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Google Play Shows Warning To Anyone Searching For Fortnite APKs (betanews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the heads-up dept.

Mark Wilson quotes a report from BetaNews: The arrival of Fortnite on Android has not only been eagerly awaited, but also steeped in controversy. In addition to making the game a Samsung exclusive (for a few days, anyway), Epic Games decided to bypass Google Play and host APK downloads on its own servers. But this isn't going to stop people looking for Fortnite in the Play Store. Google is well aware of this, and that there is the potential for fake, scam apps to appear, tricking users into downloading something malicious. As such, the company is taking action, and is showing a warning to anyone who searches for Fortnite in Google Play. Conduct a search for Fortnite in Google's app store and you'll be greeted by a message that reads "Fortnite Battle Royale by Epic Games, Inc is not available on Google Play." Searchers are also advised that Fortnite rival PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) is available to download.

83 comments

  1. Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What is the value of the Play Store if it lets those apps in?

    1. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by mwvdlee · · Score: 2

      It's not about the value of letting those apps in but the cost of keeping those apps out.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    2. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      No, it's actually about the value of an app store. I, as a user, have no use for an app store if I still have to worry about bogus apps and malware. If I have to deal with that shit, I can as well forgo the appstore. It is basically the main asset such a place is for the user.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The risk is not from the Play Store, the whole point is that if developers start bypassing the store, telling users to enable installing apps from unknown sources and download apps from here and there, as Epic Games is doing here, then they're at risk of installing fake apps and malware.

    4. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      the whole point is that if developers start bypassing the store, telling users to enable installing apps from unknown sources and download apps from here and there, as Epic Games is doing here, then they're at risk of not giving Google a cut.

      With as much "fake apps and malware" as the Google Play Store hosts, why do we keep going along with Google's narrative that sticking to the store benefits users in some way?

    5. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The value app stores provide is to the app store owners, not the users. App stores are just a classical attempt to corner a market at the expense of everyone else.

    6. Re: Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by alvinrod · · Score: 2

      Android does allow for other sites to exist. You could always find a different one. Personally, I think there is a lot of value in a highly curated store that keeps more apps out than it lets in.

      I think that there is a lot of cost in policing submissions and too many submissions to ever keep up with, but this stems from wanting to have the most apps. It used to be that the main metric that Apple and Google used in their dick waving contest to measure their stores was the number of apps. It was any easy number to throw out that the press would regurgitate and that the public would swallow.

      There are more than enough apps now, so I think the focus should be quality. Just curate the best ten apps for any given purpose or category and only show me those. Such a model would also make it far easier to take a smaller cut, since there is no need to review thousands upon thousands of new apps.

    7. Re: Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by reanjr · · Score: 1

      You mean the model where developers keep developing clones of the same apps over and over because the new shit gets promoted? That's the model you want?

    8. Re: Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      If it's the ten best apps that do a thing, then you can win either by making a better app that does a thing, OR by making an app that does a new thing.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    9. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apple users seem content on giving tons of money to Apple. And Apple devs seem content on lubing it up. What's the problem.

    10. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      What is the value of the Play Store if it lets those apps in?

      Because apps then don't have to pass some arbitrary barrier to entry set by facelesscorp. If you want diamonds you have to dig through the shit.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    11. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by stealth_finger · · Score: 1

      No, it's actually about the value of an app store. I, as a user, have no use for an app store if I still have to worry about bogus apps and malware. If I have to deal with that shit, I can as well forgo the appstore. It is basically the main asset such a place is for the user.

      Depends, are you going to go looking for a specific thing and check out the apps or just download and install whatever shit is on the new today tabs?

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
      https://www.redbubble.com/people/stealthfinger/shop?asc=u
    12. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Daemonik · · Score: 1

      Apple users seem content on giving tons of money to Apple. And Apple devs seem content on lubing it up. What's the problem.

      The hilarious/sad thing is Fortnite can't go around the Apple store, so they are content with Apple getting 30% of their sales, but screw Google getting any! Even though Android is a far larger platform.

    13. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Ironically though I've found you get better apps on Android than you do on the even more tightly controlled iOS.

