As an android ROM hacking and foss enthusiast, this meme is dumb as hell.
It’s not called side-loading because it’s not from the play store or whatever. it’s called side loading because the installation is not triggered from within the on-board software.
If you’re using Graphene OS and install software from F-Droid, that’s not sideloading. If you take the Play Store version of an APK and install it via ADB from your PC such that it functions just like it was installed from the store, full authorization included, that IS sideloading.
Don’t take the technical language we’ve been using for decades and reinterpret it to push some agenda in a meme.
Call the situation what it is: taking away product ownership rights.
I respect where you’re coming from but what about downloading an app from your browser and installing it separate from any app store? Do you consider that “sideloading”? If not I have bad news.
I’m not arguing over what things are and aren’t being allowed. I’m saying the meme is butchering the term sideloading and its meaning.
No, but my point is langage and meaning evolves and the process I referred to above is now commonly known as sideloading. Whether that makes sense or follows a historical precedent doesn’t matter to most people.
I’m unclear: did this term come from language evolving, or is it a corporate move like the meme says? It can’t be both.
And that’s my problem with the meme. I don’t disagree that language evolves but the meme is trying to say it was crafted with purpose by Google et al and it’s just not
did this term come from language evolving, or is it a corporate move like the meme says? It can’t be both.
Yes it can. It may not be a natural evolution but the meaning to most people has changed regardless.
The term wasn’t invented by Google but the current connotation may have been. Even if this isn’t good, we can’t expect to influence the average person’s use of the term more than an billion dollar company can.
Yes, but google calls it sideloading when I install from f-droid
no they don’t. installing f-droid is the sideload. once f-droid is installed you do not need to have allow unknown sources enabled anymore. the f-droid app is granted permission to install as a known source.
Sideloading absolutely has not been used for decades in any context relevant to the android app store conversation.
The term has had a specific meaning for decades. It was coined by i-drive in the 90s. It is the same concept now as it was then, but “the i-drive platform” was replaced by “stores”
That distinction is completely valid, but I think it ultimately misses the point of the “sideloading” discussion.
I think no one would disagree that installing apps on mobile devices via ADB (Android) or Xcode (iOS) is sideloading. But if I toggle the “Allow installing from unknown sources” setting on Android and install APKs through F-droid and other means, is that sideloading? You say no, the Wikipedia article about sideloading says yes. That also circumvents security features of the OS to install software. The difference comes down to whether or not a mobile OS provides an easily accessible setting for developer tools that facilitates the installation of software from other sources to the point where it becomes possible to automate it in a store-like fashion. It’s not a hard distinction and more like a continuum of how many hoops a user has to jump through to install and maintain software from other sources.
I think it’s useful to think of the “sideloading” discussion mainly from this user-oriented perspective. The technical distinction of needing versus not needing a separate device is technically valid, but it misses the point IMO.
It’s still just installing software
I’m not sideloading an app onto my desktop when I download an appx file from GitHub to install something instead of using the windows store, having a special term for installing an apk file outside the play store just obscures what’s happening
This term has existed since the 90s. It never had anything to do with stores and you’ll notice my actual definition didn’t mention the store.
Nowadays most people are only literate enough to spread misinformation
I just thought it was kinda funny. This community felt right
Being called illiterate because someone disagrees with your definition of “sideloading” is a thing you can only experience on Lemmy.
Did reddit suddenly get better?
