The problem is the naughty/nice dichotomy in terms of software that needs effectively global permissions to accomplish it's task, like apps like this arguably would. I have also compromised the ever loving hell out of my household ubuntu box to make it do various things, but I'm also doing that on purpose, knowing full well that it's kept safe by other means.
The problem is casual users aren't interested in learning about this shit so they can make informed choices. They just click through and give apps access to the entire device without thinking or reading, and then bitch at Google when their data is breached. Google doesn't want to deal with that so they lock everything down.
I dunno isn't this why Android users root their phones?
> I dunno isn't this why Android users root their phones?
No, because it would be like using dynamite to drill a small hole in the wall - effectively destroying the platform's entire security model as well as locking yourself out of vital apps (finance/banking), and many non-vital apps that pretend they need the same level of security and refuse to work on rooted devices.
> locking yourself out of vital apps (finance/banking)
My controversial take here is that Google's creation of a remote attestation scheme is also anticompetitive, intended to reduce the commercial viability of any non-blessed Android distributions.
Everyone could see the bad intent when Microsoft proposed the same thing about a decade earlier under the name Palladium, but Google's Safetynet didn't prompt much outcry from the tech community. I'm disappointed by that.
Well sure I don't disagree with you at all, but the way I always hear it from Android fans, that's why they want it. I don't get it personally, I'm quite happy with a "locked down" iPhone.
I don't know how it is on iPhones, but many Android phones come with a crap-ton of unwanted software that is uninstallable unless you have root. I'm exaggerating but it feels like buying a car with all the stations pre-programmed in the radio.
> The problem is casual users aren't interested in learning about this shit so they can make informed choices.
That's a good point. And for non-casual users there is F-droid. It sucks for app developers who lose a giant audience for sure. But maybe in the long run it's good that power users have a place to go?
The problem is casual users aren't interested in learning about this shit so they can make informed choices. They just click through and give apps access to the entire device without thinking or reading, and then bitch at Google when their data is breached. Google doesn't want to deal with that so they lock everything down.
I dunno isn't this why Android users root their phones?