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How to install the Google Play Store on any Android device
It can be tricky, but these steps might just work for you
There's been a lot of noise surrounding app stores lately. With Apple opening access to third-party app platforms in the EU, the iPhone is — at least in some regions — feeling more like Android. But on this side of the walled garden, we experienced flexibility and freedom from the start, and it doesn't seem like that'll change any time soon.
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Apple's App Store monopoly could finally be coming to an end
But only in the EU, because why change if the government isn't forcing you
Apple is worth trillions upon trillions of dollars, and when you're that ridiculously successful, you're not about to wildly switch up what you've been doing without having good reason. But this notoriously set-in-its-ways company may be about to face a reckoning, as a new set of regulations coming out of the European Union is forcing Apple to address some of its more controversial policies. After we first heard what this could mean for the iPhone finally moving from Lightning to USB-C, a new report claims that Apple is preparing to open up iOS with support for third-party app stores.
Spotify is at its wit's end dealing with Apple and shifting IAP policies
Audiobooks shouldn’t be so hard to buy
Spotify is one of the best streaming apps for music available on mobile today. The service already offers podcasts, but you can now also buy and listen to audiobooks on it. Audiobooks became a part of the app in late September, though Spotify isn't happy with the user experience of purchasing this content when it comes to convenience and user-friendliness. The company pins the blame on all the hoop-jumping required to meet Apple’s ever-changing in-app purchase (IAP) policies. Matters aren't much better on Android, either.
Google Play Store cuts off access to customizable ad-free Instagram hack
Google still follows Apple’s example
App stores like Google Play serve two different customer groups, with interests all their own. Smartphone users are mostly concerned about stores detecting malicious apps, and keeping their devices safe, while developers want exposure for their software, and protection for their IP. When one app starts accessing another's services in an unauthorized way, though, we're almost certainly headed for conflict, as we saw earlier this year with the shutdown of YouTube Vanced. This week we're learning about the latest app to get in that kind of trouble, as the Google Play Store boots an app that was offering a customizable, ad-free, suggestion-free-feed alternative to Instagram.
Pokémon Go players on Android will end up paying for Apple's price hikes
In-app purchase pricing across ecosystems is inexplicably linked
Pokémon Go developer Niantic won fans over during the pandemic by lessening the requirement to catch from home. The developer has since faced backlash from loyal fans of the game as it restored mechanics to pre-pandemic levels. Now, Niantic finds itself in the thick of more backlash for tying an in-app price hike across Android and iOS in response to the recent change in Apple’s App Store pricing tiers.
Epic Games may be on the hook for a whopping $3.6 million if it loses appeal against Apple
A narrative shift may toss out rules that would cost Epic the money
Last week's ruling in Epic Games v. Apple which basically allowed app developers to direct customers away from the App Store payment platform for in-app transactions was praised and panned across the spectrum. But in the view of Epic, it did not go far enough in stopping what it alleges to be Apple's harmful practices on its iOS app distribution monopoly. So it went on Sunday as the gaming giant filed an appeal.
Judge rules iPhone devs can route in-app transactions away from App Store, but Apple declares a win
Epic Games, the company that launched the lawsuit, will appeal
Apple probably knew what was coming down the pike when it decided last week to allow app developers to communicate to customers ways to conduct in-app transactions that circumvent the App Store and its 30% commission fee. But it looks like the skids are coming on anyway as the most prominent lawsuit over the iPhone maker's alleged monopoly on iOS app sales takes a final, major turn.
Apple tries to wiggle out of in-app billing lawsuit by making the smallest changes possible
Let them send emails
Yesterday, Apple issued a press release that stated the company was willing to make a handful of changes to the App Store to try to wiggle out of a lawsuit regarding the App Store's billing policies. While many are positioning these changes as some long-awaited reversal of the App Store's anticompetitive practices, the strict facts of the concession are much milder. Apple has merely agreed that developers can tell users they can make purchases outside the iOS app. That's it.
Amazon remembers it has an app store, promises to catch up with modern package support — eventually
Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and actually maybe not soon either
Starting next month, app bundles will be the default means of distributing Android apps in the Play Store. It's a way to dramatically reduce download size for apps that target different hardware and build in extra assets without taking up extra space. App bundles are coming to Amazon's branded Appstore, too. Someday.
Third-party app stores like Amazon's will be less annoying to use on Android 12
If implemented right, apps updated from alternative stores can skip a safety pop-up
Android has always been open, for a given value of "open," a property that companies like Samsung, Amazon, and Epic have used to create their own alternatives to the Play Store. But actually using those alternatives has always been a bit of a headache, with Android itself treating each individual app downloaded as a side-loaded app. Starting with Android 12, using alternative app stores will be a little more seamless, at least some of the time.
