Deceptive language frequently used against consumers

Deceptive language used by companies to impede the rights of consumers while appearing benevolent comes in many forms. Many of them can be boiled down to a few principles.

This is one of the most cited reasons to restrict what a consumer is allowed to do with their property. It is used to fight against right-to-repair legislation, restrict downloading of apps unless provided by Google or Apple, etc. Some notable incidents include:

Main article: Google Android restrict app sideloading

For many years, one of the primary selling points of Android smartphones was that no big corporation could gatekeep what the user can run on their phones. But starting with Android 17 in 2026, only developers manually approved by Google can create APKs that install on Android.

Developers applying for approval are required to disclose their real-life identity to Google.

Google justified this restriction by stating:^[1]

Google says you should think of the new requirements like checking IDs at the airport.

Critics argued the comparison was misleading, noting that airlines own their aircraft, while consumers own their smartphones. ^[2]

From source.android.com:

Third-party apps must go through the Storage Access Framework to interact with files on portable storage; direct access is explicitly blocked for privacy and security reasons.

In practice, Storage Access Framework's main restriction is preventing apps from accessing the root directory of external storage.

Storage Access Framework is no replacement for legacy storage access given its slowness from its large processing overhead. The performance loss may be concealed to some extent from the fast hardware smartphones have nowadays, but even then, it increases battery usage. In addition, it breached compatibility with all apps previously developed over the span of several years.^[3][4]

Justin Denison, Samsung's public relations person, said:^[5]

We refused to do this for some time. That's because we didn't want to have a built-in battery, until we were absolutely sure that users would feel confident about charging their phones.

The OnePlus Pad has a serialized battery, meaning the device detects repairs not approved by OnePlus, which can result in functionality being disabled. This is an anti-repair practice first seen on Apple iPhone 11.

OnePlus used the term "encryption" to describe this battery serialization. Critics noted that "encryption" carries positive associations unrelated to its use here, and that the term obscures the restriction's effect on independent repair.^[6][7]

Google proposed the Web Environment Integrity API, which critics described as a form of DRM for the web.^[8][9]

This is typically used as an excuse for mass-surveilance.

Main article: Age verification

Main article: Chat Control

This is an update message shown on a Samsung refrigerator:

To enhance our service and offer additional content to users, advertisements will be displayed [...]

The update introduced advertisements on the refrigerator's display. Critics noted the contrast between the language used and the nature of the change.^[5]

In the 2000s and early 2010s, three or four USB ports built into laptops were not uncommon. Modern laptops in contrast usually feature one or two USB-A ports and might feature an USB-C port, in addition to less modular and less upgradeable parts. Critics have argued that fewer built-in ports force users to carry additional hubs and adapters, offsetting any portability gains from thinner designs.^[10]

MicroSD cards became a major selling point of Android smartphones compared to iPhones, allowing the expansion of the storage capacity by multiple times at a time where smartphone internal storage capacities were only in the double-digit gigabytes. In addition, MicroSD cards make it easy to rescue data from a broken smartphone and to get immediate free storage within minutes without hour-long file transfers.

In Android 4.4 KitKat, Google revoked normal write access to the MicroSD card through applications installed by the user, with the exception of folders dedicated to each app at "Android/data/(package name)". The write access could not be restored through a setting in the menu, only through rooting.

Google's argument was to ensure no app can leave files behind after uninstallation:

The WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission must only grant write access to the primary external storage on a device. Apps must not be allowed to write to secondary external storage devices, except in their package-specific directories as allowed by synthesized permissions. Restricting writes in this way ensures the system can clean up files when applications are uninstalled.

Google restored write access in Android 5.0 through the Storage Access Framework. However, the framework introduces processing overhead that reduces speeds, particularly when handling large numbers of files.^[3][4]