      An example would be apps for learning English as a foreign language at beginner level. There are a few good ones on Android, but iOS is just full of total crapware put together by amateurs, or outright malware. The only decent stuff is for more advanced students on iOS.

      I'm not sure why that is, but it's interesting that the more controlled app store is also the worst.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    14. Re: Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My shit is chocked full of diamonds.

    15. Re: Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by Maury+Markowitz · · Score: 1

      > You mean the model where developers keep developing clones of the same
      > apps over and over because the new shit gets promoted? That's the model you want?

      Are you talking about app stores, or *everything in the world*?

      Because it sounds like you're talking about cars, hair dryiers, "New, Improved" loops, and every other thing for sale on the planet earth.

    16. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by cjjjer · · Score: 1

      > so they are content with Apple getting 30% of their sales From what I understand if an company wants to skirt the 30% tax they can offer the app for free and then make the user go online to the companies website, create a login, pay for the app on the website and then log into the app with the paid account. The hitch is they company cannot allow the user to do this from inside the app (this includes using the in app web view). Any purchase / transaction made in the app (either native UI or web view) is subject to the 30% tax. This is how it was explained to me a couple of years ago, not sure if it is the same any more.

    17. Re:Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure why that is, but it's interesting that the more controlled app store is also the worst.

      It's pretty straightforward IMO. The tight control drives off developers, there are more users on Android, and Android uses a more common software development language than iOS. Apple doesn't care how much app diversity there is so long as people keep paying for the apps they curate, so they have no motivation to "fix" the system. From their viewpoint, it's fixed already.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    18. Re: Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by nazsco · · Score: 1

      the only valueof an app store is the $ cut to the owners.

      EFF should sue google for the same treatment for fdroid and all others refusing the play store too

    19. Re: Potential for fake, scam, malicious apps? by reanjr · · Score: 1

      The difference is that the app store catalogs get ever bigger, while stores only reserve some parts of the inventory for new whiz bang, while dedicating large parts of the inventory to old standby brands that everyone knows and wants.

  2. Someone put APK and hosts in the same summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What have you done.

    1. Re:Someone put APK and hosts in the same summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh NOOOO!!! They've summoned He-Who-Must-Be-Made-Fun-Of!
      I'm sure he'll be along as soon as he gets done fingering that 10-year old. Hey Kowalski! Someone said your name on the Internet! Come show us what a fuckwit spaz you are!

    2. Re:Someone put APK and hosts in the same summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      APK doesn't touch children, he prefers to fist his own asshole while fantasizing about Zontar The Mindless and Khyber.

    3. Re:Someone put APK and hosts in the same summary by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      Still less annoying than all the pro-Trump and anti-Trump idiots who post comments not only in completely unrelated threads, but in all the threads.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  3. This actually changed situation for the better by Luckyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Play store has been utterly flooded with fake Fortnite installers since iphone version release. Everything from malware and (before play store ban) miners to just ad serving garbage.

    Google didn't give a shit. For months. This garbage even popped up on "recommended" list for me a few times.

    And now that Epic actually stated that it isn't publishing on play store, Google finally put a warning on that garbage. Good job Epic for forcing Google to act in some manner, and what the fuck took you so long, oh benevolent overlords at Google?

    1. Re:This actually changed situation for the better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Google can instantly find, block and strike people who mention Alex Jones on Youtube but they cannot get rid of all those apps that are 100% malware. Goes to show where their priorities lie.

    2. Re: This actually changed situation for the better by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I can see why they would never in a million years do such a thing, but they could just provide a link to The site where Epic has put the installer.

      The real answer is that a lot of what goes on at Google is done by algorithms that are uncaring about things such as this. Eventually enough of a stink is made or someone higher up sees the bad press and human intervention is made. Ask anyone who has ever had to deal without Google support and they will tell you that this kind of thing is par for the course and has been for years. The human intervention always comes off as hamfisted because the person making the decision has little idea of what is actually going on and no one can really fill them in since an algorithm has been steering the ship up to this point. Maybe the algorithm gets tweaked a little bit in response, but probably not.

    3. Re:This actually changed situation for the better by pots · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Priorities? You mentioned two things there, one super easy: block all instances of "Alex Jones," and one super hard: block all malware. Even if what you said is true (it's not), that still would have nothing to do with priorities.

