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Comment by ramon156 | Hacker News Reader

I dont get why some apps depend on Google Play functionality. Why can't I download Telegram on /e/OS

This about Play Services and not the Play Store. Play Services are a bunch of extra APIs/services that Google does not make available as part of AOSP. The non-nefarious reason is to make it possible to fix bugs and roll out features faster because the OEMs are terrible at rolling out new Android versions. The possible nefarious reason is to make more of Android closed-source.

At any rate, microG is a reimplementation of Play Services.

You can directly download the Telegram APK from: https://telegram.org/android

(Or using the app store that is part of /e/OS and serves as a front for both the Play Store and F-Droid.)

They could also have it decoupled from the OS with an open-source version, these are two different subjects.

The real reason to me is that they want to avoid Android forks outside of their control.

Yes, which is why I also mentioned the more nefarious reading of it. Making a large API surface use closed-source code gives them control.

you can't download telegram from telegram.org?

Telegram is a Russian spy app, it needs remote attestation you are not a bot because collecting bot data is not valuable.

Telegram is practically a spy app for both Russian and Western agencies now. While Durov tried to claim total neutrality in his interview with Tucker Carlson, his stance completely flipped after France detained him. Telegram is now proactively cooperating with EU and USA agencies and sharing user data, normal chat logs (everything that is not "Secret Chats"), IP addresses and phone numbers with law enforcement.

Telegram works on my /e/OS device. I am using Obtainium to download it, but you can also download it from the website: https://telegram.org/android

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