I’m a game developer for my day job and was recently looking through a large number of crash logs that had the following in them:

InitializationException: Firebase modules failed to initialize: messaging (missing dependency)

Long story short, the Huawei ban means people can’t have Google Play Services (Google bad right, no loss here?). The problem of course is our game is now crashing because they don’t have something we fundamentally expect on Android devices.

As a small startup, we can’t afford to replace all our Play Service API calls to support this small group. Usually cases like this come from restrictions people put on themselves (Staying on Android 5.0, running a degoogled device, etc) but these are innocent people who deserve none of this treatment.

I’m starting to think sanctions against things that affect the general population are really stupid. But alas, if people realize it as slowly as me we’re never going to a more free world without sanctions.

  • @nutomicA
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    3 years ago

    What do you mean suffer? I bought a Huawei phone specifically because its the only brand that I dont have to root in order to get a google free phone. In my opinion its a feature.

    Also, google stopped doing business in China anyway, so no phones sold there have Google services. The only people affected are people outside of China who buy Huawei.

    • @AgreeableLandscapeM
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      3 years ago

      Doesn’t Huawei have their own tracking and analytics though? And as far as I know their OS isn’t open source.

      • @nutomicA
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        113 years ago

        Yes they have their own replacement for google services, which is necessary for location, notifications, etc. Maybe also tracking, but I’d rather have my data stored in China than the US, because my countries government agencies certainly dont share data with China (i’m much less certain regarding the US).

        • @AgreeableLandscapeM
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          3 years ago

          Fair enough. I personally still prefer LineageOS which in theory stores that data nowhere though.

    • @ttmrichter
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      63 years ago

      +1 here. I view people using Play Service as lazy programmers who swap out morality for convenience anyway. Your program doesn’t work without GPS? Good. One less program for me to worry about.

  • @AgreeableLandscapeM
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    3 years ago

    I mean, Western sanctions tend to be very much intended to target common people. Just look at the sanctions on Cuba and their effects on their COVID-19 response.

    • @ttmrichter
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      43 years ago

      Economic sanctions have always been the state-level version of slacktivism: performative and at best ineffective, at worst counter-productive.

  • jhghjb (he/they)
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    43 years ago

    china is fighting american imperialism, good for them