"free to go anywhere else" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in a state/province with 2 "cities". Google isn't being hit as hard by the DMA, but they didn't get off scot-free either.
That still doesn't give you any right to just take what Apple built for free. Maybe there's no right option for you - I know there isn't for me, I'd prefer to have Windows Mobile (not Phone) again.
That's sadly how deeds work, 2008 taught that lesson.
Still, I don't understand people defending a trillion dollar company for doing things much worse than what wad torn apart in us courts 30 years prior. Sad that the EU needs to pick up that torch, but it is what it is.
Indeed, and they saw that software of sufficient quality can't be funded merely by sales of these devices, and decided to create a platform where the software publishers share the cost with the end users.
I yearn for Windows Mobile but it has suffered from this problem greatly. Same with early Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones with smarter features like J2ME.
>and they saw that software of sufficient quality can't be funded merely by sales of these device
I don't think Microsoft of the 90's, pre-"I take 30% as a gatekeeper" crashed and burned because it didn't leech enough funds from developers. Quite the contrary, It encouraged and empowered future entrepreneurs and customers alike, thinikg in the long term. .
>i yearn for Windows Mobile but it has suffered from this problem greatly.
Pricing wasn't the issue. Remember that this was the days where phone carriers subsidized phones with contracts, so no one was paying 600-1000 outright like today. It was a mix of lacking tech and UX needed. And a gargantuan marketing campaign.
Until Android 12 or 13 alternative stores couldn't update apps automatically in the background. And you still need to click "install" for new apps, which isn't the case with Google Play.
Try it without having Google services on that phone. Most apps and especially the essential ones are dependent on unmodified phones with Google services.
> Most apps and especially the essential ones are dependent on unmodified phones with Google services.
There are no "essential" apps that prevent you from running Android without Google services. There are certainly some nice features that require it, but you have been capable of using de-Googled Android for close to a decade at this point.