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Triiviium t1_j9mdm2i wrote

The Google play store feels like the Wild West, it’s crazy how little moderation there is. It’s been like that for so long.

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Stanjoly2 t1_j9o6ysa wrote

Because to Google all moderation does is cost money. They're never held accountable for anything - Any fines they may get (do they get any?) - as long as that comes out to less than it would cost to pay for however many moderators it would take, they'll never fix it.

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SmellyCarcass69 t1_j9n6cqr wrote

The Microsoft store on pc 7 years ago has entered the chat

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leopard_tights t1_j9nhgnr wrote

When I was in college the Microsoft evangelists would come giving talks and gifting everyone in attendance physical Xbox games, and they were so desperate to get the store going that they'd beg for us to develop any app. One guy even said that we could just clone the example calculator app, change the name and the logo and upload it like that.

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Triiviium t1_j9nqd37 wrote

It’s still not that good either to this day lol

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Dazz316 t1_j9nw9e9 wrote

It works well and ties into windows decently. It also is covered in less shit than it used to be. But it just needs more attention from developers and pushed over just running exes and msis.

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Demonicplaydoh t1_j9osq4s wrote

Lol it doesn't need to exist so if prefer it wasn't pushed

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Dazz316 t1_j9otqxi wrote

I'm a PC guy but I like the app store on MacOS, iOS and Android. It works really well, with android, iOS and windows having options to install differently.

A centralized update and install location is a great idea and works brilliantly. If Windows Store could get more attention and get up and running then that would make things a look easier and smoother. Not having 24 update services running on your PC but instead like 3 plus the rest via Microsoft store would be great.

And that wouldn't be to replace exe's and msi's but work alongside.

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almisami t1_j9pyopw wrote

I still don't get why M$ can't have a linux-style repository... I legit thought that was what the M$ Store was supposed to be.

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almisami t1_j9px2zi wrote

Even that, they really needed to curate their shit better.

Hell they should have a service, paid by the developper, where you could get your app "Microsoft approved" so that it would be in a different section of the store.

That way I could make it so meemaw and grandpa can actually download VLC on their new PC without pestering me for half a year until I fly over for Thanksgiving.

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Simba7 t1_j9op1bb wrote

It's formatted so terribly too. There are just categories.

No tags, no advanced search functionality, can't filter anything out.
Just browse through one of our very few, very broad categories. Don't mind the clones of [POPULAR GAME], just sorta work around them. Oh yeah, and here are a bunch of 'suggested' games that are literally just ads. You'll see those in every category no matter what!

I fucking hate it.

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Reasonable_Ticket_84 t1_j9oqhu2 wrote

There definitely is moderation it's just kind of lackluster with uneven application of rules.

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KuroiKaze t1_j9ox8sd wrote

It's pretty clear you've never tried to actually get an app out on Google Play.

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almisami t1_j9pyw4k wrote

Well apparently all the scam artists figure out how to fill out the mountains of paperwork properly...

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KuroiKaze t1_j9r8iof wrote

With 3 billion users you gotta imagine they are blocking like 99.9% and you're just seeing the ones that got through

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PEVEI t1_j9m82ec wrote

If you can't trust Google to look after the best interests of your children, who can you trust?! /s

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belizeanheat t1_j9me5vv wrote

The content of most "children's" apps is far more detrimental than any data collection going on

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Kingful t1_j9n0otd wrote

Like what?

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Artemis_Initiative t1_j9n9vnn wrote

Dating apps or livestreaming apps, for one.

One of my colleagues has filed over 400 reports to law enforcement over the amount of child exploitation taking place on some of them (and has even reached out to Google multiple times), yet nothing has been done

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GeneralZaroff1 t1_j9nmvba wrote

Dating apps…like misplaced apps or designed to lure children?

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[deleted] t1_j9opu4x wrote

[deleted]

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almisami t1_j9pz8uj wrote

Never seen it done with Minecraft, but Roblox in and of itself has a bunch of really fucked up stuff in the app.

At least Minecraft's blocky nature kept the forced pregnancy stuff to the chat box...

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dirtynj t1_j9mlhho wrote

The biggest issue with kids apps on android are the insane amount of ads they are exposed to. It's really inappropriate both the type of ad and the methods used by the software. Google needs to set some standards to be classified as a kid safe app.

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stealthmodeactive t1_j9nigz6 wrote

Yes. The advertisement company needs to set standards on how they make money off children. Yes...

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Who_GNU t1_j9md3ta wrote

It's a good thing they don't allow other stores to be installed through theirs, otherwise we wouldn't get the high level of safety that the Google/Apple duopoly provides us.

I've been using F-Droid, which surely most be exposing me to far more risk, with its clear warnings when any applications have capabilities that could limit my privacy.

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stealthmodeactive t1_j9ni8fv wrote

Ya but also most that stuff is open source and the actual android package lets you know what permissions are going to be used.

Open up a web browser you found on fdroid and it prompts for permission to always listen to audio? Well it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that probably isn't a wise decision.

Also probably nobody is going to read the source code, but you can...

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[deleted] t1_j9o0h71 wrote

[deleted]

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stealthmodeactive t1_j9o2is3 wrote

Whoa settle down.

I said probably nobody will read it but you can. Not sure what's ignorant about that. There's so much junk on any app store you make it sound like people are just reading all the source code of everything all day. A perfect example is OpenSSL. And heart bleed

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbleed

My second paragraph shows you don't know what you're talking about. Most people are going to jam that "allow while using app" permission. So sketch web browser app could just be listening 24/7, or only when it needs. Maybe microphone isn't the best example since most phones have an indicator these days. But it will apply across other types of permissions. Once you allow Snapchat to read your contacts so you can "find who else is using snapchat", you think it stops there? Or are they always scanning your contacts without you knowing, just silently monitoring for updates?

