I just looked. They do, but they share it anonymously unless you consent otherwise. https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww/ See "Location-Based Services" near the bottom.
I'm assuming this is for Maps/address resolution data and such, and not real time location information that can be used to identify a single user.
No one identifies a "User" (in a personal sense), everything goes via the IDFA or AAID, this is a unique identifier that represents your device.
Real time location is used - it specifies it there, I am really not sure why people think Apple is more altruistic with this data than Google.
As someone who works in this space I see this from an alternative angle. Yes we use data like this in order to advertise to you, No Apple is no better than Google at how they approach this - they are just walling you further into their walled garden. Google uses your location information to track your locations in order to provide better (more relevant) advertisements through their own ad platform. Apple does exactly…
Why do I "have" to see ads? When I watch live theater, do the performers segue into a paid endorsement? The online ad industry as it currently exists, is too intrusive and the data it collects about us, are too much and permanent. It is past time for a change.
Because unfortunately other ways of widespread monetising the internet haven't gained traction. I like what Brave browser is doing and I think in the future this could be a really nice way of opting out of adverts via a "paid" internet route.
For some reason I still strongly prefer the look and feel of Android over iOS, but at this point my next phone will be an iPhone. Why? Because Google recently stepped up its notification spam in their official apps. They're using a mechanism that's supposed to exist to notify me of things _I_ want/need to know about urgently instead to advertise products and services to me that I have no interest in. It's tedious to…
I'm not a fan of overdone notifications either. If it helps in the short term, long-pressing on a notification should give you easy access to the ability to disable it.
I think it was android 9 that added the ability to do this. Swipe the notification > settings wheel > disable notifications for that app (or you can just disable specific types of notifications if there's still things you want to see).
It got easier again with android 10 with the options available directly from the notification itself (after a swipe).
As someone who works in this space I see this from an alternative angle. Yes we use data like this in order to advertise to you, No Apple is no better than Google at how they approach this - they are just walling you further into their walled garden. Google uses your location information to track your locations in order to provide better (more relevant) advertisements through their own ad platform. Apple does exactly…
>Like anyone - I despise adverts, but if I HAVE to see them I at least want them to be relevant products that I am interested in. I don't think it's fair to say all people despise ads. I've seen oddballs in the industry critique ads in the same way an arts major might critique contemporary art. If you despise ads in general what motivates you to work in the industry?
I don't work in the advertising industry - I work in the data industry that just happens to provide most of it towards advertising. We have done some other "good" stuff as well surrounding footfall data for various purposes, but the primary income for most in this industry is consumer intelligence!
For some reason I still strongly prefer the look and feel of Android over iOS, but at this point my next phone will be an iPhone. Why? Because Google recently stepped up its notification spam in their official apps. They're using a mechanism that's supposed to exist to notify me of things _I_ want/need to know about urgently instead to advertise products and services to me that I have no interest in. It's tedious to…
I haven't noticed more notification spam in Google apps, but what I have noticed is the way better notification management in recent years. I can long press on notifications and directly block it forever or finely tune the App sending it what it is allowed to send etc. Last time I used an iPhone I still had to double swipe to even dismiss a notification, which is super annoying because most are probably spam. If Noti…
>* I can long press on notifications and directly block it forever or finely tune the App sending it what it is allowed to send etc.*
For some reason I still strongly prefer the look and feel of Android over iOS, but at this point my next phone will be an iPhone. Why? Because Google recently stepped up its notification spam in their official apps. They're using a mechanism that's supposed to exist to notify me of things _I_ want/need to know about urgently instead to advertise products and services to me that I have no interest in. It's tedious to…
I haven't noticed more notification spam in Google apps, but what I have noticed is the way better notification management in recent years. I can long press on notifications and directly block it forever or finely tune the App sending it what it is allowed to send etc. Last time I used an iPhone I still had to double swipe to even dismiss a notification, which is super annoying because most are probably spam. If Noti…
On ios every app has to ask permission before the first notification, so you will not get the spammy ones in the first place.
I agree with your point that android is making management much easier though.
Yes. But FWIW, a user can reset their "Advertising Identifier" anytime they want: Settings -> Privacy -> Advertising -> Reset Advertising Identifier... Now if iOS was more hacker friendly, I'd write an app to automate that action and have it run regularly or on a random schedule or something.
> Now if iOS was more hacker friendly, I'd write an app to automate that action and have it run regularly or on a random schedule or something. Of course you never mentioned Android in your post, but I just want to point out that Android in no way is more hacker-friendly. As soon as you obtain root access half of apps will stop to be feature-complete because Google have SafetyNet and there is no way at all to make yo…
> there is no way at all to make your own legit "hacker" apps trusted to use elevated privileges
Of course there is. To circumvent this closed apple-esque bullshit you can just install magisk.
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…
For some reason I still strongly prefer the look and feel of Android over iOS, but at this point my next phone will be an iPhone. Why? Because Google recently stepped up its notification spam in their official apps. They're using a mechanism that's supposed to exist to notify me of things _I_ want/need to know about urgently instead to advertise products and services to me that I have no interest in. It's tedious to…
Just a heads up: Apple in their guidelines tell developers not to do that, and yet they do send some notifications advertising their products and/or services sometimes (recently for Apple TV+). They also do not police developers' notifications, so some developers abuse it. Just an example: I love Slopes and its lone developer deserves all the praise, and yet a week ago I've received an unwarranted ad for the paid subscription disguised as a notification... Not cool.
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…
Sure, but Google/Android has added fine grain GPS permissions in Android 10+ so we have the option to say "just track when using app" instead of "no" or "all the time". The problem, now, is rolling it out due to fragmentation.