this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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Privacy
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What I can tell you is that Google was extremely detailed in their monitoring of my apps - even looking up e.g. rate limits of the steam api to check if I properly deal with those. And I pick that example since I don't want to talk about the ways I mishandled user data out of negligence or ignorance.
Back then I perceived it as harassment. Today I will certainly not install any apps that didn't pass their testing.
And we're not even talking about deliberate malware but simple incompetence. I would consider the average hobby app project to be borderline malware and a proper QA needs qualified personnel. I don't see how F-Droid can ever reach those standards.
Play's reputation for being full of malware stands directly at odds with your assessment.
Hobbyists are rarely incompetent. They actually take pride in their work, and aren't just trying to quickly slap something together for a quick buck.
Not sure what gave you the impression that most phone apps have gone through professional QA, but I very seriously doubt that they have.
As for mishandling user data, it's a lot easier to avoid doing that when user data never leaves the user's device in the first place. Proprietary apps collect user data for profit; free and open source apps often don't.