The state of Playstore

Enshittification spares no one.
- Happens when you don't have competition. (Except to steam seemingly)
  
  The difference is that Valve is privately owned. They don't have to please a board of shareholders who want to see the platform milked for the slightest increase in profit margins.
  
  Steam has some competition, its just that said competition never took off because Steam is so much better.
  
  (Except to steam seemingly)
  For now. I'm curious what'll happen when Gabe eventually retires.
  We also can't ignore the fact that the Steam Marketplace is a hellhole and the origin of a lot of today's microtransaction hell.
  If you buy all your games on one platform then you're thoroughly fucked if it turns heel.
- "the play store is shit now!"
  The play store was always shit.
- Sure it does, but only those who have a zero-tolerance policy against using proprietary software. In the long run, Free Software is the only kind that can be relied upon not to betray you.
  
  I agree, free software is the only thing that's sure to not get worse over time. I took way too long to realize, now I have a shitload of stuff to migrate. I already ditched microsoft, but that google account is a real bitch to replace.

A single row of ads would be ok, but having this many plus an ad showing up first, where the search results should be... Oof
- No it wouldn’t. Phones aren’t cheap.
  
  They can be. I bought a Galaxy s22 with a broken screen for $150, and my carrier just gave me an $1100 credit for it on a new iphone. I don't need an iPhone, and I will be selling it to get yet another cheap phone and pocketing the money, but it goes to show just how much phones do not cost to the people producing them
  
  The Android licence is free and the Play Store infrastructure has to support tens of millions of devices.
  I'm not saying this is an acceptable level, but Samsung ain't putting a dollar toward Google running the store, in fact, they'd much prefer to run and maintain their own.
  
  They shouldn't rely on ads to make money back on a phone IMHO.
- I don't think ads showing something related to what I'm looking for are bad in and if themselves. I want to find related content, the problem is that these are often not in any way related to what I'm looking for. It's just a list of who paid to be listed there.

- i dont even touch the galaxy store unless i absolutely have to, something about it just feels so... off?
  
  There are a handful of customisation apps that are only available through the Galaxy store. The ones I use are all Samsung official apps, but the poorly written descriptions on the install pages definitely make me uncomfortable.
  It's like they only intended the apps for their Korean users, and ran the text through Google translate for the English versions.
- On the App Store, it’s also under the “essentials” section. The “Must-have iPhone apps”. Lmfao. I hate that state of technology in 2023. Burn it all down.
  
  What would you expect the algorithm to be if not to recommend the apps installed and used the most on their platform?
  I don't use TikTok or FB, but it's hard to blame them for suggesting apps that they have concrete usage data on saying they are the most used.

Just leaving this here: Aurora Store
- Aside of the lack of ads, I now depend on Aurora Store for batch app updates because the cocksuckers at Google Play have allowed devs to force app version updates even when you have disabled automatic updates for that specific app.
- Ok this is actually pretty cool. So I gave this a try and what I found in the first few mins of using it:
  you can login anonymously or with your own Google account (anonymous logs you into one of their shared Gmail accounts which personally I don't like the idea of)
  it manages all existing apps too, so you can use it as a drop in replacement for the play store.
  Updates aren't as well, there doesn't appear to be a background update option as android requires you to confirm if you wish to install the update for each app.
  Overall solid app. I don't spend a lot of time in the PlayStore so the ads themselves don't bother me. The moment though I begin getting pop up ads / notifications I'll be jumping to this full time though
  
  Just be careful when using your own google account on Aurora Store. There are reports of people getting their account banned by google. Do not use an important google account there.
  
  Another cool feature is you can spoof your device's name. This can allow you to install apps that daddy Google does not approve of for your device.
- What is the difference with F-Droid?
  
  F-Droid has special FOSS Apps only. Aurora Store delivers the same Apps like Play Store.
  
  It's an alternative client to the Play Store. It does not access F-Droid repos.
  
  Others answered you, but aurora also has an F-Droid replacement called Aurora Droid.
  
  Aurora store is basically anonymous access to the official Google Play store.
  You can download any app because unlike the Google Play store Aurora doesn't send your phones hardware ID, so if for example your phone is rooted you can get the Disney Plus app anyway.
  Fdroid is an alternate app store. They have different things than the Google Play store. They respect your privacy and will let you download any app that is ever been uploaded to them, Even old versions of an app.
- ~~Um ... can I sign in with my google account?~~
  It appears that I can, wonderful.

