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Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

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Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#321

Post by mrgreenfur »

MKinley wrote: post #249
jamesb93 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maps is insanely laggy on my Xiaomi Redmi note 4x. THis is with the performance kernel configuration on with GPU running 100%. Its just horribly optimised and has so much clutter now. Does anyone know a decent alternative? (please don't say waze)

Have you tried Open Street Maps? You can get their app from F-droid. Edit: Maps (Offline OpenStreetMap maps) - https://f-droid.org/app/com.github.axet.maps

It's also available in the play store for $8.99. I just bought it to give it a try. Thanks for introducing it to me!

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#322

Post by dwighttk »

Analemma_ wrote: post #33
ENGNR wrote: post #4

I can’t even ask my phone to set an alarm anymore without giving it my entire web and app history. Google is vulnerable here as they’re creating a very real need for basic alternatives

They’re creating a need, but that doesn’t mean they’re creating a market opportunity. Google has taught everyone that all this stuff should be free, and that’s no accident: it’s a deliberate strategy to suck up all available oxygen away from potential competitors. Someone (Ben Thompson maybe?) described Google’s strategy as not just building a moat, but scorching the earth for hundreds of miles in every direction fro…

>I don’t exactly see techies flocking to Bing after they complain about Google

I flew to duckduckgo, don't know about flocking...

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#323

Post by danShumway »

This has been the case for multiple years.

I'm NOT saying, "people shouldn't be surprised." By all means, be very outraged and surprised about it, maybe something will change. What I am saying is the fact that so many people are surprised on HN of all places means that very few people here have ever turned off Web & App Activity tracking, even just as a temporary experiment to see what would happen.

That makes me sad. Do it some time, you have no idea how many things on your phone will break. Google does not want you turning off that permission; there are a large number of other Google apps that exhibit behaviors just as outrageous as this.

Please go do some some first-hand research. You can turn off Web & App Activity temporarily. You can leave it off for even just a week, just to get a feel for what happens.

https://myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#324

Post by bluGill »

givinguflac wrote: post #264
pymai wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

im using newpipe on android and adding the rss feeds to newsblur so I can watch on desktop. its actually really good since you get away from their suggestions side bar and autoplay (and the UI). newsblur let's you organise things into subfolders too which is helpful the other thing in going to start using is youtube-dl to download my watch later videos and then use something like emby or plex to watch them. maybe do…

So if I’m reading you right, “YouTube is great, provided you work around their UI, feature set and arbitrary limitations by replacing it all with 3rd party software.” Yeah google’s really nailing it. /s

Well youtube has a lot of everyday person content that nobody else does. This is mostly inertia - they got big years ago, and it is hard to switch. There are other good alternatives, but none have the users or mind share.

Movies are better served elsewhere, but there is a lot of things that you just can't find elsewhere.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#325

Post by cryoshon »

digitaLandscape wrote: post #26

There was a lot of uproar about this internally but nothing changed. They told us that this was the only "practical" option. The company has rotted.

funny, from the outside we've been telling you that for a long time.

yet nothing has changed due to all of the "internal uproar" we are constantly told about.

nothing at all.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#326

Post by cryoshon »

computerfriend wrote: post #98
lvs wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the outside, it seems to have reached a tipping point in the past year that is now getting quite dramatic. A whole string of heavy-handed, anti-user, and privacy-hostile decisions. What just happened to the culture that would allow all this evil behavior? Or did we misunderstand it all along?

> Or did we misunderstand it all along? I think yes. Google has been considered "evil" by the tinfoil hat crowd for quite some time, and once again it has become apparent to the mainstream that they were right.

>Google has been considered "evil" by the tinfoil hat crowd for quite some time, and once again it has become apparent to the mainstream that they were right

it's almost as though the people with money benefit from marginalizing the people cynical enough to understand what they are doing.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#327

Post by danShumway »

danShumway wrote: post #323

This has been the case for multiple years. I'm NOT saying, "people shouldn't be surprised." By all means, be very outraged and surprised about it, maybe something will change. What I am saying is the fact that so many people are surprised on HN of all places means that very few people here have ever turned off Web & App Activity tracking, even just as a temporary experiment to see what would happen. That makes me sad…

My personal favorite restriction: turn off Web & App Activity and then try to use a voice command to call/text another person. You can't use voice commands with contacts if you have the permission turned off.

I always forget that when I'm trying to do hands-free commands while driving. I have to pull over and manually click on the contact. I can't just use voice commands and put the phone on speaker.

It's outright vindictive, to the point of being legitimately dangerous. You can still add contacts, and their names still show up everywhere on the phone. You just don't get to hands-free dial any of them, because... somehow Google needs access to my search history to do that? It's one of the most straightforward examples of higher-ups in Google prioritizing user tracking over user safety.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#328

Post by nrook »

jchw wrote: post #80
digitaLandscape wrote: post #26

There was a lot of uproar about this internally but nothing changed. They told us that this was the only "practical" option. The company has rotted.

Was there internal uproar? Did they say this was the only "practical" option? I have missed all of this if so, I thought this is how Maps worked since this feature first popped up.

Google is a fascinating test case for Elizabeth Warren's plan to create board representation for workers. Googlers have a very distinct culture that would advocate for very different positions from the ones Google is making right now. If Google employees had 40% of the board, they'd be able to do a lot more to stop decisions like this one.

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#329

Post by arminiusreturns »

computerfriend wrote: post #98
lvs wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the outside, it seems to have reached a tipping point in the past year that is now getting quite dramatic. A whole string of heavy-handed, anti-user, and privacy-hostile decisions. What just happened to the culture that would allow all this evil behavior? Or did we misunderstand it all along?

> Or did we misunderstand it all along? I think yes. Google has been considered "evil" by the tinfoil hat crowd for quite some time, and once again it has become apparent to the mainstream that they were right.

You know, I used to think times like this when us conspiracy theorists could say "I told you so" would make people rethink some things, but that has proven to be false. I was ranting about NSA and other unconstitutional abuses before Snowden and was getting called "crazy", and then after Snowden the majority of comments around here became variations of "Well, are you surprised." and "If you have nothing to hide" and "Broken clocks are right twice a day"...

Google, like facebook, was from origins designed to end up this way. It was not some organic complication of motives due to massive growth.

Relevant reading: https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/how-the-cia-made-goo...

Re: Google Maps won't let you save home address without allowing all Google tracking

#330

Post by gnulinux »

ax0ar wrote: post #168
user111233 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People are paying $1000+ for Pixel phones. I think that should cover the cost of an alarm app.

The thing is, you don't only need an alternative for the alarm app if you want to get rid of GApps. The hidden costs of apps Google gives you for "free" is probably above $1,000. I guess the majority would give away their privacy for that amount these days.

This makes absolutely no sense. How is bunch of very basic userspace programs cost >$1000? Google doesn't even make its own kernel, they just make the userspace. For reference OSX and Windows are much cheaper than $1000 and most linux distros are for gratis and all these systems include more complex programs than a basic alarm app, calculator etc.
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