I don’t understand why Google didn’t just made Android closed source. They would’ve made custom roms impossible and therefore more able to control and spy on it’s users. Why did Google made Android open source, while Microsoft’s Windows is still closed source to this day?

  • @AuxEnglish
    2•1 year ago

    I can tell you why app developers are using Google services.

    • They provide a lot of important features, which are hard to implement otherwise.
    • Unlike others, they provide these features for free or super cheap.
    • Everything is well documented and they produce tons of educational video content. For free.
    • Most app devs use them, so it is easier to find support, code examples, etc.

    All this leads to a situation where using alternatives is just too expensive and will increase your development time noticeably (and that will be expensive too). Large companies can bite the bullet and just write off the losses, simply because they don’t like Google or whatever. But for a smaller developer that’s a death sentence. And if you’re creating a free app - just forget it.