Thanks to Lemmy, my phone went full FOSS. Always go full FOSS.
- It's great that you can't unlock the bootloader to install graphene on carrier bought devices 👍
  
  In Canada, carriers are required to only sell unlocked phones for the past several years.
  
  Can unlock it on my machine 😎
  
  Or samsung devices

One word: F-Droid! I'm literally only searching there for Apps first, often I find it. Send them some love, if you can afford it! Wouldn't know how to watch YouTube anymore without New Pipe and stuff, listening to music via ViMusic, all ad-free. https://f-droid.org/en/
- I run /e/OS with a custom app store, App Lounge. It combines F-Droid and the Play Store via Aurora. It even embeds Exodus Privacy Ratings and is simply awesome. You can even log in with your Google account and download paid apps that way. Pretty neat.
  
  Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn't work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: !e_os@lemmy.world
- Is there an easy way to see which of my installed apps are available through f-droid? Or do I need to search for each one manually.
  
  yes; I use Foxy Droid to access f-droid and it detects Play Store-installed apps and displays them under Installed as long as the package name matches. This also works vice-versa
  
  I'd also like to know that.
- i just discover ViMusic thanks to your comment, i love it!! thank you for mentioning it!!!
- I discovered ViMusic a while ago but Youtube music keeps cencoring the songs I like so I will probably seitch back to mp3's soon, cool app tho!
  
  If you do, check out plexamp.
  You can self host a small Plex server on a raspberry pi and store all the music there. Play via plexamp and Plex does all the metadata for you
- Saved this comment, thank you!

laughs in F-Droid
- I am so glad F-Droid exists. For the apps I need that aren't there (Steam and Blizzard authenticator for 2FA) Aurora has been a godsend
  
  What's up with Steam not untying 2FA from their own app though? That is the one thing I genuinely hate about Steam
- Alright, help me out. I had fdroid before but changed phones. What do I need to do to get fdroid nowadays?
  
  You can go to their official website and download it - https://f-droid.org/
  Personally I prefer to use fdroid through Droid-ify.
  
  You need to install it?
  It won't carry over because it's not a local play app but you should be able to install it the same way you did on your old phone.

Luckily I only have F-Droid on mine.
- What, no love for the Ad Store?
- This ad has features you may not like
- "Thanks for the F-Droid"
  Dirty Mike and the Boys
- F-Droid for the main stuff, Aurora Store when I'm feeling dirty.

it got worse and worse over the last 1-2 years. this days you can't even open an app description page on desktop anymore. you search for the name...and you can't click on the app listing. it just gives you the option to install on your phone but not to read the store page. you only get to it by searching on Google for it. and the mobile app is like you said shit too. often you can't even find an app and get random ads for other shitty apps.
- It sounds like you're browsing the web signed in to your Google account. Sign out and clear cookies, or go Incognito.
  
  what has this to do with signed in our not? google does the same if you're not logged in
  
  what has this to do with signed in our not? google does the same if you're not logged in

I mean, it’s Google. What did you expect? Android is free because having it on a ton of cheap phones helps Google collect data and sell ads.
Side-rant:
Apple’s got plenty of problems and anti-consumer behavior, too, don’t get me wrong… but it’s incredible how far they’re able to enforce privacy, down to the hardware level, while still giving devs almost the same level of control over OS features as Android.
Like, look at how ARKit does point cloud sharing vs ARCore. iOS limits sharing scanned AR environments to peer-to-peer local connections, and it’s a totally opaque object. Android meanwhile uploads your scanned room to a Google server, and the privacy terms for that data are the same as the ones for Youtube, search, maps, etc.
It drives me crazy how many FOSS nerds will rail against Facebook’s data collection and chokepoint capitalism, but then go on to praise Android for standing up to that no-good Apple. They hear “I can sideload apps” and they drop all of their recent cynicism about why they’re getting nifty stuff at a hefty discount.
- Google has much better software and they charge for it in data/ads instead of money, but there's a much better reason to choose android over IOS: It's open-source, so people have created free software variants of it that retain compatibility with existing apps while respecting your privacy and freedom.
  In case you care about that, give grapheneOS or calyxOS a shot on your pixel.
- I mean, FOSS nerds run android de-googled (or more specifically never install google services on a custom ROM).
- That's not an Android problem, that's a Google Play Services problem. You can run Android without all the Google bullshit.
  
