With flexibility comes responsibility

[TheMystic]

You must have heard "With power comes responsibility". But in the gadgets world, that becomes "With flexibility comes responsibility".

The reason Apple products are generally considered to be very secure and work reliably is primarily because of how locked their system is compared to other operating systems. While some of the restrictions can be extremely annoying, especially for those coming from other operating systems, it also has quite a few advantages. Once you learn to do things the way Apple wants you to do (i know this is very annoying), you'll soon find that the experience becomes much better and seamless, especially if you have other devices in their ecosystem.

With Android, the biggest strength (and also the biggest weakness) is the flexibility given to you as a user. You can customise to your heart's content and do a lot more with Android devices than Apple devices, but on the flip side, this also creates plenty of room to mess things up by changing things one doesn't understand. And this is where the problem begins.

Android allows you to install from external sources (something almost impossible with iOS). Google Play Store itself is full of poorly coded apps, most of which abuse the system with ads, notifications, background processes, etc. On top of that, a user can install apps from outside the Google Play Store, which carry the risk of installing malware, nagware, spyware...you name it.

Unless you know what you are doing, stay away from things you don't fully understand. Just because Android allows you to do a lot of things doesn't mean you should change things you don't understand.

Here are some basic tips:

1. As much as possible, stick with Google Play Store. If you must install external apps, install them only from reputed/ trusted sources. Even then, upload the apk towww.virustotal.com and check for any malware. As a rule of thumb, do not install even if one antivirus engine is flagging it. It could be a false positive, but better to be safe than sorry.

2. Go through every setting on your device and try to understand what it does, how it works. Make changes only if you fully understand the setting.

3. Pay particular attention to app permissions. This is extremely important. Some permissions are automatically granted, even when it is unnecessary. Here, the rule of thumb should be to deny all permissions, and allow only those that are absolutely necessary. Try and understand what the permission allows, why the app needs it, and how it can potentially abuse the permissions, if granted.

4.READ (AND UNDERSTAND) BEFORE YOU CLICK ON ANYTHING. If you don't understand, don't click.

I have given more details in my previous posts and I'll link them at the end of this post. Do read them at leisure if you are having problems with your smartphone. They may be helpful.

When Android provides so much flexibility, it is also transferring the responsibility of making use of the same to the user. If you cannot accept that responsibility, you shouldn't benefit from the flexibility either.

If you use an Android device with the same restrictions as on an iPhone, you will see that it is just as stable and secure, as an iPhone.

With flexibility comes responsibility!

ADDITIONAL READING

LINKS in the following post can be helpful:

https://r2.community.samsung.com/t5/Tech-Talk/Smartphone-Basics/td-p/11180153

[TheFastestIndian]

Nice 👌🏻 post bro

[TheMystic]

Thank you bro. 😍😍😍

[VedantKalore]

Poor coding! Android Studio won't even make a aab file unless certified by Android Studio !
Ads actually most Android apps are free because ads revenue fulfillment!
APKmirror is completely safe source (not for you, nor iOS)
There exist a how to guide at least In every Galaxy (after 2019 sure) , it has all details about all settings in depth by Samsung itself !
Google Play Store is constantly improving! Every few days a new developer policy , ads policy etc

[TheMystic]

How come every year hundreds or even thousands of apps get removed from Play Store? 🤔

I didn't speak of ads here.

I said reputed/ trusted site. So i don't see why you should bring it up.

Okay. What has that got to do with OP? 🤔

Sure. May be. Again nothing to do with OP.

[VedantKalore]

Apps get removed because Google Play store has so many billions of apps more that Apple app store that it takes time man! Play store is huge market not limited to only 1 type of devices! App scanning and reviewing and then publishing takes 7 days even for a basic harmless app!
Big issue Android devices , so much in numbers easily outnumbered appel ! So many apps that it's a humongous tasks!

Apple market is small so harmful apps are caught easy

[TheMystic]

Doesn't matter how big or small the market is. Your previous statement implied apps with poor coding can never make it to the market. That is false.

Developers have bypassed Play Store restrictions and policies and apps have survived in the Play Store for years with millions of downloads. Best example is Clean Master. There are just too many examples that can be given.

If you look carefully, you'll notice that over 90% of apps in Google Play Store are pure garbage. I have seen file managers, gallery, video players, music players, etc. Over 90% are either replicas or pure garbage.

[VedantKalore]

Then why do you see them 🤔 👀
Poor Code stuff is a very recent activity
In olde Days it was possible to even upload virus straight off!
90% pure garbage even i know that from long time 😂observing from Android 1 to 13 beta , I myself found app copying Rolex watch design on wear os watch face , if I report no one can save that appp from legal action but I didn't is a altogether a different Matter
2) no copying anything OR Anyone
At Samsung we innovative 💡 😎, we learn, we experiment, we get inspired but NO COPY LIKE CHINA COMPANIES

[TheMystic]

To find the few hidden gems that are few and far between.

Recent activity? No. It has been a malaise since the beginning and continues till date.

You are contradicting yourself. Earlier you said there can be no virus in Android. Now you are saying you can upload a virus straight off. Be clear with your position.

Copying happens in all directions. You are living in denial.

[VedantKalore]

In old days only after 2018 years can't upload virus easily and now in 2022 it's even more difficult!