    4. Re:This actually changed situation for the better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. Block all malware that claims to be Fortnite, which is every single app claiming to be Fortnite on Google Play.

    5. Re:This actually changed situation for the better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if it is not available on the play store it is pretty safe to assume that everything that claims to be it on the play store is fake

    6. Re: This actually changed situation for the better by Daemonik · · Score: 1

      I can see why they would never in a million years do such a thing, but they could just provide a link to The site where Epic has put the installer.

      Why? Do they owe Epic something? Is Epic paying them for the link? No, on both counts. Epic made their choice to cut Google out, Google doesn't have to do a damn thing that helps them.

      Honestly, it's more than enough that Google is trying to do their customers a favor by filtering this rather than let Epic deal with complaints about "their" installer giving out viruses.

    7. Re: This actually changed situation for the better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the best bit, free advertising for PUBG (which fortnite ripped off) - well, not really free, but you can see that the 30% cut that google takes does get you something at least! (as well as paying for the cost of all that transit to download the app lots and lots of times!)

    8. Re:This actually changed situation for the better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Even if what you said is true (it's not)

      It is. H3H3 had their livestream (not even a prerecorded video, it was live) shut down for talking about Alex Jones and they got a strike (community, not copyright) on their channel.

      On the other hand, Google claimed to manually review all apps for violations before they get published, yet here we are.

      So yea, priorities.

    9. Re: This actually changed situation for the better by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      Why? Do they owe Epic something? Is Epic paying them for the link? No, on both counts. Epic made their choice to cut Google out, Google doesn't have to do a damn thing that helps them.

      I never said they did and if they were to do something like this, other developers would jump ship from Google's store as well. Why pay 30% when you don't need to because Google will just direct traffic your way (just as they would with web search) for free?

      The point I was making was in the context of the post I replied to which stated that Google had no warnings or special response to this until it became a bigger story precisely because as I pointed out, the algorithms handling things don't notice these things.

    10. Re:This actually changed situation for the better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Google can instantly find, block and strike people who mention Alex Jones on Youtube

      No. No, they can't. And they don't. That's completely absurd. It took them years to block Alex Jones himself, and you think they can automatically find people who mention him, and would autoblock anyone who did? I mean, leaving aside the technical complexities of doing so, why would they do that?

    11. Re:This actually changed situation for the better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you don't actually have an example. All you have is a livestream shut down that may or may not have mentioned Alex Jones, but nobody banned, and nothing to suggest it was for merely talking about Alex Jones.

      Show us a message from Google that H3 received a "community strike" for "talking about Alex Jones" and we might continue to have a discussion here, even though that by itself would be a long way removed from the ban you were talking about.

      In the mean time, this link would show no results if you were telling the truth.

  4. Epic is dumb by reanjr · · Score: 0

    If your app is such a malware target for your users that other stores have to warn people, then maybe you're doing something wrong, Epic.

    Cheap-ass dip-shits will never get a dime from me.

    1. Re:Epic is dumb by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      If your app is such a malware target for your users that other stores have to warn people, then maybe you're doing something wrong, Epic.

      Cheap-ass dip-shits will never get a dime from me.

      It's more like the people that will blow $100s of their (parents') money on a free game to buy skins and dances are the type of people that are more likely to fall for malware and tricks.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Epic is dumb by Zocalo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think you have that backwards - if you've produced a game that is so popular that malware writers are trying to piggyback on your success to deploy some malware, then it's pretty much a given that it's going to be a financially successful game, which was kind of the point of producing it in the first place. If anything, it's the users that are "doing something wrong" here. Epic has a successful game that is in demand so has opted to handle their own distribution rather than pay Google a cut, so the game simply isn't available on the Google Play store and anything that claims to be so is 100% guaranteed to be pushing ads, malware, cryptominers, or worse. All Google is doing here (finally - this fake-version crap has been going on for ages) is informing users who are unaware of Epic's distribution model - and thus perhaps more likely to be hoodwinked into installing something nasty - that they can't find the app on the store and if they install anything that claims to be Fortnite from the store it's going to be malware.