  Not to mention that you can at least install third party app stores like f-droid. For me Apple is the epitome of evil giant corporation that is consistently abusing it's market power and getting a pass from regulatory bodies.
  Don't get me wrong, Google aren't great either, but if I have to choose between them I would pick Google any day.
- but it’s incredible how far they’re able to enforce privacy, down to the hardware level, while still giving devs almost the same level of control over OS features as Android.
  I don't give a shit about devs. I want that control for users. Until they allow users to do what they want, they can get fucked.
  Privacy through the use of user restrictions is not acceptable either. It's my god damn phone, don't you dare tell me what I can't do on it "for my protection".
  It's like saying a security firm is the best in the world at keeping clients safe, because they lock those clients in a vault and don't let them leave.
  Privacy for freedom is not a good trade for those enthusiasts your frustrated with. They will accept Google's shit because the alternative is getting in a fucking cage.
- I can't scrobble my music to last.fm on iOS without some janky workaround. The "almost same level of control" part of what you said relies on an assumption that only the set of use cases explicitly determined by Apple as ones that "matter" are worth supporting. That it's more important to prevent the user from explicitly allowing a scrobbling app permission to read the music player app's now playing notification than for the device to be able to perform this simple function.
  This point of difference doesnt have any meaningful impact on collection of my data. It just stops the device from being able to do the function I want. So that what, I can sleep easier knowing that Apple designed a slick interface to point out data vectors which were already implied to be collected? It used to feel like a smartphone with training wheels, now they've just locked up the handlebars so that it's easier to go straight.
- Apple does objectively suck for many reasons though.
  Also, important to note that what you're describing as their privacy focus is a deliberate rebranding exercise after a huge ,global failure with icloud and things like police access to their systems/data and public backlash.
  They are only here now, in this brief moment, because of necessity and like any of this, it's typically a pendulum. As soon as they don't have to do this (which probably sounds a lot like users like you defending their security bonafides publicly on their behalf), they will start to creep away and de-prioritize privacy and security.
- I’m with you on this, I used to avoid using apple products at all costs due to the way they are so anti consumer and lock you in heavily to their ecosystem.
  But in terms of security and privacy they aren’t even playing on the same level. Android will never be as privacy or security focused as apple due to the way google runs its business so long term a Linux mobile operating system would be the dream.
  Until then I stick with what I can use which is the apple products for now.
- Apple makes money by selling expensive devices.
  Google makes money by selling ads.
  You can figure out the rest of the equation.

I've lost all of my faith in mobile gaming ecosystem ever since I saw that talk of the two guys that created a bot for generating and uploading as many slot machine games to the playstore as possible, just generic pull a lever, see an ad and that's it, based on a random keyword like "owl slot machine" or "bathtub sloth machine" with pictures pulled from google images, that let the bot run for a few months and then found out that they made literally thousands of dollars of ad money.
- I see Google's review process for apps on the Play Store is as bad as their review process for extensions on the Chrome Web Store. Every couple of months ago, a new batch of malware is found on CWS, and you almost never see that with Firefox's add-on marketplace, even when accounting for Firefox-based browsers having a much smaller userbase. And I've noticed that when it does happen, Mozilla is much quicker in laying down the banhammer than Google. Hell, Mozilla banned a browser hijacker named FVD Speed Dial, whilw Google has it featured on CWS to this day. ~Cherri
  
  When I was looking for a good ad-blocker a few years back, I remember stumbling upon something like... Nano Defender? I'm not sure what was the name, but it was one of the few succesful anti-adblocks that managed to get past most of adblock killers, and was generally recommended on Reddit.
  After a few years, the guy sold the extension to some Indian company that promptly infected it with credential stealing malware, which compromised most of my and my GFs accounts. Ever since that, I just don't use any extensions apart from ublock and Bitwarden, since it's just a huge security risk.
  But I'm slowly building up the willpower to finally switch to Mulvad Browser + VPN, I really like the approach they took to fingerprinting - just use Tor Browser, don't need any extensions, and it's bundled with a VPN - so every other user has exactly the same fingerprint and IP as you, thus making you untrackable even by the most soffisticated methods. (Well, apart from the ones that uses ML to fingerprint you based on your typing and mouse habits...). But I have already gotten used to Librewolf, and it would mean getting rid of Bitwarden extension, and that's -effort- :(

Wait, what? A shitty Google product? Plagued by ads and spyware? No way!
As others have pointed out here, use Aurora Store or F-Droid.

