Google's Dirty Little Android Secrets Leaked

Considering alternatives mean PAID alternatives, like paid navigation apps on smartphones (a rip-off, considering there are free navigation apps), I'll happily take Google "forcing" their apps onto phones/tablets...

With Android you pay with your data rather than money.

Also there are now other better free alternatives such as Firefox OS and Sailfish OS.

The OS,... sure. But for; mapping services, calendaring, email/soft-phone/sms integration??? It's difficult to assemble packages that do everything a Google account can accomplish on an Android device can on some other platform (I've tried, even BEFORE Android was big)... And then you have a difficult time integrating them... Sure, someone may come along and do all of this,... But I won't hold my breath.

> But for; mapping services, calendaring, email/soft-phone/sms integration?

That gobble has these features, and restricting them may inconvenience you, is merely an indicator that you've allowed yer life to be defined by them.

I eschew gobble and suffer not. Mapping? Openstreetmap.org. email? Certainly not gmail. Calendaring? I got one on the wall. phone/sms? What madness drives ppl to txt on a phone, I'll never understand. It's like putting on blinders before using binoculars.

It all reminds me of little boys in The Land of Toys (Pleasure Island). It's all fun and games ....if you don't mind the donkey ears.

BTW, I find it hilarious the author bemoans gobble's dominance, then sez you can reach him thru gobble+. ;)

@JaseP: Sailfish OS can run any Android app so you don't have to miss out on your favourite apps that spy on you if you can't live without them.

Nice to know that Maemo/MeeGo/Mer has evolved into something,... Too bad I don't have the right devices to run it... and there doesn't seem to be an X86-32/64 port that is not meant for specific hardware... I've got a couple of nice older machines that'd it be really great on...