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Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

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Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#131

Post by xarope »

DrammBA wrote: post #129
awaaz wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair enough, you only have my word on it (that it doesn't send any data to the Internet). But you do have my word :) Another person requested that the app be open-sourced as well. I will look into that.

> completely free, and there is no advertising or hidden gotchas I don't understand why not release the source if the app is completely free, what are you trying to protect?

Putting on my CISO hat, if they release the source, someone else could then create an app, but this time maliciously with said exfiltration of information, and publish it on play with paid ad time.

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#132

Post by shakna »

sallveburrpi wrote: post #105
nelblu wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is correct, but it is still a slippery slope. At some point the dev ends up adding internet permission (might be for legit reasons too), and lo and behold you are sharing your data. For something as sensitive as notifications, I really can't trust anything but open-source app which is vetted by a few seasoned people and hosted on F-droid.

If the permission is added in retrospect wouldn’t you still need to opt in? fwiw i completely agree that oss is the way to go here

The "Internet" permission on Android is one of the no-approval ones. If it gets added, you won't notice.

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#133

Post by hunter2_ »

indolering wrote: post #91
gruez wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I would love to use this, but I don't want to allow a third party app with closed source to read all my notifications. This can read OTP passwords, full messages, etc. so it must be open source for me to consider it. The app lacks the INTERNET permission so it can't really exfiltrate data even if it wanted to.

It's hard to rule out intentional side channels without access to source.

Do you mean a no-internet app (like this) could write data locally in a way that another internet-enabled app (in cahoots) could locally receive? Like a non-sandboxed storage area? Seems plausible.

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#134

Post by hunter2_ »

nelblu wrote: post #56
gruez wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I would love to use this, but I don't want to allow a third party app with closed source to read all my notifications. This can read OTP passwords, full messages, etc. so it must be open source for me to consider it. The app lacks the INTERNET permission so it can't really exfiltrate data even if it wanted to.

This is correct, but it is still a slippery slope. At some point the dev ends up adding internet permission (might be for legit reasons too), and lo and behold you are sharing your data. For something as sensitive as notifications, I really can't trust anything but open-source app which is vetted by a few seasoned people and hosted on F-droid.

Would a safe alternative (albeit annoying to update) be to side load the apk for the purpose of eliminating the possibility of auto updates brought on by an app store?

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#135

Post by userbinator »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #20

Here is a fun story. Just like you, I too live in a “gated community”, and we also default to MyGate. We have a founders group in there, and the things with MyGate and its irritations would sometimes come up. We all would wink and go about our days. The founder of MyGate is in the group and is one of the neighbors. We sometimes teased that we would just camp out outside his home, asking him to fix these excessive not…

If I were in that situation and had no other choice I'd just RE the app and figure out what API calls it makes, and reimplement it myself.

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#136

Post by OkGoDoIt »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #20

Here is a fun story. Just like you, I too live in a “gated community”, and we also default to MyGate. We have a founders group in there, and the things with MyGate and its irritations would sometimes come up. We all would wink and go about our days. The founder of MyGate is in the group and is one of the neighbors. We sometimes teased that we would just camp out outside his home, asking him to fix these excessive not…

That doberman site feels kind of sketchy. It doesn’t say anything about the hardware required or how someone would integrate this. Also it says it’s free but then one of the five top level pages is the SLA which says it doesn’t apply to free plans. I really don’t understand if this is just a random landing page that someone created to gauge interest or what.

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#137

Post by wincy »

plagiarist wrote: post #52
radlad wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worse even because iOS doesn't offer notification groups/channels like Android does (ignoring the fact that market leaders like Uber, DoorDash, etc. eschew them in favor of "General" channels they can pump both delivery/ride info and ads through.) IMO this needs to be an app guideline enforced by the iOS App Store and Play Store. I remember back in the day, iOS used to be known for having less spammy notifications.

I remember when I first started seeing obvious ads in notifications and assumed Apple would come down hard. I wish I had been right. If any app abuses the notifications at all I turn them all off, that's the only way to stop it. If the notifications are required for the app's operation, well, then I have to delete the app. Society has fucked itself over allowing these to exist.

My United Healthcare app told me I had 43 notifications. I just turned it off. There’s literally never a time they need to notify me via a push notification on my phone.

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#138

Post by CosmicShadow »

cco wrote: post #128

I'm kinda surprised to hear people having this problem on Android. I've found Android's notification management to be superb and, as others have said, with a one strike rule, this has been a non-issue for me. > I live in a gated society that uses an app called MyGate to allow visitors, and the app intentionally pushes ads through the same channels since you cannot block them. This strikes me as against the Play Store…

Facebook Messenger constantly tells you shit like "Hey, it's been 1 minute since someone messaged you, you better check it out!", Uber Eats is constantly telling me about meal deals even directly after I just ordered food on Uber Eats, and now it's giving me Uber ads implying the only thing stopping me from going out is that I haven't ordered an Uber, despite my history of only using it once a year when out of country and that I JUST ORDERED FOOD TO MY HOUSE!

You can't turn these off without never getting FB Messenger messages or notices of if your food has arrived because no one knows how to ring a fucking doorbell anymore even if the note specifically says to :/

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#139

Post by bambax »

reedf1 wrote: post #7

My solution to this problem was to have my phone permanently on silent. The logic being - there was nothing so urgent 25 years ago that couldn't be solved by an asynchronous answering machine message checked once a day; why do I need moment to moment updates now. Nowadays I'd probably use a tool like yours. My partner is going through legitimate withdrawal symptoms after two years of short-form content addiction. Tur…

I turn off notifications for every app except calls and messages; it's fine because almost no-one ever calls or texts anymore (Whatsapp messages can wait until I look at them).

Turning the phone on silent isn't really a solution since it still pollutes the screen (and the history) with useless notifications.

Re: Show HN: DoNotNotify – Log and intelligently block notifications on Android

#140

Post by upcoming-sesame »

xarope wrote: post #131
DrammBA wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> completely free, and there is no advertising or hidden gotchas I don't understand why not release the source if the app is completely free, what are you trying to protect?

Putting on my CISO hat, if they release the source, someone else could then create an app, but this time maliciously with said exfiltration of information, and publish it on play with paid ad time.

they probably just wanna keep the option to monetize it in the future open
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