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back to article Google enables private Play stores

Organisations planning to give users access to curated collection of Android apps can now do so with their Google Apps account, after the advertising giant quietly threw the switch on what it has poetically dubbed “The Google Play Private Channel for Google Apps”. The existence of the new feature was snuck out in a support …

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  1. wowfood

    Thanks

    Looks like the Ouya will have its own play store for games.

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    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Thanks

      A Play store only accessible by authorised Ouya devices... so much for interoperability and openness.

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  2. Paul Crawford Silver badge

    Competing app stores?

    What is really needed is someone (e.g. the EU) to force Apple, Google & MS to allow alternative public app stores to be added under YOUR control, so you get real competition, and are not simply reamed by your OS supplier having bought a device.

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    1. Neil Lewis
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      Re: Competing app stores?

      As far as Google is concerned, you have always been able to do exactly that. Users simply need to tick the box in Android software settings to allow installation from sources other than Google's own store.

      Apple and MS, not a chance in hell.

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    2. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Competing app stores?

      and don't forget games consoles, Smart TVs, STBs and everything with a computer chip in it.

      So many things locked to vendors, so little time.

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    3. Piro Silver badge
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      Re: Competing app stores?

      But there are already other stores exactly as you describe.

      There's no lockdown in Android. Amazon has its own store. There's a few others, too. Not to mention you can sideload to your heart's content by checking one box in the settings.

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    4. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Competing app stores?

      What is really needed is someone (e.g. the EU) to force Apple, Google & MS to allow alternative public app stores to be added under YOUR control

      Yeah, that's going to be a very good idea..

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  3. Irongut
    FAIL

    So this requires Google Apps for Business but they just removed the free version of Google Apps for Business. So unless you're already a Google Apps for Business customer this is useless.

    It would be nice if we could have a channel that features apps that we recommend for use with our current IT systems and apps we've written ourselves. But we don't use Google Apps and we're not about to switch to it.

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  4. pip25
    Thumb Up

    I see potential in something like this

    There exist sites today like CNET which have their own collection of desktop software downloads from various developers, reviewed by the owners of the site. If you get your stuff from there, you can also be (somewhat) sure that you're not installing some malware-ridden mess.

    The same thing could be done to "private Play stores": in return for some ad revenue, CNET could publish its own collection of Android apps, all taken from the main store with the developers' consent of course, and if people are looking for safe, quality programs, they could look there instead of the more "lawless" main Play store. This way, people can have their strict "curated app store" if they really want, but it's forced upon anyone, and most importantly for Google, they don't have to do any of the work.

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    1. M Gale
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      CNET? Really?

      So I can download some extra bundled adware on top of the adware the app comes with? Not a chance in hell.

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      1. mickey mouse the fith
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        Re: CNET? Really?

        "So I can download some extra bundled adware on top of the adware the app comes with? Not a chance in hell."

        Exactly what I was thinking. Download.com ,cnet and a few others profess to having a clean, malware free library, then you get this download wrapper thing laced with adware/spyware. I seem to recall quite a few devs wernt to happy about their apps being distributed in this way as they released their app as freeware and cnet et.al monatised it (and kept all the profits for themselves) against the devs wishes.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    Does it mean anything that when I saw the headline I read it as, "Google enables Pirate Bay stores"?

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  6. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    Wait, did you say

    Android devices have a force field now?

    Man, I wish there were still updates for my Original Edition Samsung Galaxy Tab!

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