Google CEO Sundar Pichai Warns Android Users Not to Sideload Apps

Lee Duna@lemmy.nz to Technology@lemmy.world – 133 points –
gizmochina.com
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I've tried downloading some of the games that are on the Play Store for my kids, and by God those apps are cancerous. An ad every 30 seconds and the games are made purely with getting the players to become addicted in mind. Get off your fucking high horse Pichai.

Fun fact: You can sideload an adblocker that will legit block any ads in apps.

It's called Blokada 5, and you have to download it from their website and sideload it because Google banned apps that use its functionality from the Play store.

So satisfying never seeing ads in apps.

There are some games that are genuinely aimed at being educational and fun, such as the Duck Duck Goose games. Or Starfall (from the website of the same name).

Oh yeah sure! The games from Baby Bus are alright, and there are some dino games which teach you programming. All very good, but as soon as an ad appears, 9 times out of 10 it's one of those crappy, slapped together in a day, Unity games filled to the brim with ads itself. Showing characters from popular franchises (like Marvel, and most likely not paid for), and my kid goes "dad, I want that one". Now I have Family Link installed so I have to allow everything he wants to download or pay for, but geez there's so much junk on there.

I'd be sort of OK with the CEOs statement, if they did any sort of moderation on those predatory games aimed at kids. But alas.