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Breaking Up with Google Play: Why Conversations Is Now Free

88 points ezst 1 hour ago 14 comments

iugtmkbdfil834 22 minutes ago | parent

I was thinking about it yesterday as codex was debugging app live on my phone about what it all really means long term. Note, while I have technical knowledge, I am not a programmer by trade. Computing was always a little ephemeral, but now it may become even more so.

Rabaa 12 minutes ago | parent

Quer és o meu número bro?

wccrawford 17 minutes ago | parent

15% is a lot. I'm not trying to say it isn't.

And they're annoying and often screw up the review process.

Google is always going to make money off any work they do. That's just business. They're not going to put more money towards better reviews without taking more money. And without the reviews, even as crappy as they are, a lot of really crappy software would be on the store. And a lot more would be actively malicious

And you were making like 7x as much as they were taking. Without them, you would even get noticed and you'd have made nothing.

We know this because almost nobody installs FDroid, and the other stores like Samsung make basically nothing for developers, even though they're preinstalled on so many devices.

applfanboysbgon 16 minutes ago | parent

> And you were making like 7x as much as they were taking. Without them, you would even get noticed and you'd have made nothing.

Jesus Christ you can always count on HN for the most sycophantic, bootlicking comments sucking up to big tech imaginable.

xandrius 2 minutes ago | parent

It's an absolutely fair argument and it just doesn't show great intelligence to go straight to namecalling rather than bringing up counter arguments.

I do believe that while Google and Apple are evil gatekeepers they also made it easier for non-tech people to install their own app without always calling their kids or neighbours. That's already a big win.

Netcob 2 minutes ago | parent

It's not just business - it's basically a monopoly. Enough to extract rent while providing a minimal service.

Imagine if all streets were owned by two large companies who charged you enough to use them that you'd be paying as much in fees as you are in paying for gas. People would still use cars. The streets could be in horrible condition, the two companies would be making an insane amount of profit, but there would still be people out there saying that if it wasn't for those companies we wouldn't be getting anywhere and it's just business.

4chandaily 17 minutes ago | parent

Customer support has gotten so terrible. Now that all big companies have terrible support, none of them are punished for it. You can still occasionally find people who give a shit in small business, but that is it. Google is probably one of the worst offenders of all. I don't know what the solution is, it seems like the only way to get any satisfaction on an issue at a big corp anymore is a social medial call-out like this one.

If you are here, thank you for Conversations, Daniel, it has been my go-to for years for communicating with friends and family.

chii 16 minutes ago | parent

Receiving 1000 euros without having any real work or accountability is the epitome of free profit. No wonder these platform gatekeepers are fighting so hard to maintain it (at the cost of you, the consumer).

And yet people (in general) just dont care, because they don't truly feel the pain until it's too late - issues like privacy and such are like that.

skybrian 13 minutes ago | parent

It makes sense to leave, but it also seems like the overall sentiment would be more positive given the “it paid my rent for many years” part.

Sayrus 4 minutes ago | parent

You rarely leave with a positive sentiment when you felt trapped and abused in the relationship.

> For years I’ve felt like I was in a toxic relationship with Google, and the only reason I stayed was economic dependency.

jan_m_savage 12 minutes ago | parent

"Fortunately, I’m no longer economically dependent on Google Play Store revenue. Google doesn’t deserve me and my money anymore. I’m done. Fuck the gatekeepers."

+1.

Rabaa 11 minutes ago | parent

Vou apontar 961010463

happosai 4 minutes ago | parent

Yeah that "there is no way to talk to a human at Google" is one of the reasons I never recommend a Google solution at current workplace... Or to family.