Finally have true choice of app stores to install and good news for FDrioid.
I think Amazon finally killed its app store. I wonder if there are any others that have the clout and inclination to register as an alternative app store and actually get developers to bother uploading there.
And how side-loading will have to go through ADB versus just allowing the application to be installed by a file manager.
This is why GrapheneOS and /e/OS have been popping up, along with Linux based alternatives.
Finally. As a de-Googled phone owner I am glad that this will allow alternative payments where I can pay developers directly without Google taking it's protection money.
https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/a-new-era-...
> Third-party app stores will be able to apply to the company's new "Registered App Stores" program to see if they meet "certain quality and safety benchmarks."
> users will still be able to sideload alternative app stores that aren't part of the program
I'll wait to hear how the F-Droid team responds
It's just big billion dollar corporations deciding on who keeps what cut.
They might also direct the money towards funding more exclusives. Epic's funding has enabled some games to be made that wouldn't have been otherwise, or that wouldn't have been as full featured without that up-front cash.
They sell gambling to children via lootboxes; I'm not saying they're the good guy corp. But removing Apple and Google's monopoly over phone apps and app stores would only be a good thing, in my opinion.
I don't disagree with your point about inflation, but we also can't really run the counterfactual, and I'm personally not inclined to give the benefit of the doubt here. As an aside we generally have some level of inflation and so while this argument may have been more convincing during a period of rapid inflation, it becomes less convincing over time.
I think the reality is these services have massive margins and so there was never any intent on the part of Epic at least, to lower prices. It was always to just capture more value for their company. I don't blame them for doing that, I just find the "we're the good guys" approach to be suspicious at best.
Apple's monopoly (because I have an iPhone) has been of incredible value to me so I prefer that the monopoly continue to exist. As we remove that monopoly I see more consumer harm done than good.
I just can't for the life of me figure out where this money goes. People bought the same type of things 10 years ago, and the cost now isn't proportional to the cost 10 years ago.
Where is the money ending up??
I wouldn't die on this hill. Epic is about as un-sympathetic character in the videogame space as you'll find anywhere. Epic wasn't trying to be altruistic.
“Did you hear? On Red Square they’re giving away cars.”
“Not quite. First, it’s not on Red Square but on Dzerzhinsky Square. Second, they’re not cars but bicycles. And third, they’re not giving them away, they’re stealing them.”
Kind of is doing a lot of work there. This might be THE most misleading title I heard. Jumping into this thread I expected they went from 30% to 0% not 20% so I appreciate your comment for giving me more context.
Can Dang or HN moderation team fix the title to better reflect the true state and not be misleading as it currently is?
thanks in advance!
An estimated 98% of App Store developers qualify for Apple's 15% Small Business Program rate.¹ This doesn't help stuggling underdogs like Epic, of course.
App Store developers can now direct customers to alternative payment methods on the web through in-app links.
¹ https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/18/21572302/apple-app-store...
Also, the fee is reduced to 20 or 15 percent, not fully gone.
This almost reads like a sponsored article written by Google themselves.
If one uses Google to process the payments the fee would be 25% (20% service fee + 5% billing fee) [1].
[1] https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/a-new-era-...
And they're still taking 10% for subscriptions. What's the justification there?
My read is:
* Developers using Google to process payments should expect to go from a 30% fee to a 25% fee (20% service fee + 5% billing fee).
* Subscriptions will now have a 15% fee (10% service fee + 5% billing fee)
* Some Third Party App Stores will be easier to install
[1] https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/a-new-era-...
westurner•2h ago
From https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37843650 :
> What's a ballpark figure for what the monthly cost to Fdroid would be to scan all uploaded APKs for security vulnerabilities?
Will the user need to basically add a pubkey for each 3rd party repo? Could they install an APK from Play Store to add the key, or will there be something like the distribution-gpg-keys package?