[mtgx]

However, you can't install other app stores from the Play Store itself. That seems pretty anti-competitive. Google also bans ad-blockers from its Play Store. Why? Because they interfere with its business model. Again, anti-competitive. No different than Verizon banning Skype from its network.

It's a shame the EC didn't hit Google over these, too.

[uxp100]

It's kinda a chain of trust. One of the value of the Play Store is that you trust it not to include malware (if you do). If they allowed other app stores to be installed through it, google can't be confident in saying if you use our store, you won't get malware.

[scarface74]

You trust the Google Play Store not to have malware?

[lern_too_spel]

It's certainly far more trustworthy than the iOS app store and Chinese app stores, all by a wide margin.

[scarface74]

Based on what metric? Google doesn’t even pretend to review apps and the Google app permissions framework is laughable.

[lern_too_spel]

Based on total malware installs, where Apple has everybody beat by even just Xcodeghost alone.

Google doesn't pretend that manually reviewing apps prevents malware because it obviously (to any software engineer) doesn't. It does, however do both static and dynamic analysis of the apps in its store, unlike Apple and the Chinese app stores.

[scarface74]

And that really hasn’t help. Xcodeghost basically affected the Chinese App Store where app authors downloaded a non Apple hosted version of Xcode.

https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-mobile-android-vs-ios...

https://www.sophos.com/en-us/security-news-trends/security-t...

That doesn’t even consider all of the unpatched Android security holes.

https://www.esecurityplanet.com/mobile-security/how-secure-i...

Or the fact that most Android phones are running older versions that will never get patched.

https://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/

Compared to iPhones running the latest versions....

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/ios-distribution-news/

[s73v3r_]

That doesn't sound anticompetitive in the least. Alternative stores are allowed on Android; Google just isn't going to bend over backwards to do everything for you.

[genericid]

Google allows basically everything on the Play Store. To not specifically restrict their competition would not be "bending over backwards" at all.

[lern_too_spel]

You can install ad blocking web browsers just fine. The rule is that you can't publish an app that interferes with another app.