Not everyone would scroll down to the end of the https://keepandroidopen.org page. Not everyone would even open it. Not everyone would even heard the news of what Google plans to do.
You bought an Android phone because Google told you it was open. You could install what you wanted, and that was the deal.
This is first words most people read opening the website.
This sounds quite detached of why people buy Android phones in the first place. Most of the time mostivations are like:
- “my old phone broke and does not turn on, so I bought some random phone cheap enough for my pocket”
- “I was looking for some affordable phone with a good camera, bluetooth, wifi, internet hostspot, and not too big in size”
- “I was looking for a new phone because I was bored of slowness of my current 6-years old phone, seen a fancy ad about youth having fun with nature around, and it clicked”.
- “My 5 year son dropped my phone from the kitchen table at the floor and it cracked failing apart. I was need an urgent replacement”
These are just random guesses on how and why people are buying android phones. Most common motivation for buying android phone is its affordable price.
People en masse even does not know that formally Android OS is somehow “open”, or that AOSP exists, or that it is technically possible to install an OS to an android phone that supports bootloader unlocking.
How I chose my current android phone?
First, I was already aware of Sigma Mobile, Ukrainian mobile devices (feature phones, smartphones, tablets, powerbanks and accessories) brand.
Second, my last phone battery got old and charged out quite quickly. So I was looking for phone with very good/high capacity/ battery, and found their X-treme PQ57 phone.
None of these was about whether the OS of phone (Android 13) is “open” or not.
I suspect that most people actually feel overwhelmed with available formal choice of the apps at Google App Store and does not scroll beyond 2nd page of app when looking for an app.
Most people even never installed Windows on their PCs.
Some may even not read down to the further explanation:
Google is now rewriting that deal, retroactively, on hardware you already own. After the update lands, you can only run software that Google has pre-approved. On your phone: your property, that you paid for.
For most people this already true, because most people using android already install only apps from the Google App Store.
The mobile phones inherently lack many features of PCs, such as:
- option to open the case, extract a part and replace with another one (upgradeability).
- option to install different OS (many new phones lack option to unlock the bootloader, did not checked this on my phone yet).
- There is no enough screen space to show a terminal for command line, even if you would install such app.
- Many phones lack support of connecting external keyboard and mouse (but not mine at least).
The last 2 parts is about the day to day usability, as mobile devices sacrifices a lot usability in favor of compactness.
I am not telling about all these not to say that call to action against Google to prevent total locking of Google a-la Apple ecosystem is useless.
All I wanting to say that alternative IT, let it be new phones, new or alternative OSes for them, or new software, should be helping people in their day to day life, not become some obstacle. Because the transition outside of the Google/Apple duopoly is difficult, and often means fighting or dodging various gotchas from banks, and now – government with their obsession with “age verification”.
Current IT is doomed from the start, so may be it will require to go into abyss down to the smelly pit of digital gulag, before really free open alternative will be created, or finally it would be discovered that humanity does not need IT to survive and prosper?
