@wiredfire @techlore
#rantalarm!
Fully agree, it was a matter of time. The poitive thing though: G💩💩gle seems this important enough an issue to act upon it, so maye users reached a critical mass where it wasn't acceptable any more?
In terms of alternatives: I guess it will be hard to convince people to pay with real money and not with their data. The average user (think your average family member) has been conditioned into this business-model over years. I have had a hard time convincing people close to me to use commercial messenger apps with good privacy (license: 5€) to communicate with me as they didn't see the point.
If you go into Fdroid land you lose many fancy apps but I am totally ready to embark on the low-tech boat here, in fact I never used fancy G playstore apps in the first place and am totally happy. It's hard to get used to less fancy stuff once you subscribe to this model. I'm not missing anything. Oh well yes I do: apps for public transport 😬🫣