No definitely don’t sideload a YouTube client that doesn’t play ads!
That’s rich when the Google Play store is full of malware while F-Droid is full of gems.
Is there a good guide on f-droid and sideloading you recommend?
If it is something that Google doesn’t recommend then I should probably be doing it.
All you have to do is download the APK from the F-Droid website and enable installing from third-party/unknown sources in the Settings app (some versions of Android ask automatically when you try to open the APK). I also recommend disabling unknown sources for your browser once you’re done as a security measure.
For F-Droid in specific, you’ll need an F-Droid client. I use Droid-ify (GitHub) (F-Droid) (IzzyOnDroid), but you can use whichever you prefer. F-Droid is a good source for open source apps.
If you’re sideloading from different sources, Obtanium (GitHub) (IzzyOnDroid) is useful to download apps, and keep them updated. You can even kinda use it as an F-Droid client.
Google is pretty lax on what it allows on Google play, so unless you’re trying to avoid using Google services or you want to install apps that aren’t on the play store, you don’t need to do it.
If you want adbocking and extra features in some apps (especially YouTube), check out ReVanced.
Google isn’t lying - there are risks to sideloading if you don’t know what you’re doing. Make sure what you’re downloading is coming from legitimate sources you trust. For example, if you look up ReVanced, some unofficial websites show up which may have malware. Triple check everything is coming from an official source.
Here is a link to detailed descriptions of the recommended apps from fdroid.
Use whichever you like, but this is a good starting area:
https://lemmy.world/post/108566
https://alternativeto.net/list/28655/the-ultimate-f-droid-setup/
This is the real truth. Man, the gall of that guy.
Hi, we are a spyware company. Be aware. Don’t load apps that don’t meet our surveillance metrics. Only download our spyware. Thank you.
Screw that guy. How about only sideload. There’s another world out there, and it doesn’t equate to surveillance capitalism.
Google’s ADS as a whole are malicious. Try Google drivers or TeamViewer and the first sponsored links are malicious/adware. It’s absolutely shocking.
I added ublock origin into my clients GPO to protect myself from viruses. Msoft just as bad if not worse since we are all using their products to be protected from.
yup,just even the word “sideloading” seems like its been custom created to sound shifty and sidewise when all it means is installing something. People would look at you weirdly if told them “sideloading” Photoshop on to your PC was dangerous, but somehow its accepted for phones.
There may be a little bit of vendor lock in here, but it definitely is also about security. A lot of people are completely oblivious when it comes to tech. Sideloading is easy and there are tons of guides for it, so if someone is tech illiterate they can just follow the guide and install malware ridden apps easily.
At least they can remotely uninstall malware ridden apps installed from the Play Store, you may not like that feature, but at least it’s better than sideloading a malware ridden app and not knowing about it.
Honestly been steadily becoming less happy with the way Google/Android has been going even since Pichai took over.
It’s a term coined by Cory Doctorow, Sci-Fi writer and ex-EFF, who has been writing about (tech) monopolies, and in particular monopsonies, and how those types of two sided markets originally grow by given users something they need, often for an artificial low price or even free, until they dominate that side of the market, after which they focus mostly on the other side of the market, in this case advertisers, and step by step, slowly dismantling the reason users originally liked their product… Enshittification.
Doctorow has lots to say, so here’s a link.
In court: “Google isn’t a monopoly because we allow sideloading!”
Outside of court: “Don’t sideload. It’s dangerous and terrible!”