I like how like 10 years ago everyone went crazy about the apps. It seemed like you could have an app for everything, and everyone was enthusiastic about it. Nowadays I only open Play Store when I am in the need of specific utility, or to buy some classic RPG/other game ported to Android.
Most of the stuff in the store is just unusable shit.
And we need a store with actual quality apps (with no micro transactions, and being reviewed by people who care about usability), because certainly Google Play is not a good source for them.
- Agreed. Mostly everything in the store can also be easily done in a browser too.
- And we need a store with actual quality apps (with no micro transactions, and being reviewed by people who care about usability), because certainly Google Play is not a good source for them.
  Fdroid apps CAN have microtransactions I believe, and they're not curated either, but overall, the quality is much better than Play Store and most apps are free and open source.
  Alternatively, for games in particular, Apple Arcade is great, but it's a subscription (cheap if combined with Music, TV and iCloud storage, otherwise several euros per month). The games aren't allowed to have MTX or ads if they want to be on Arcade. But of course that requires moving to iOS (where the app store is much better than Play Store, BUT you don't get alternatives like Fdroid on Android.)
  
  I use a huge amount of open source f-droid apps, like my keyboard, my mail app, the one i'm typing on right now, SD maid 2, (Revanced). in my opinion these apps are just better. not only because i can trust them, also because they simply do what i downloaded them for, in the most efficient way possible.

I'm not exactly sure when it started, but Play Store now has "Limited time events" that further block what I'm actually looking for. I don't give a damn about some gacha/loot box promotion some soulless pay2win app is advertising, I just want to browse for apps I might like.

Try out Aurora Store. Just started testing it. Looks and works similar to play store but without adds. You ~~can login with~~ should not use your main google account.
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.aurora.store/
/edit/
- Pro tip - Avoid using your main account because it might get blocked permanently by Google.
  
  Why?
- Thanks for that, looks pretty nice. Though I'm concerned now trading Google might block your account for using it.
- When I'm installing F-Droid I get a security alert about it being developed for a previous android version and that it doesn't include latest privacy updates. How legit is that? I'm downloading the apk throught their official website https://f-droid.org/
  
  It's so the app still runs on ancient android versions. Use the Droid-ify client instead if you don't want that

The Play Store peaked back when it was still called Android Market (which I still reckon is a better name). DAE remember
?
- Play store sounds like a game marketplace. Also Play has nothing to do with anything in googles brand so its really confusing why its still called that.
  
  They tried having a Play ecosystem with Google Play Video, Music, Games, etc. Music was actually pretty good, so of course Google killed it in favor of YouTube Music, which is terrible and plays YouTube video versions of songs instead of actual album stuff.

Ads Hey, I see tou took a screenshot, check out this screenshot tool you might like.
Ads I also noticed you are using Android, have you seen the latest Pixel device? Save $1.31 with this promo code DIARRHEA
Ads One last thing, since your battery is less that 50%, you might like this Ankor battery pack.
Anyway, what's the big deal?
- You've done quite a bit of typing on your touchscreen there. You would enjoy this BT keyboard sold by asabravatechioxnchientopia. Don't forget AAA batteries.

Anyone got any of that Linux phone
- Yes but it's still more of a toy than actually worth using.
  
  It'll get there eventually, it always does.
  I think what's worrying is what the landscape will look like when it's done. E-sims are a very bad sign for the future. It gives much more granular choices in what phones they permit on the network.
  I worry that as long as Apple is out here spouting bullshit about scanning people's messages to protect them from "nudes", eventually we'll reach a place where any phone that isn't actively monitoring its user will be perceived as doing something criminal and blocked out.
- Waydroid has you covered... Soon™
- Sxmo postmarketos pinephone is definitely daily driveable! Fediverse apps have webapps n stuff. Its doable, but you gotta be willing to put up with a lot :/
- Do they make phones?
  
