[aboringusername]

Sorry but this is why we need regulation and fast. We need by default other app stores on all operating systems (similar to search engines Google were forced to advertise)

Google should have to compete on merit and if somebody doesn't want to give Google/Apple a cut, too bad.

These platforms should probably not be placed under the control of such large entities, Android/iOS should be split into their own organisation .

Google/Apple can then pick their OS or appstore, not both.

[foota]

To play devil's advocate, competing app stores could just be a race to the bottom.

[danuker]

Excellent. The price for distributing software should be very small. My Linux distro gives me free gigabytes of updates every month.

[jlokier]

I don't think they mean a race to the bottom _price_ as the problem.

More like race to the bottom quality, security, spyware, malware, shitty ripoff of other people's work promoted over the original, fake bank apps, fake WhatsApp when you wanted the real one, etc.

Your Linux distro is not in a race to the bottom on any of these things. It works in a completely different way from an app marketplace on a money-handling device. And you know you are running Linux, you know what you're getting.

We should have multiple app stores. But don't be under any illusion that it can only turn out like Linux distros. I would expect some terrible "stores" just like there are some really dodgy apps, some of them installed on users' devices without their knowledge.

[izacus]

There's absolutely nothing stopping the author from distributing his app in following ways:

- on F-Droid, an app store dedicated for OSS software

- on Samsung Store, an app store preinstalled on most Android phones sold in US and other western world

- on Amazon store

- on Huawei app store

- on their own webpage as a downloadable APK

But what they really want is to use Googles distribution system while not paying the margin.