that Google would have to pay for. I've rarely ever gotten any OS updates at all on Android - apart from my latest phone. But I think the only reason I get OS updates now is due to the fact that Nokia just ships stock Android under the "android_one" brand.

QR scanning is already built into the camera app. So, not this has nothing to do integration, it's already integrated.

Those QR code scanner apps are basically taking advantage of people not knowing they don't need one.

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