      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
    3. Re:Epic is dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      people that will blow $100s of their (parents') money on a free game to buy skins and dances are the type of people that are more likely to fall for malware and tricks.

      Well, if this is the public, maybe they just deserve to be malwared into oblivion.

    4. Re:Epic is dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cheap-ass dip-shits will never get a dime from me.

      Good luck with that. You are aware that Epic makes this little thing called the Unreal Engine? It's either the largest or second largest game engine in use today, so there's a good chance a very large number of the games you play are built on it. And by playing those games, you're paying licensing fees to Epic. That is, unless you pirate every game you play or only play free to play games without ever buying anything from them.

    5. Re:Epic is dumb by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All Google is doing here...is informing users...that they can't find the app on the store...

      What google is really doing here is informing users that a similar rival app is available in their app store. There is a real war going on here. If Epic can bypass the app store and its 30% fee, then so can other publishers. Google wants them to fail. Fuck google.

    6. Re: Epic is dumb by reanjr · · Score: 1

      Nope. Last Unreal game I played and enjoyed was Rainbow Six in 2002.

      In fact, I just looked through the whole list of Unreal games listed on Wikipedia, and I've come to the conclusion I shouldn't ever bother with them. It's primariy FPS's which I don't play, and games made by devs who are more concerned with graphics than gameplay.

  5. Re:Its easy to get First Post, but Second by Pieroxy · · Score: 0

    is better :P

    Third is lame though.

    --
    Write boring code, not shiny code!
  6. Good luck finding a top ten for each category by tepples · · Score: 1

    Just curate the best ten apps for any given purpose or category and only show me those.

    Let's explore the feasibility of "curat[ing] the best ten apps for any given purpose or category". To start with: What are the ten best side-scrolling platformer video games of all time, what is number 11, and on what basis do you conclude that each of numbers 1 through 10 beats number 11?

    1. Re:Good luck finding a top ten for each category by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      What are the ten best side-scrolling platformer video games of all time,

      In the case of games, I would account for each title as a separate purpose, since one title does not substitute for another.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Good luck finding a top ten for each category by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      Someone will always disagree no matter how objective your evaluation criteria might be, but when the platform allows for multiple stores, it hardly matters if one of them doesn't have an app. You can always go to another store (or download it directly from the author if they publish it online) if you really want it.

      The point really isn't that I get the 10 undisputed best of N choices for any given category, but that I don't get the N - 10 worst choices along with them. There are probably some categories where there are fewer than 10 good choices, so realistically the store shouldn't give me more than 3 if everything else is a serious step down in quality.

    3. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But then if none of the ten best crms fit my use case I'm buggered.

      I mean, who decides the criteria? There are probably hundreds of crms that could all be classed as equally 'good'. Which one is best for you depends on your use case (user numbers, integrations, imports, exports, industry or process specific features, etc, etc). Best is very arbitrary.

    4. Re:Good luck finding a top ten for each category by tepples · · Score: 1

      In the case of games, I would account for each title as a separate purpose

      If you'd deem each "Fortnite" app in the games category to have a separate purpose, that's the same as not curating games at all.

      one title does not substitute for another.

      Some copyright maximalists on Slashdot would disagree. Their comments state that if lawful copies of a given work are not available to the public at any price, viewing a different work is preferable to viewing an infringing copy of that work.

    5. Re:Good luck finding a top ten for each category by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      one title does not substitute for another.

      Some copyright maximalists on Slashdot would disagree.

      They can lick Nintendo's boots on their own time.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:Good luck finding a top ten for each category by tepples · · Score: 1

      It's not just Nintendo. The maximalists say the same thing when asked about the film Song of the South and the animated TV series Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea (the English dub of Les mondes engloutis). Hence why I said "work", not specifically "game".

    7. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by reanjr · · Score: 1

      Honestly, I'd be happy if I could A) filter out apps that have in-app purchases and B) see all games categorized into tight groups where it's obvious your game is "Tower Defense" regardless of what skin you put on it. "Strategy" is a useless category. "Infinite Runner" is a good category.