  "Linux" does not make phones, no.
  But there are several small projects currently working on a linux-based alternative to iOS and Android. A true 3rd option has been sorely needed for a very long time, but never as much as it is now.

Btw, i use Fdroid
- Becoming independent from the Play Store is probably the best thing I managed to do on my phone.
  Though I use the Neo Store as my Fdroid client, since the official one seems to have some funky problems
  
  Neo Store ty for that, gonna try that :D

I didn't appreciated the FDroid UX until Google app designers lost their damn minds. Now it makes me feel relief.
- I recommend droidfy
  
  I also prefer the UI of Droid-ify and it seems to work better than F-Droid
  
  Can reccomend Droid-ify, it's my favorite F-Droid client.
  
  I use droidify plus Shizuku to install apps in the background. It's great.
- Theres a fork of f-droid with a slightly friendlier UI, called foxy droid, if you want to give it a shot!
  
  I did not know that. I'll give it a look for sure.
- Try neo store, it's pretty cool

- Maybe they don't have enough info on you to show targetted ads. Lucky you

We've all seen how movies depicted the future. Full of advertisement, even in kids show like Walle

Just be glad you're on Android and have alternatives to this. Poor Apple users are stuck with whatever Apple decided to do with the app store.
- Poor Apple users kinda don’t have to deal with this shit
  
  Can confirm on my own device. Only ad in sight is for two dots itself at the top ... I kept scrolling looking for one and didn't see any.
  
  Lol the ad is also the very same thing you're searching for
- Yes, Poor Apple Users are stuck with no ads at all! What a Shame
- Whats the ad situation on app store, do they aggressively push stuff into your throats there as well?
  
  Not at all from my experience. The App Store generally looks cleaner and more organised.
  
  Afaik it's not nearly at all like this. Doesn't change the fact that you have absolutely no alternatives, though. If apple did decide to do this, you couldn't just sideload the apps yourself.
- Yeah Apple doesn’t do this to the users whatsoever.

Your ads has a bit of store.

Google is just a colorful façade. The insides of this bloated monstrosity is filled with ads and sellable user data. It needs to be put out of its misery.
- It is an advertisement company after all :/
  
  Yes, but the product they sell is You. They're more like a pimp version of ad companies. But not the racist Hollywood type, you know: funny dressed black guy with a cylinder hat and a cane. No, this one wears wife beaters, takes showers once or twice a month and takes advantage of you every day, and still sells you to the lowest bidder...

Mine is worse: oftentimes it's just filled with ads for an online loan servicesand I feel like most of those are just scams. It's disgusting how they allow this.

Europeans will be able to take advantage of the DMA early next year. Google will have to allow us to install competing app stores without extra steps. No special security warnings or restrictions. I expect some solid competition soon.

They're everywhere
- Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/XPGgTy5YJ-g
  Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
  I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.

Since mobile gaming has died for me anyway, i have no reason to browse the store. For what I use it for, it's fine. It has the apps i need and updates them.

i'm still just pissed that they renamed it to "play store"

Hey! I had forgotten about this little game. thanks for the reminder.
- Dont know if you'll like what you will see if you decide to try it again, as another users famous comment stated, "enshittification spares no one" is at full play in two dots also. Although the devs do pump up updates regularly and add more and more levels. Just be prepared for an experience different from how it was a few years ago, if you are returning after a long interval!
  
  Thanks for the info. I have been playing through and yes. It seems more like candy crush than the Two Dots I remember.

This is the exact same thing I thought a couple of days ago. What the fuck is wrong with the product managers of the Playstore?

When I search for two dots in the App Store, I get an ad for two dots and then dots, both top hits. It’s a weird way to deliver the ad, but I’m much happier with that than this bullshit.

Everytime I open google play, I play a little game where I try to find a gacha anime game in the ads as fast as I can
- Mine is that damn screaming face that all mobile games have.

I've got like $15 credit in the play store from Google Rewards surveys. I went into the play store today to browse for somethung and I felt like I was bombarded with crap, so I just closed it.

