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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

#311

Post by Krasnol »

fierarul wrote: post #272
tialaramex wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> one of the reasons I switched to iOS from Android was Facebook kept "accidentally" exploiting bugs in Android and Google never did anything about it. At the time Facebook wasn't even one of the apps you could delete from your phone. Hopefully Android is better now Um? What? None of my Android phones, going back a great many years, had Facebook. So sure, I couldn't delete it - because it wasn't there.

My guess is you buy expensive/vanilla-OS Android phones. Lots of other Android phones have Facebook apps that can't be deleted.

The cheapest western Android phones like by Motorola, Nokia or Xiaomi (the around 150€ models) don't have this and you can uninstall everything that IS on there.

Actually the expansive ones like Samsung are the really bloated ones.

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

#312

Post by n0rbwah »

jonny383 wrote: post #302

If you're running Android, I suggest you install one of the open source "firewall"s available on FDroid. Even if you don't plan on using it, make yourself aware of the sheer number of requests being sent _constantly_ from not only your applications, but by Android system services themselves. I'm not saying these requests are always related to ad tracking, but you can't argue there's a lot of information constantly be…

Any app you've got in mind? The only one on https://search.f-droid.org/?q=firewall doesn't seem to be of interest for that purpose.

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

#313

Post by wewake »

cerberusss wrote: post #308
wewake wrote: post #304

Apple already collects all the data of their users heavily and moves like these are simply meant to annoy their competitors (mostly Google) and keep the data to themselves while looking like a good kid in the valley. The number of gullible people aka Apple fanboys is staggering here who actually think Apple is trying to _save_ their privacy from advertisers after reading this highly biased article. Hah.

What makes you so sure about that?

Consider [1] and [2] but you can find plenty more.

[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/01/apple... [2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2019/12/04/appl...

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

#314

Post by darkwater »

benbristow wrote: post #306
solarkraft wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like lots of things about Apple software, but feel a lot less respected than with Google's. While the price you pay with Google is annoyances through ads, the price you pay for Apple (besides the hardware being 3x as expensive as comparable Android hardware) is just not being able to do things . You can't side load apps without some people with years of experience putting all of their time and energy into breaking…

Lightning cables are more popular than USB-C cables at this point. If I'm at a party or something usually someone has an iPhone cable, USB-C, not so much. To be honest with an iPhone there's not much reason to want to sideload anything. Sideloading on Android is dodgy enough with dodgy APKs. Who knows what they're doing in the background? At least with the App Store (and Play Store for that matter) being a walled gar…

> Lightning cables are more popular than USB-C cables at this point.

But in 2 years at most will be the other way round (especially outside the US)

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

#315

Post by Accacin »

solarkraft wrote: post #297
jeffparsons wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 like lots of things about Apple software, but feel a lot less respected than with Google's. While the price you pay with Google is annoyances through ads, the price you pay for Apple (besides the hardware being 3x as expensive as comparable Android hardware) is just not being able to do things . You can't side load apps without some people with years of experience putting all of their time and energy into breaking…

I understand what you're saying, but at least for me it's not so bad.

I started using Android from the G1, and was a massive fun of customising my phone with custom ROMS, etc. I eventually switched to iPhone and whilst I have jailbroken my phone before, I reverted it when I realised I didn't have much reason to need a jailbreak on my phone. I would still love the ability to sideload, but if that's my tradeoff for not using Google I'll take it.

Carrying a cable has never personally been a problem for me but again, it depends on a few factors (most of my company uses Macs, with cables required for the keyboard and mouse so there's always one laying around).

I personally use an iPod Video for music, as I prefer to either download my music from Bandcamp or buy and rip CDs. I find it a much nicer experience. I do carry the dongle around in my backpack on the rare occasion I need it, but my headphones are bluetooth (although I really only use the 35mm jack).

Repairability is not an issue at all, as far as I'm concerned. I've replaced personally the screen, charging port and battery and it probably took all of an hour to do. Buying the parts was easy and quite cheap, and fitting was a breeze thanks for iFixit.

