AT&T Tells You Why You Can't Install Apps From Outside Android Market

[Shadez]

30. Jun, 2010 written by Charles V. / androidheadlines.com

AT&T does not allow an application to be installed on its android phones from outside the market. AT&T was asked why and this is what they said.

Q. Why can’t apps be installed from sources outside of the Android Market?

A. Android Market, managed by Google, is open to all developers. There is no approval process for applications, they are all accepted by default and Google has stated that they place apps in the Android Market within 24 hours of their submission.


AT&T selected Android Market as the exclusive source for applications because it forces developers to be accountable for the apps they submit. If the Android community has issues with an app, the app can be flagged and removed. This minimizes the risk of malicious apps harming customers and provides more protection to the customer’s private data stored on the phone.


This may be a good enough answer for some. I however believe that this is a bad answer. Android is an open source OS. Users should be able to decide what they want to install. You have to enable the phone in the settings to install these apps. New users might not want to do this. Beta programs, programs that developers want people to test before they are released, are installed outside of the market. If you have an AT&T phone, there will be no beta testing for you.


AT&T has control issues. The first android phone they carried, the Back Flip, was stripped of Google. They used Yahoo as the default search engine. Really! On an Android phone, developed by Google, Yahoo is the default search engine? It doesn’t make sense. Maybe one day they will realize what they are doing?

 

[Shadez]

I thought that post was gonna one way or another lead into "The Chewbacca Defense.."

 

[wuyanks]

Fascinate on VZ is rumored to have Bing as the default search engine and Maps app. so who knows.

as to limiting users to the google market, that's a terrible precedent. they're trying to parallel apple with google here.

 

[Darkseider]

Fascinate on VZ is rumored to have Bing as the default search engine and Maps app. so who knows.

as to limiting users to the google market, that's a terrible precedent. they're trying to parallel apple with google here.

Well for anyone who is somewhat tech savvy and does a little research you can use the ADB console to push whatever .apk you want to a locked AT&T handset. I do it for my wife all the time on her Backflip.

 

[takeshi]

...and you don't have to use at&t in the first place.

 

[bje1982]

So Android on ATT means less apps and less coverage...
hmmmmm..
hey at least you could have an iphone lol

 

[dmacleo]

if they allowed android phones on their network to install from anywhere I think the iphone users, who as we know are bound to itunes/appstore, might raise a stink with apple.

 

[Martin030908]

AT&T is Apple's puppet. I'm convinced. I don't even bother caring what they do anymore.

 

[Superjay]

iPhone is coming to VZW in January.... now, we too, can be locked into itunes, if we want

 

[Martin030908]

iPhone is coming to VZW in January.... now, we too, can be locked into itunes, if we want

Nothing confirmed. Still just rumors.

 

[Superjay]

Verizon Wireless to sell the iPhone in 2011 - CEA SmartBrief

 

[Martin030908]

Verizon Wireless is expected to begin offering the Apple iPhone in January, when AT&T's exclusive right to sell the device expires. Verizon Wireless could unload upward of 12 million iPhones in the first year, drawing as many as 4 million new wireless customers, UBS analyst John Hodulik predicts.

Expected. Nothing official has been announced.

 

[Shadez]

Every single mention of it I see all note Bloomberg as the source.

 

[Backnblack]

iPhone is coming to VZW in January.... now, we too, can be locked into itunes, if we want

I have some beach front property in New Mexico I'll sell ya too....

 

[Superjay]

I hate New Mexico... Fiancée's parents live there...