You're lashing out at both a user and an advocate for FOSS. But to not admit its potential weaknesses is ignorant.

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-Accession- t1_j9nrdlf wrote

The population of a small nation of white collar executives make their millions from aggressively monetizing children through mobile apps. It’s legitimate business apparently.

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lycheedorito t1_j9nz5w2 wrote

Yeah these children are rich af

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almisami t1_j9pzhb4 wrote

Their data is actually worth a lot. Grooming kids into recurring, loyal customers is the dream of every advertiser.

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jakeh36 t1_j9mn7sl wrote

shocked pikachu

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palox3 t1_j9niw26 wrote

only 1 in 4? in reality it's probably 4 in 5

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breadfred2 t1_j9o5mii wrote

What do you base that on? Do you have aan Android phone yourself? Do you have children who download apps without your knowledge?

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almisami t1_j9pzpuf wrote

I've seen my godkids' phones and yeah they're being tracked by so many services I'm expecting Cookie Monster to show up every time they open a browser.

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Regular_Ad_7432 t1_j9oxfnd wrote

Why cant children read normal books anymore or play with Lego or other toys , why does it always has to be online 🤷‍♀️Kids are not better in school today or social behavior . So why keep letting kids be online all the time .

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jcrave t1_j9pow7h wrote

Lazy parenting. The only tablet time my kids get(7 and 4) are the educational tablets we borrow from the library and that's not too often. But I would say the main reason why my kids aren't on the internet yet is because we're way too damn busy. We've got school Mon-Fri, hockey practice on Saturday, swim lessons Monday after school, tae kwan do on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Both now want to play baseball during the summer and my oldest wants to do flag football in the fall. Fuck, I'm tired just typing that out. Sundays we like to stay home and recuperate, which involves playing legos and all that, but staying active really helps stay away from the traps of lazy parenting like giving a kid a tablet to keep them quiet.

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almisami t1_j9q0vln wrote

>play with Lego or other toys

Do I look like I'm made out of money?!

>why does it always has to be online

Because online has unlimited content so the child will theoretically keep playing forever.

>Kids are not better in school today or social behavior.

As a former teacher I can tell you that, while it does significantly reduce their attention span to a worrying degree, the main culprit of asshole kids are narcissistic and/or enabling parents that neglect/smother their kids to a point where discipline is impossible.

In my entire career I've had maybe 2 kids whose behavior didn't match the parents care and in both those cases some form of mental illness was involved.

> So why keep letting kids be online all the time.

Online is just a faster, more accessible version of the Mall's ball pit playground.

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Soup_69420 t1_j9qvu3v wrote

> In my entire career I've had maybe 2 kids whose behavior didn't match the parents care and in both those cases some form of mental illness was involved.

Flashbacks to my parent teacher conferences where the universal sentiment was concern over how someone could simultaneously be so smart and so dumb. I’d just tell them a good chef never reveals their secrets and they’d say, “that right there is what I’m talking about. What the hell does that even mean in this context?”

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Aeroknight_Z t1_j9o8ms2 wrote

I see a lot of strange “well iPhone is just as bad/worse” in this thread, which means these individuals are missing the forest through the trees.

This isn’t a assertion of x brand over y brand. This is a statement of fact that a major storefront for a widely used product is, in essence, illegally targeting children with ads designed for adults and also storing personal data on how to more effectively & aggressively target them with ads for manipulations within the market.

If you’re commenting about the comparable nature of different platforms that also do the same thing, then you’ve missed the point.

ICO’s age appropriate design code was set in place to preclude children from malicious targeting so as to protect them from mal-actors in the market who would take advantage of specifically them.

This study has shined a light on the clear failure to comply by roughly a quarter of the products for sale that were reviewed, and when pressed for response a google rep shat out the typical corporate answer of evasion and disregard, even so far as to say they leave the DEVELOPERS responsible for complying. While I realize that might simply mean the devs must make the changes to reach compliance standards, it also tells me that the storefront is intentionally under-moderated.

ICO needs to start swinging around those fines in a heavy way, against google and the individual app devs.

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piratecheese13 t1_j9ob1yi wrote

Caught my nephews playing CSGO Dust2 on roblox. Nothing is safe

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Monte666 t1_j9nzsf8 wrote

Apple isn’t much better

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DreadCoder t1_j9ojjaf wrote

better title: Study reveals ONLY 1:4 children's apps on the Google Play store violate privacy rules.

​

as in: i'm surprised it's that low (for any category of app)

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atari030 t1_j9me47g wrote

The picture of the linked article makes me sad. So very sad.

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anonymous_lighting t1_j9moc48 wrote

android is way better than iphone right? so iphone must be 1 in 2 apps?

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stellarblackhole1 t1_j9mvjuy wrote

1/4 children have parents who don't actually monitor what their kids do. This isn't on google.

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xabhax t1_j9ow5wi wrote

It’s on both. The parents to monitor their children, and Google for collecting info on kids.

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chingy1337 t1_j9n15a2 wrote

No surprise at all. Still disappointing though

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SparkStormrider t1_j9oi875 wrote

At this point, what apps DON'T violate privacy rules? Nothing is off limits these days and there's like no major consequence for breaking said rules.

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rexxtra t1_j9ptow1 wrote

And then there's TikTok & the Canadian Tim Hortons app... the worst of the worst

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downonthesecond t1_j9q14tj wrote

With all the talk of Section 230, I wonder how protected Google is when they allow apps like this in their store.

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nosyattacker03 t1_j9o02rp wrote

That's the advantage on being the pioneer on mobile technology. They just set there own limits to there favor.

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