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Android P

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Re: Android P

#181

Post by pjmlp »

kuschku wrote: post #88
ISL wrote: post #79

Ten years ago, when we launched the first Android phone—the T-Mobile G1—it was with a simple but bold idea: to build a mobile platform that’s free and open to everyone. To what quantitative fraction is Android still free and open (as in speech), and how much of it has been moved into closed-source containers?

Almost all of it is closed. Since the G1, the following parts are just some of the many that were removed from the open project and replaced with proprietary ones: Launcher, Dialer (the actual phone app), Contacts, Calendar, Email, on-device Search (last open in 2.3.7), and many more. Everything that the user touches or sees is closed source.

Also since Android 7 they started locking down what was possible to access with the NDK, any attempt to link against anything not listed as official NDK API will terminate the application.

With Android P they are doing the same to Java apps that make use of reflection to access non-public APIs or work around bugs due to lack of updates.

Re: Android P

#182

Post by pjmlp »

izacus wrote: post #47
kuschku wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But they should have. Ending support just one version before basically immortality for the phones is just a bad joke. Especially when the only available alternative starts at 3 times the price. $900 for the smallest Pixel in Germany, fuck that.

Treble requires SoC vendors to provide drivers with explicit support. SoCs from Nexus devices aren't supported by Qualcomm so they simply can't be upgraded.

That is why there is this thing called legal agreements.

If Google actually cared, they would impose support requirements on OEMs that wanted to play on Android playground.

Re: Android P

#183

Post by gowld »

gcatalfamo wrote: post #176

I used to be excited about product releases like this one. But after years of bloated releases and devices that feel old and laggy after just one year of use, I’d rather welcome an Android version that prioritized UI fluidity over everything else. I loved my Nexus 5, but the Nexus 5x was dead on arrival, to the point that my current setup (1 Android and 1 iPhone) will by just iPhones. I’ll definitely miss some featur…

Nexus 5 came with KitKat, which was the Android release dedicated to ... reining in bloat and restoring decent performance.

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2013/10/android-44...

5 years later, it would be great to do that again.

Re: Android P

#184

Post by crowbahr »

birksherty wrote: post #180
Ajedi32 wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't Android pretty much have all that already? > Encryption of specific secrets for each app Not sure what you mean by this, but apps are already sandboxed and can't access each other's data. What specific threat are you trying to protect against? > Fine grained control of what information is shared with apps Already exists. > Ability to selectively deny particular data (and have the app keep working, e.g by givi…

Fine grained permission does not exist on Android. Bunch of permissions are grouped together* and the app gets all if I allow it. This is the main reason I root my phone and use XPrivacy. After using XPrivacy, Android permission seems stupid. I can't go back to that. * Bunch of permissions are grouped together into CATEGORIES and the app gets all if I allow that category.

Fine grained permissions do exist, your phone is simply not being updated to that version.

You can update permissions on types of notifications, location, storage, contacts etc. all independently of each other. O is great for that and I assume P will only be better.

Re: Android P

#185

Post by birksherty »

propogandist wrote: post #84
TheForumTroll wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Root, remove, unroot.

you ideally want something like Xprivacy, which is unfortunately no longer supported Install something like Netguard (same dev behind Xprivacy) -- which functions as a firewall (vpn) b/w apps and the internet. Turn on logging. Watch all the apps you have installed phoning home and services like graph.facebook.com every few moments.

XPrivacyLua is the successor of XPrivacy. https://github.com/M66B/XPrivacyLua

Re: Android P

#186

Post by gowld »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #127
joshmarinacci wrote: post #46

Boy, the gesture based task switcher sure looks familar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2tkX_zJp-8

I thought the exact same thing. It's such a damn shame, WebOS was way ahead of its time. Apps could be built using web technology and they ran great!

It took a few years, but last year Android got "native" web apps: https://developers.google.com/web/progressive-web-apps/

Re: Android P

#187

Post by birksherty »

crowbahr wrote: post #184
birksherty wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fine grained permission does not exist on Android. Bunch of permissions are grouped together* and the app gets all if I allow it. This is the main reason I root my phone and use XPrivacy. After using XPrivacy, Android permission seems stupid. I can't go back to that. * Bunch of permissions are grouped together into CATEGORIES and the app gets all if I allow that category.

Fine grained permissions do exist, your phone is simply not being updated to that version. You can update permissions on types of notifications, location, storage, contacts etc. all independently of each other. O is great for that and I assume P will only be better.

It does not. You have to explore XPrivacy to know what fine grained looks like. I can not explain. Also Android does not show all the permissions that XPrivacy can.

Re: Android P

#188

Post by hvidgaard »

crowbahr wrote: post #184
birksherty wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fine grained permission does not exist on Android. Bunch of permissions are grouped together* and the app gets all if I allow it. This is the main reason I root my phone and use XPrivacy. After using XPrivacy, Android permission seems stupid. I can't go back to that. * Bunch of permissions are grouped together into CATEGORIES and the app gets all if I allow that category.

Fine grained permissions do exist, your phone is simply not being updated to that version. You can update permissions on types of notifications, location, storage, contacts etc. all independently of each other. O is great for that and I assume P will only be better.

There is not fine grained permissions. There is something that is better than it used to be, but fine grained is not what I'd call it. For instance, I believe the following should be possible for photos alone.

* Give an app access to only save, not read my photos * Give an app ability to read one specific photo (think upload a photo to facebook) * Take pictures without always having access to the camera.

That is fine grained.

Re: Android P

#189

Post by cup-of-tea »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #159
dyarosla wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple is known to shamelessly copy features that work and are consumer friendly- I have no doubt that they'll be keeping a close eye on how consumers respond to these updates.

This is ironic given that Android P lifted iPhone X navigation and is adding support for notches, also lifted from the iPhone X.

That's not ironic, it's just something else that is true.

Re: Android P

#190

Post by ehsankia »

ohazi wrote: post #153

Am I the only one who doesn't want a phone that arbitrarily changes behavior in opaque and uncontrollable ways? Machine learning is fine for hard tasks like voice recognition, but it really shouldn't be used for things that would otherwise be a few checkboxes. I know the trend nowadays is to assume that users are irredeemably stupid, but this? Seriously? You can keep this update. I don't want it.

Which one of this do you have a problem with? Everything shown here is optional. Adaptive brightness can be opted out. Adaptive battery, wind down and App Timer are all opt-in. So what's the problem? There's no need to have a tantrum just because they are giving features that other people need. No one is forcing you to use any of them.
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