Yup! It's fucking insane...

It's even worse for developers.. sometimes you push out an app for internal or extenal test and it just.. sits there.. the users continue to see the old one. Or half of them get the new one and half get the old one, which makes no sense. This has been an issue for years with nothing but shrugs from google when you ask them about it.
OTOH with testflight you push out a build and 20 minutes later all testers get it, automatically, every time (I hate iOS development generally but that bit they got right).

When I search two dots, it's the first thing at the top of the results with ads underneath it. Possibly a regional difference?
- Copying a response I made to a similar comment:
  I, too was not able to reproduce the same result again.
  When I tried to do the same search again, I had one column more dedicated to non ad space, namely, showing the description of the game. Dont know how I got that particular spread of ads galore at that particular moment.
  Screenshot taken later with the same query:
  https://postimg.cc/JtjHLG9Z
  My version of android is, indeed, an older one, and my region is India, I suppose all these factor into what I see when I search for stuff.
- For me, the first search result started being an ad a few months ago. I accidentally clicked them a couple times before realizing and then paying more attention. Android 13 and Android 11 (2 different devices) both in US

Welcome to being a product!
- What? ... what's that? ... wait ... let me buy the 'listening app' for $3.99 monthly subscription first ... oh yeah, now I hear you ... yeah, feels shitty being a product ... oh wait ... now I have to buy the $5.99 one time payment app 'thoughts and feelings' ... there, now I feel I can feel it ... yeah .. feels shitty

@svotay I feel as if Google has lost there touch on how to make the playstore good, Glad I only use it to download apps I already know I want to download instead of browsing to find new apps to try out.

The entire app store idea is based around making money. You need look no further than the two sorting options: top free and top paid which translate to with ads and without ads.

Just wait till they block sideloading and lock the bootloaders. The technological dystopia is coming.
- EU is enforcing sideloading, even for Apple
  
  Doesn't apply outside of EU. It's very easy to make different versions of phones. iPhone 14 in some countries have no sim card slot while in other countries it does. If they can do that for hardware, they can do it for software. They can make the requirement of sideloading be requiring turning on the GPS and you will be on the right side of the law, while blocking non-EU users from sideloading. Maybe they wont, but the point is that if they wanted to be evil for some reason, they can.

The ads are so fucking bad now on Google play.
Now the top part of my search menu shows ads whenever I'm looking for apps.

On the App Store, if I search for "Two Dots", the first 2/3 of my screen is filled with "Two Dots" and when I scroll down, I get related apps. And when I scroll down FURTHER, I see ads for other apps.
Android the open-source OS is cool and all. As soon as you involve Google in your Android experience, you're better off getting an iPhone instead. They at least have the common courtesy of giving you a reach-around while they... y'know.

Double your pleasure double your fun 😉

Yo dawg, I heard you liked ads ...

They also pester you with notifications and they're always some candy crush trash shit

Just wondering, is ios any better?
- It's less obnoxious with the ads, but it often straight up refuses to show results even if you type out the exact name of the app you're looking for. It also crashes surprisingly frequently, takes forever to load sometimes, and is overall a very "Apple" app.
  
  I have personally never had something I’ve searched for not show up, I’ve never had the App Store crash a single time (I don’t think I’ve ever had any first-party app crash on iOS actually), and it’s always loaded for me as fast as my network will allow.
  Just another anecdotal point of view, maybe the situation is different if you’re using an older iPhone?
- Search on the App Store is definitely better, although still far from perfect. There's only one ad at the top, but any app that is new or unpopular is sometimes excluded from the results entirely.
  Discovery on the apps page is very low as it only shows the stuff everybody knows about, like Tinder, Snapchat, etc.

Google play is fucked for many years now. Gone are the days of Gingerbreads, Ice Cream Sandwiches and Jelly Beans.

What was Heartless Ansem's famous quote again? Oh yeah. "And now darkness within darkness awaits you." But ads instead of darkness.

https://postimg.cc/CdqZRDt1
This doesn't happen to me on my phone, appears to be a glitch.

Also, the frame drops. Oh the frame drops. Searching and app and scrolling down always drops frames since Google switched away from Android Market. I can't imagine how does it still happen to this day lmao.

🤢