r/Android • u/ControlCAD Google Pixel 10 Pro XL • Mar 01 '26

Video Google Is Closing Android. 37 Orgs Are Fighting Back. - Techlore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MZfGq5F1NU
2.3k Upvotes

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24

u/BlueScreenJunky Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

Depends on your reasons for buying an Android phone in the first place.

If it was for the sole purpose of side loading apps and they remove that then yeah you might as well get an iPhone (or maybe switch to HarmonyOS or GrapheneOS to keep side loading ?).

If it was because you prefer to have everything in Google's ecosystem rether than Apple's, or you want a foldable phone, or you want a specific phone that has a gigormous battery, or an IR camera, or a headphone jack, or a 120Hz screen for under 300€... Then it won't really change anything.

For me personally it was the lack of USB C that was a deal breaker, so iPhone have been a viable option for a few years and I'm mostly staying on Android because iPhones are still more expensive (but the gap is closing) and I'm used to Google's apps. But yeah, it's not like we need to be faithful to a particular brand, when the iPhone makes more sense I'll get an iPhone, and it does look like it might happen pretty soon. 

21

u/tiradium S24 Ultra 1TB Mar 01 '26 edited Mar 01 '26

Gap has closed and Apple won if we consider Samsung to be "the" Android analog. 1TB iPhone 17 pro max msrp is $1600 whereas Samsung is asking $1800 for the 1Tb S26 Ultra.

1

u/OhWhatsHisName Mar 01 '26

I'd like to know how many people actually pay full retail, for either iPhone or Android.

Every major carrier offers them both for free, and both always have some sort of trade in deal.

2

u/cancerBronzeV Mar 01 '26

I always pay full retail for my phone. I have a really cheap plan going from like almost 10 years ago (100GB data anywhere in Canada+US for 35 CAD or ~25 USD). I need to have my own device for that plan though, and I'm not gonna swap my plan to a significantly more expensive one just to get the "free" device.

0

u/OhWhatsHisName Mar 01 '26

I don't know about in Canada, but in the US many manufacturers offer trade in deals even for unlocked.

1

u/cancerBronzeV Mar 01 '26

Ya, there are the trade in deals, but I tend to only get a new phone when my current one is in tatters and will fetch like $25 in the trade in.

0

u/OhWhatsHisName Mar 01 '26

Yeah if you can't time it, that sucks

1

u/SharkDad20 Mar 01 '26

Yeah I’m paying $190 a month for my wife and i to have the base storage 17 pro max with unlimited data at Verizon. I can get Mint Mobile for $60/month plus the cost of the phone. If i upgrade yearly like a consumerismidiot, im paying ~$1000/year for both phones after trade in (wouldn’t get pro max if it was out of my own pocket, dont need it tbh), that comes down to $143/month with mint Mobile, which is $45 per month savings. I can make that way way way cheaper by not upgrading my phone every year, too, because the main benefit is i buy everything up front, in the moment, when i can afford it and find it worth it, rather than staying perpetually locked in to overpriced data plans with offers of a “free” phone every year

It takes some effort up front, but breaking free of carriers puts you in a much better place.

Idk why i went on the is tangent but i hope it helps someone

1

u/catch_dot_dot_dot Z Fold 8 Mar 02 '26

And the fingerprint reader! People ignore that but I unlock my phone 100 times a day and I don't want to have to put it in front of my face each time. The ultrasonic readers are great now.

1

u/zaphod777 Pixel 8 Mar 02 '26

The Google ecosystem is less and less a priority for me. Any neat thing will eventually be abandoned, left to rot, and then buried in the Google cemetery.

I do prefer Android though, I'm not really a fan of the way things work on my iPad.

-3

u/kvothe5688 Device, Software !! Mar 01 '26

also side loading is not going away in this change only devs making apps need to verify themselves. and even without verification you can always sideload with adb. for end users things are not changing much so all these comments about going for iPhone are stupid

10

u/randomredditor575 Mar 01 '26

“You can side load with adb , so for end users tyres no change “ . Are hit for real ? The average user won’t even know what adb is . And why would devs making piracy apps , vanced , etc… wanna register themselves

6

u/Cry_Wolff Pixel 7 Pro Mar 01 '26

The average user wasn't installing APK apps from the beginning.

1

u/randomredditor575 Mar 01 '26

They were . Many apps that didn’t get approval in play store had apks

-1

u/Cry_Wolff Pixel 7 Pro Mar 01 '26

Your mother, sister or other non tech friend had a need for those non approved apps?

2

u/randomredditor575 Mar 01 '26

When betting apps were banned, everyone were installing apks . So yeah

5

u/fermentedbolivian Mar 01 '26

I know a lot of people with sideloaded iptv apps.

-2

u/mdwstoned Mar 01 '26

Step out of your zone, the vast majority aren't doing sideloading.

1

u/Auntypasto GrapheneOS Mar 02 '26

 I sideload too. But I can't remember the last time I used ADB.

0

u/ihateslowdrivers Mar 01 '26

No but they had a need for something else

0

u/Khai_1705 Mar 01 '26

out of touch

-6

u/kvothe5688 Device, Software !! Mar 01 '26

sideload with adb is for unverified devs. users can still sideload with current method if dev is verified. 3rd party stores will still be there. do you even know what the issue here is. i mean revanced app is piracy with extra steps.

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u/randomredditor575 Mar 01 '26

I literally mentioned why devs won’t wanna verify their apps

-5

u/kvothe5688 Device, Software !! Mar 01 '26

yeah and you gave one app name. vanced. which is a piracy app.

3

u/pendelhaven Mar 01 '26

vanced is dead, stop beating it.

-1

u/degggendorf Mar 02 '26

The average user won’t even know what adb is .

Yeah I think that's the point. It's easy for grandma to tap "install" on the sketchy apk a scammer sent her to, but no way in hell is she ADBing from her computer.

Meanwhile it's quick and easy for you and I to do it.

1

u/ImDonaldDunn Mar 01 '26

You can do that on iOS as well. It’s a slightly bigger pain in the ass than on Android, but there is plenty of solutions that make it easy.

0

u/InsaneNinja iOS/Nexus Mar 01 '26

If it was because you prefer to have everything in Google's ecosystem rether than Apple's

Preferring the company that looks at your data vs the one that doesn’t. I assume it’s more because you prefer the apps rather than this being about deciding where your data is actually stored.