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Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

bradfrost.com

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Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#11

Post by netinstructions »

thebiglebrewski wrote: post #2

Oh man this is what I hate the most about my Pixel. How can I turn it off?

Press and hold on the notification itself. Alternatively, press and hold on the notification and start to slide left/right (still holding) to reveal a gears icon. It should be a shortcut that takes you to the notification settings for that app with the option to toggle them on/off.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#12

Post by doktrin »

GCU-Empiricist wrote: post #4

I generally prefer android to iOS because it's easier to work with as a dev, but this has been making me think about converting back.

I haven't owned an iPhone in over 5 years, and I feel the same way. No company should be romanticized, and I'm sure Apple's (very public) decision to take user privacy seriously can be viewed cynically - but at the end of the day that's the kind of stuff I care about as a consumer, and will choose my next phone accordingly.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#13

Post by laurent123456 »

What are these "Google" notifications? Is that a "Google" app generating them? If so, can't it be disabled or uninstalled? I don't have this on my Android phone but I've uninstalled or disabled everything Google related. And if you don't want to be tracked, you can also switch off Location History.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#14

Post by creaghpatr »

I've always found it kind of alarming in Waze that when you stop at an intersection where there's a gas station they prompt you to enter an updated gas price...even when the app presumes you are the driver.

I get that they're trying to get everyone to chip in for the common good but not while I'm literally driving, please.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#15

Post by chrisfosterelli »

The idea that you'd have any location privacy while carrying around a cell phone is absurd. Both iPhone and Android devices record location history, and your network provider always has a rough guess of where you are. It may be annoying that Google is very persistent about trying to build its maps dataset, but the suggestion that it's not happening on other devices is crazy.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#18

Post by Mizza »

Google are a deeply, deeply unethical company and all of their employees are complicit.

On a more practical note, I live in apartment above a restaurant. My phone now asks me to review this restaurant every time I come home and wants me to post photos I take in my apartment to the restaurant's map page.

Now that OSM data is as good as Google and Maps.Me is a good enough client, my next phone will be completely de-Googled.

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#19

Post by gthtjtkt »

It feels like Google has a team dedicated to finding new and idiotic ways to make Android more annoying.

The most recent annoyance I experienced was the "Welcome to [State]" announcement every time you're using Google Maps navigation and you cross a state line. Really, Google? You had to interrupt my music for that?

Re: Google, You Creepy Sonofabitch

#20

Post by tacomonstrous »

pdelbarba wrote: post #17

Disregarding the privacy issues, I find this to also be insanely annoying. I want notifications to be important. Not a bunch of spam that ultimately equates to advertising.

You can turn off these notifications in the Maps app. It's annoying they're on by default though.
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