    8. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by tepples · · Score: 1

      Honestly, I'd be happy if I could A) filter out apps that have in-app purchases

      By that rule, you would have filtered out Doom and all other 1990s shareware games, which gave the player the first episode without charge and required payment for later episodes. Would you prefer that even the first level be paywalled?

    9. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Claiming that the old shareware model == in-app purchases is a pretty desperate argument.

    10. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by tepples · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, claiming that the sort of abusive nickel-and-diming seen with repeatable "energy" purchases == in-app purchases is also "a pretty desperate argument." The line between tolerable free-to-try and abusive free-to-try lies somewhere between Nintendo's Super Mario Run, which is pretty close to shareware, and EA's Dungeon Keeper.

    11. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Number one is easy.
      Super Mario Bros 2!
      Super Mario Bros 2!

      Super Mario Bros 2!

      Super Mario Bros 2!

    12. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Lost Levels or Mario Madness?

    13. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by reanjr · · Score: 1

      No, that's the demo app model which was used widely on the Play Store before in-app purchases became a thing.

    14. Re: Good luck finding a top ten for each category by reanjr · · Score: 1

      In either case, the problem is hidden costs. Just be up front and I will pay you gobs of money for decent apps.

  7. Wait a microfortnight... by tepples · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is an application still "malware" if it has the name "Fortnite" for a legitimate reason, such as a unit conversion calculator centered around the furlong-firkin-fortnight system whose source code is published?

    1. Re:Wait a microfortnight... by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      If it's pretending to be Fortnite the game, has the "game" tag on it, and serves ads, malware and mining? Yes.

      If it's an actual calculator, it's not going to be confused for Fortnite the game by any modern algorithm. Among the first thing they look at for identification is tags.

  8. Thank you Google by fred6666 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    For doing the right thing here. And I mean not locking down the Play Store, allowing 3rd party sources. Google could easily (ab)use its dominant position in the smartphone OS market to force Epic to go through its Play Store and forfeit 30% of their revenues. But they didn't. Thank you for not being Apple.

    1. Re:Thank you Google by jareth-0205 · · Score: 1

      For doing the right thing here. And I mean not locking down the Play Store, allowing 3rd party sources. Google could easily (ab)use its dominant position in the smartphone OS market to force Epic to go through its Play Store and forfeit 30% of their revenues. But they didn't. Thank you for not being Apple.

      ...ish. The advertising of the rival in the warning is getting into dodgy territory though. If you have a control over the search mechanism, and you push someone to download something that can provide you revenue over what they wanted that won't provide you with revenue, that's very convenient for you. If you have a monopoly position then it would be an illegal abuse. That "monopoly-status" step is debatable.

    2. Re:Thank you Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For doing the right thing here. And I mean not locking down the Play Store, allowing 3rd party sources. Google could easily (ab)use its dominant position in the smartphone OS market to force Epic to go through its Play Store and forfeit 30% of their revenues. But they didn't. Thank you for not being Apple.

      You buried the lede. This wouldn’t be a problem to solve if their App Store and OS ecosystem wasn’t overrun with malware, scams and other garbage.

    3. Re: Thank you Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sheesh.... Seriously no fan of Apple, but the Google worship here is too much.

      One sells over priced walled garden stuff in your face, the other make the same money off you by doing creepy things with your personal data behind your back.

      How is that different?

    4. Re:Thank you Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Bullshit. If Google had an ounce of integrity, they'd link people who search for Fortnite to the download page on Epic's website.
      But that isn't why Google did this. They thought they could make a buck on PUB installs by piggybacking on Fortnite's popularity.

    5. Re:Thank you Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you might be conflating Google Search with Google Play Search.
      They aren't advertising PUBG in a normal google search for Fortnite, and I think it would be pretty much impossible to make an argument that Google Play has any sort of Monopoly status.

      If you are on your android device searching for an app on the Play Store, I don't think it's nefarious to link to a similar app that's actually available in the store.
      Not everyone who searches for Fortnite is going to be willing to go change settings and download/install an apk from a third party.

      I think it's MUCH more egregious that Epic decided to eschew the Play store just to make more money even though they're already paying Apple.

