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iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

appleinsider.com

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Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#81

Post by hyperbovine »

Waterluvian wrote: post #77

I'm probably saying the complete obvious, but Apple can completely crush Google if they execute this angle properly. Google has no choice but to support ads. They're an ad company. Apple has to keep hammering how bad the ad and privacy experiences are with Android. Make iOS an absolute delight to use in contrast. I'd pay a premium for that. Android has done a great job making me want an iOS device again, these last t…

Of course they have a choice: charge money for the services they provide. Revolutionary concept, I know.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#82

Post by w-ll »

saagarjha wrote: post #75
w-ll wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anyone know of a good open source alternative to the Termius input on iOS? I loved Termius but didnt realize that keys were uploaded to their servers until I opened it on my laptop and saw it download all my keys. Spent the day rotating all my keys.

You sure it's not just putting them on iCloud Keychain?

I use a Thinkpad :(

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#83

Post by Polylactic_acid »

Waterluvian wrote: post #77

I'm probably saying the complete obvious, but Apple can completely crush Google if they execute this angle properly. Google has no choice but to support ads. They're an ad company. Apple has to keep hammering how bad the ad and privacy experiences are with Android. Make iOS an absolute delight to use in contrast. I'd pay a premium for that. Android has done a great job making me want an iOS device again, these last t…

I have never owned an ios device in my life and strongly avoid them but this makes drift slightly over considering one. If apple allowed easily sideloading apps I would consider moving over.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#84

Post by true_religion »

Waterluvian wrote: post #77

I'm probably saying the complete obvious, but Apple can completely crush Google if they execute this angle properly. Google has no choice but to support ads. They're an ad company. Apple has to keep hammering how bad the ad and privacy experiences are with Android. Make iOS an absolute delight to use in contrast. I'd pay a premium for that. Android has done a great job making me want an iOS device again, these last t…

Not really, dropping private data from the ad industry might make certain ads perform worse, but it will also remove information on why. In the end the ad dollars will still be spent, and Google and others will profit.

The only potential harm to Google is that if advertisers go back to choosing publishers based on reputation alone, the need for Google as a middleman to lots of third parties is reduced so they will only earn the big bucks from their own properties.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#85

Post by lilyball »

freehunter wrote: post #24

On the other hand Apple has forced apps to use location data for purposes it should not be used for. Termius, for example, is my favorite iOS SSH app. But according to them, they can’t keep an SSH session running in the background unless they’re constantly tracking your location data. And somehow Apple approved this usage of location data. I don’t want to give Termius my location. I don’t want them tracking me everyw…

Absent memory pressure, apps can stay open for up to 10 minutes in the background.

The correct solution here is for the app to request background processing and to schedule a local notification in 9 minutes saying that the app is about to run out of background time and pause (and then clean up the notification if the user returns to the app before it fires). This means you're not abusing anything, and it lets the user return before the connection is killed in order to keep it alive.

This also means if the user never returns, the app will naturally shut down the connection after 10 minutes instead of keeping it open indefinitely.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#86

Post by ojame »

hyperbovine wrote: post #81
Waterluvian wrote: post #77

I'm probably saying the complete obvious, but Apple can completely crush Google if they execute this angle properly. Google has no choice but to support ads. They're an ad company. Apple has to keep hammering how bad the ad and privacy experiences are with Android. Make iOS an absolute delight to use in contrast. I'd pay a premium for that. Android has done a great job making me want an iOS device again, these last t…

Of course they have a choice: charge money for the services they provide. Revolutionary concept, I know.

What services are you thinking of? They charge for all the enterprise level stuff, and Google Cloud etc; but consumer facing every-day use services?

I can't see how charging for search would work, charging for Android, they already charge for handsets but it's easier for Apple because of a closed ecosystem, I doubt they could charge for Chrome, so I'm a bit confused.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#87

Post by saagarjha »

lilyball wrote: post #80
mikestew wrote: post #2

And it’s not just location data. I am amazed at how many apps want Bluetooth, too. Umm, there isn’t a single listed feature that indicates a need for BT, why are you asking? Oh, so you can use that as a tracking vector, too. Well, not only do you not get BT, you don’t get to live on my phone anymore, either. As for the advertisers, boo-hoo. You raised a finger (or two, depending on locale) to “do not track”, you thin…

A lot of apps ask for Bluetooth because Google Chromecast wanted it. I think Google put out a Chromecast framework update to fix this, though I'm not positive.

You can pick a version of the SDK without "Guest mode" support that will not use Bluetooth.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#88

Post by lilyball »

novok wrote: post #8

The alert is annoying although for apps you want to have always on location tracking although, like some life logging apps. (Arc, etc) It's like OS doesn't want to accept there are apps you want always on location tracking on and for it to stop annoying you about it.

In my experience, the OS prompts you less and less frequently if you keep approving it. I have one app I give background access for and at this point I'm getting maybe one prompt per month.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#89

Post by lilyball »

saagarjha wrote: post #87
lilyball wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of apps ask for Bluetooth because Google Chromecast wanted it. I think Google put out a Chromecast framework update to fix this, though I'm not positive.

You can pick a version of the SDK without "Guest mode" support that will not use Bluetooth.

I'm pretty sure before iOS 13 came out there was no option to remove bluetooth. So any apps that haven't updated to the newer SDK will still be requesting bluetooth access.

Re: iOS 13 app tracking alert has dramatically cut location data flow to ad industry

#90

Post by saagarjha »

lilyball wrote: post #85
freehunter wrote: post #24

On the other hand Apple has forced apps to use location data for purposes it should not be used for. Termius, for example, is my favorite iOS SSH app. But according to them, they can’t keep an SSH session running in the background unless they’re constantly tracking your location data. And somehow Apple approved this usage of location data. I don’t want to give Termius my location. I don’t want them tracking me everyw…

Absent memory pressure, apps can stay open for up to 10 minutes in the background. The correct solution here is for the app to request background processing and to schedule a local notification in 9 minutes saying that the app is about to run out of background time and pause (and then clean up the notification if the user returns to the app before it fires). This means you're not abusing anything, and it lets the use…

Under normal usage, iOS will kill apps a lot earlier than 10 minutes. In the general case it's really not possible to do this, and I would argue that shipping with a flaky feature is probably worse than not shipping with it at all.
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