Also, you're only locked in if you choose to me. The only things I have synced to iCloud are my contacts (also backed up via CalDav to my email provider) and Photos (backed up on my home network). Admittedly I'd have to buy apps again if I moved to a new platform, but that's the case with Android too.

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

#316

Post by Accacin »

cameldrv wrote: post #269
otachack wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I really wish iOS and Android would implement coarse grain location. My weather app doesn't need to know where I am exactly, within a couple of miles is usually fine. The "find the nearest store" just needs to know within a few blocks. The problem with GPS level location is that if I'm at home, I'm nearly personally identified.

Don't quote me on this, but I believe iOS already has this.. But it's the developer that needs to say they'll use this type of location data - which of course they won't.

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

#317

Post by Accacin »

Polylactic_acid wrote: post #104
jzvxkxbxjx wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“ If apple allowed easily sideloading apps I would consider moving over.” This was the reason I was an android guy until my wife told me to just get a phone that works. And you know what? Not letting you side load is a feature. When you see it like that, you care a lot less about your phone, and just appreciate that it works and that you can trust it as your more intimate possessions .

Without sideloading I can't use a 3rd party youtube app that has no ads, no tracking and allows downloads. I also can't use my pebble watch because the official app is unsupported and only community supported software exists. I also am restricted from some content that android users of the same app can view because apple prohibits adult content inside of apps. I see a phone as a tool to do what the user needs. Not th…

> I can't use a 3rd party youtube app that has no ads, no tracking and allows downloads.

It's called YouTube Premium. It's funny how we Hacker News users complain about services like YouTube and say we'd pay, but very few do.

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

#318

Post by cerberusss »

wewake wrote: post #313
cerberusss wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes you so sure about that?

Consider [1] and [2] but you can find plenty more. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/01/apple... [2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/kateoflahertyuk/2019/12/04/appl...

I just read the first article, but I find the problem quite hard, actually.

The Atlantic article seems to say that Apple can do more, because: Safari defaults to Google (Tim Cook claims because it's the best search engine), plus they allow Google and Facebook apps, especially Google Maps. You'd rather they didn't?

The second article, from Krebs on Security, says that the location is collected by Apple for "a new short-range technology that lets iPhone 11 users share files locally with other nearby phones that support this feature, and that a future version of its mobile operating system will allow users to disable it".

I think it's far more nuanced than you state. However, I do agree with you that Safari should not default to Google.

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

#319

Post by mrtksn »

jeffparsons wrote: post #254
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…

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…

Yep, notification ads are forbidden in Apple. I am sure that there are some bad apples but overall the notifications are about stuff happening, not stuff that someone wants to sell me.

I keep hearing that iOS should catch up with Android notifications, that Apple is so far behind but when I look at an Android phone it just feels overwhelming. I literally have better things to do than studying the information and action options in the notifications.

Notifications should be treated as an extremely premium attention grab. I like Apple's way of doing it much, much better than Android and I feel unease when I think about someone in Apple, hears the Android-like notifications and thinks it's a good idea.

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

#320

Post by madisfun »

benbristow wrote: post #306
solarkraft wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like lots of things about Apple software, but feel a lot less respected than with Google's. While the price you pay with Google is annoyances through ads, the price you pay for Apple (besides the hardware being 3x as expensive as comparable Android hardware) is just not being able to do things . You can't side load apps without some people with years of experience putting all of their time and energy into breaking…

Lightning cables are more popular than USB-C cables at this point. If I'm at a party or something usually someone has an iPhone cable, USB-C, not so much. To be honest with an iPhone there's not much reason to want to sideload anything. Sideloading on Android is dodgy enough with dodgy APKs. Who knows what they're doing in the background? At least with the App Store (and Play Store for that matter) being a walled gar…

> Sideloading on Android is dodgy enough with dodgy APKs.

Sideloading is what allows to use third party app stores like F-Droid and to run apps Google banned like Blokada (system-wide ad-blocker).

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