    6. Re:Thank you Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For doing the right thing here. And I mean not locking down the Play Store, allowing 3rd party sources. Google could easily (ab)use its dominant position in the smartphone OS market to force Epic to go through its Play Store and forfeit 30% of their revenues. But they didn't. Thank you for not being Apple.

      Yes! Obviously it will leave you with a malware laden ecosystem weighted down with an app store for every single app, but at least you won't have to suffer the social embarrassment of watching your animes on an iPhone.

  9. we know already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    can we stop advertising this shit game so much, google news tech section is like 80% fortnite and i don't give a fuck

  10. Now go after the big fruit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Tell people to jailbreak their iOS devices in order to install it. It will be enough of a forbidden fruit to stop the walled garden once and for all. Same goes for Windows in Shit mode.

  11. I'm no pedophile/pederast you call me... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & grow up, get on topic & quit libeling me you loser who has to STALK/HARASS me by UNIDENTFIABLE anonymous telling lies...

    APK

    P.S.=> Unbelievable... apk

  12. I am APK the LORD of HOSTS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am APK the great "LORD of HOSTS", a.k.a. AlecStaar or Alexander Peter Kowalski.

    See subject & APK Hosts File Engine 2.0++ 64-bit for Linux h t t p : / / I . a m . a . f u c k i n g / a s s h o l e . r e t a r d . z i p (remove spaces between characters & download).

    I am the godlike creator of various GUI front-ends for other people's configuration files.

    I think only one person stalks me as I shitpost and I dusted them on another site but in reality I am widely hated all.

    When people state the truth about me I get really mad and accuse them of projecting which is something I do all the time.

    Don't call me out on anything as I will state that you are a webmaster and that I cut off your revenue stream.

    You must be conspiring with the Jews and Soros if you disagree with me.

    Mistaking mockery and parody for impersonation is how I think people flatter me because I can't possibly understand that they detest me.

    See me lash out at one person for 2 weeks straight and claim everyone who mocks my retarded ass is actually them.

    Bask in my greatness as I post my advertisements in discussions where they don't belong, by the way this is every discussion I post in.

    I demand your age sex and location so that I can threaten to show up and kick your ass and will call you a pussycake but am actually too scared to actually do anything but be a keyboard warrior.

    Watch as I claim I am world class and a winner but in reality I am a fucking loser.

    Witness my descent into madness

    APK

  13. Fortnite Might As Well Not Exist by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://staging.f-droid.org/search?q=fortnite&lang=en

    Returns zero results.

  14. Amazing! by sad_ · · Score: 1

    what a great solution!

    imagine if they would just remove those bad apps, luckily we get an alert we can safely ignore instead.

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  15. Storage and bandwidth crunch of registering by tepples · · Score: 1

    If the demo version and the paid version are separate apps with separate listings in Google Play Store, the problem becomes one of having to fit both the demo version and the paid version on the user's phone until the user has exported all data from the demo version to the paid version. In addition, the user has to download data for the paid version that the user has already downloaded for the demo version, which may cost several dollars per GB on cellular or satellite Internet. Structuring registration as a one-time IAP avoids this storage and bandwidth crunch, especially for a game that may have 1 GB or more of assets.

    1. Re: Storage and bandwidth crunch of registering by reanjr · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure Google at least has a mechanism to share data between apps if the developer wants. So when you get the full version, everything is just as it was with the demo.

    2. Re: Storage and bandwidth crunch of registering by tepples · · Score: 1

      If anyone knows how to share executable code and data between Android applications from the same publisher without including redundant copies on the user's device's storage, please feel free to share the citation to Google's documentation of this feature.

    3. Re: Storage and bandwidth crunch of registering by reanjr · · Score: 1

      "Content providers can help an application ... share data with other apps"

      https://developer.android.com/...

    4. Re: Storage and bandwidth crunch of registering by tepples · · Score: 1

      That solution is somewhat limited:

      1. The demo and registered version can share assets (non-executable data), not code, through the content provider mechanism.
      2. It works only if the assets are downloaded separately, not if they are downloaded as part of the APK. This breaks downloading the game and running it for the first time while offline.
      3. As the user migrates the campaign and first episode's assets to the registered version, the assets still occupy duplicate space on the device until the content provider finishes transferring the first episode's assets from the demo version to the registered version.