Parler is coming back to iPhones — are Android and the Play Store next?
According to Google, the only thing keeping Parler off the Play Store is Parler
Apple is reportedly allowing the "free speech" social networking service Parler to return to the App Store, but it may not be alone. We're told that the only thing keeping Parler off of Google's Play Store is... well, Parler. The app can apparently come back to Android's biggest app platform just as soon as a version that complies with Play Store policies is submitted.For a bit of context, both the App Store and Play Store kicked Parler to the curb in the wake of the insurrection against the U.S. Capitol by far-right extremists, which resulted in the deaths of a number of people — the precise quantity is a subject of debate.At the time, Apple and others cited evidence indicating that Parler was used to organize the attack, and several other examples of incitement of violence, derogatory terms, and "Nazi symbols" were found upon further review, violating the policies apps must adhere to in order to be distributed by Apple (and Google). Other companies like Amazon also piled on with their own bans for back-end services.While these developments essentially shut down Parler for some time, the platform is back, reportedly with the help of some non-US-based hosting.When news that Apple would allow Parler to return to the App Store landed earlier today, we reached out to Google regarding a return to the Play Store, and a company spokesperson provided us with the following statement:
New icons let you see which apps are rising up and falling off the Play Store charts
Up two spots to third this week is FINNEAS
All ranks are fungible on a leaderboard and Google is making that axiom painfully apparent to developers, publishers and prospective users alike with a new rank change icon in its top app lists on the Play Store.
Parler's ban is causing tons of people to mistakenly download an obscure old app
After disappointment with Tweetir and Instergran
Alt-right social media platform Parler has been kicked to the curb by Apple, Google, Amazon, and basically every other company it could possibly do business with, but a glance at the Play Store top app charts might leave you confused — if you can't spell, anyway. Somehow "social talking app" Parlor has hit #3 on the Play Store.
Parler social network removed from Apple App Store following Play Store takedown
Amazon is also shutting off Parler's AWS hosting
Read update
The social media network Parler has grown significantly over the past year as a "free speech" alternative to Twitter and Facebook, though it has been constantly criticized for allowing extremist content and damaging conspiracy theories. Following the raid on the U.S. Capitol by far-right extremists that left at least five people dead, Apple demanded Parler establish new moderation policies, but Google appears to have skipped ahead and banned the app entirely.
Google and Apple both set to ban apps using this sketchy monetization SDK
X-Mode has been caught selling customer location data to government contractors
Apple and Google have both taken the exceptional step of banning any apps that include X-Mode's software from their respective app stores, according to The Wall Street Journal. The news comes after investigations revealed location data gathered by X-Mode in those apps were sold to parties with ties to the US government and national security efforts. Play Store developers have one week to comply before the banhammer falls.
Google is gearing up to test a long-awaited iOS version of its Stadia game-streaming service — with a twist. To avoid the App Store's new and ridiculous game streaming policy, Google's making the iOS version of Stadia a web app, bypassing Apple entirely.
Apple cuts App Store fees in half for most developers amidst ongoing antitrust fight with Epic
Will Google follow suit?
Earlier this year, Apple got into a bit of a kerfuffle over the cut it takes from the revenue of apps like Fortnite. Epic sued the company, and Apple has faced increased scrutiny in the wake of the lawsuit. Now, Apple has announced that it is cutting some App Store fees in half in a move that will see most developers get a significant raise in revenue.
Indian startups are looking to break Google’s monopoly with a localized Play Store alternative
The Paytm incident didn’t go down very well with the domestic startup community
About two weeks back, India’s premier financial services app Paytm got kicked out of the Play Store. While the episode didn’t last long as Google reinstated the app within hours, it triggered a widespread call to curb Google’s unabated dominance over the country's app distribution market. That uproar has now reached a point where a local tech startup consortium is exploring the option to launch a Play Store alternative that frees it from Google’s control.
Google will make using alternative app stores easier in Android 12
Android will get even more open in 2021
Epic Games opened a can of worms last month when it added its own payment solution to Fortnite in a violation of Google Play's guidelines for developers. The move has brought discussions on app store policies to the forefront, and now Google is taking the opportunity to highlight Android's open nature — and announce a big change for alternative app stores coming in Android 12.
The U.S. government threatened to ban TikTok and WeChat if no suitable U.S. company bought it, and even though TikTok and Oracle just recently signed a deal as "trusted tech partners," that apparently wasn't enough. The U.S. Commerce Department today shared that TikTok and WeChat will not be available for download from U.S. app stores anymore starting Sunday, September 20, confirming the initial announcement on August 6.