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quadrox writes:
"It used to be possible for Android apps to access any kind of storage on an android device through the WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission. Writing to the SD card is useful for many different kinds of apps, e.g. file managers or cloud storage synchronization. However, the latest version of Android will no longer allow apps to write anywhere on external storage media, instead apps will only be allowed to access app-specific folders on SD cards. Android Police has an excellent writeup of the changes and the implications for users."
[ED Note: This is bound to irritate power users that rely on their SD cards for additional device storage.]
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Android 4.4 Disables SD Card Access for Apps
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I'm not a robot like you. I don't like having disks crammed into me... unless they're Oreos, and then only in the mouth.
-- Fry
(Score: 5, Interesting) by gallondr00nk on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:26AM
The obvious call would be simply to fork it, but the situation is more complicated than that.
There was an excellent article on Ars [arstechnica.com] recently detailing Google's strategy.
In a nutshell, while the Android OS in itself is open source, Google provides the option for manufacturers to use Google Mobile Services. This part isn't open source, nor is it completely free to the manufacturer. GMS has also been gradually adding more features while letting those in the base Android setup lay dormant.
Manufacturers are free to not use it, and some don't, providing their own suite of APIs in place of those provided by Google. The trouble, as the likes of Amazon have found, is that often game developers in particular just use the GMS API and thus their software depends on it. To get a fully featured Android setup, you're more or less obliged to use GMS.
It strikes me as little better than the "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further" tactics that Microsoft are known for.
(Score: 3, Informative) by mojo chan on Wednesday February 19 2014, @08:51AM
It is because phone manufacturers were not active enough in providing updates and security patches, so more stuff got moved into GMS. It isn't fair to say that base Android has been dormant though, as Cyanogen proves by providing almost everything Google's distro does but fully open source. It is true that a lot of features have been added via Google apps lately, but those features depend on Google services so could never have been a base part of Android anyway.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by dilbert on Wednesday February 19 2014, @09:06AM
This made my morning!
Don't forget Apple/Amazon type companies either. They can (and have) uninstalled/removed ebooks and apps you've paid for without any warning.
Cyanogenmod is the only reason I still use Android. I don't have any GMS apps installed on my phone.
(Score: 4, Informative) by quacking duck on Wednesday February 19 2014, @10:00AM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 20 2014, @03:14PM
I don't know about removal, but Apple has certainly killed apps before. I've personally lost access to GBA4iOS, or anything installed with MacBuildServer. The app still sits there, sure, but it won't launch unless I roll back the system date to before Apple revoked that certificate.
However, it may be a different story with paid content or apps. Then again, I've never bought anything....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2014, @01:14PM
Where did Apple remove ebooks or apps from people's phones? Not simply pulling from the store but actually wiping them from the device? It's also interesting you call these companies out yet strangely don't mention that Google has remotely wiped apps themselves. Sounds suspiciously like a lie of omission. [cnet.com]