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logicchains parent
Buy Apple; the point is to hurt Google. If enough people do it, Google might reconsider. Show them that the open ecosystem is the only value Android added, and if they refuse to bring back the open ecosystem then their platform will slowly die. Won't be long until Google's as locked-down as Apple at this rate, so all Android gives you is a power-hungry OS that protect your privacy even less than iOS does.
jraph
Buying closed stuff to show we want an open ecosystem?

At this point, I believe the most effective ways one can help with this is:

(1) advocacy - it's slow and difficult, but having people at least agree / be familiar with the idea that closed stuff is bad is a good first step.

Open ecosystems can't work for the general public if it's trapped in closed networks that won't work on anything else than the two big mobile operating systems, so making people start using open chat apps and such will help a lot. It'll take years, but so be it. It's worth it I think.

(2) helping improve the more open stuff.

I think Linux mobile for instance is a potentially viable alternative in the medium term for at least the basic use cases: Calls, SMS, GPS / Maps, Signal, photos. All this has no reason not to work with some polish. I daily drove Linux mobile 4 years ago for a year. The main thing I'm missing is good hardware for it, and a lot of polish but nothing impossible. Yeah, indeed, no payment with the phone (Google Pay / Apple Pay). But it's still possible to use the physical cards and not use the phone for this.

thyristan
You've got to be kidding. Doesn't work, Apple is even more locked down than what this article announces. No sideloading whatsoever, signature checks ala Play Protect are mandatory and cannot be switched off, no alternative app stores, etc.
outofpaper
You can side load three apps at a time outside the EU and unlimited inside the EU.
vachina
Not sure why this is downvoted. The entire value proposition of Android is the semi-open OS. For things you can’t do with Apple devices, you use the myriad of Android devices out there.

A locked-down Android is pointless.

homebrewer
Yet most of the world runs Android. Its main value proposition was always wide selection of hardware for however much money you're willing to spend, not its relative openness.

I make relatively decent money by our standards, and I wouldn't even think about dropping $700-1000 on a phone (which isn't even officially sold or supported over here). For the vast majority of people it's their whole income over 2-4 months. I don't know or care how much you make, let's say it's $10k per month. Imagine if you had to pay $20-40k for a phone which is good for maybe 5-8 years.

And most of the world is like that.

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