Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

github.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 376 posts

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#91

Post by rpdillon »

johnymontana wrote: post #80
_jal wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not interested in arguing definitions. I look at what apps on my phone do, and delete anything that wants to talk to the surveillance shops. It is that simple - I don't trust or use FB, and of course that includes third party FB feeders.

How do you monitor this?

Network blocking like PiHole can block it, but on Android, I also use Blokada, which traps and logs outbound requests to domains on the block list. I also sometimes use ClassyShark3xodus to scan apks for trackers. https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.oF2pks.classyshark3xodus...

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#92

Post by ethanbond »

bzb3 wrote: post #75
Nicksil wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Is that "spyware"? Yes, absolutely. It uses energy and bandwidth I paid for to surreptitiously transmit my information for use which will solely benefit Facebook and the software developer.

If the software developer didn't get anything off you they wouldn't make the software available to you in the first place.

Fuck, I've been paying for Spotify as an act of charity?

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#93

Post by saagarjha »

vvG94KbDUtRa wrote: post #83
saagarjha wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(For the iOS engineers reading along: please don't put network calls in +load, or __attribute__((constructor)), or a C++ static variable, or whatever other clever way you think you can get code execution before main.)

Spoken like someone who has never tried to optimize startup time. If network is your blocker, you need to do it as soon as possible

Putting more code in a constructor is almost never advised. I would expect that whatever connection the Facebook SDK is making is not a blocker for application launch. (If you have more insight on why this code must unconditionally run this early, I would be glad to hear it.)

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#94

Post by mlthoughts2018 »

pb7 wrote: post #88
mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is so shortsighted it’s painful. You’re describing the attitude Facebook takes towards candidates, not the attitude I take towards anything. Candidates should be saying to Facebook, “ I really hope all of your code is perfect every single time to be acting so high and mighty” and absolutely making a huge deal out of a case like this when it isn’t.

You are making a MASSIVE assumption that most people dislike Leetcode. I personally don't and neither does anyone I know. It's way better than the interview formats of almost every other profession out there that's 2 parts sucking up, 2 parts connections, and 1 part luck. Show me a better process that can handle 100,000+ candidates a year with a stronger signal and less or equal time invested and I'll change my mind.…

> “ You are making a MASSIVE assumption that most people dislike Leetcode.”

No, this is not an assumption.

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#95

Post by jfkebwjsbx »

vvG94KbDUtRa wrote: post #83
saagarjha wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(For the iOS engineers reading along: please don't put network calls in +load, or __attribute__((constructor)), or a C++ static variable, or whatever other clever way you think you can get code execution before main.)

Spoken like someone who has never tried to optimize startup time. If network is your blocker, you need to do it as soon as possible

Running code before main has nothing to do with performance.

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#96

Post by nofunsir »

sunsetMurk wrote: post #86
Nicksil wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Is that "spyware"? Yes, absolutely. It uses energy and bandwidth I paid for to surreptitiously transmit my information for use which will solely benefit Facebook and the software developer.

> will solely benefit Facebook and the software developer. I mostly agree. But, in some(most) also the user by encouraging the developer to release updates and launch new features.

release forced updates and launch no new features, but "general bug fixes and performance enhancements."

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#97

Post by freeone3000 »

bzb3 wrote: post #75
Nicksil wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Is that "spyware"? Yes, absolutely. It uses energy and bandwidth I paid for to surreptitiously transmit my information for use which will solely benefit Facebook and the software developer.

If the software developer didn't get anything off you they wouldn't make the software available to you in the first place.

Maybe they could try the novel method of charging money instead of buying ads to get users to show ads to.

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#98

Post by Apocryphon »

pb7 wrote: post #72
mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> “ True test of competence would be these mistakes don't repeat and that they learn from it, which I'm pretty sure they would.” Which begs the question why test engineers with leetcode trivia bullshit. You are yourself emphasizing why their interview process (and they are just one of many offenders) is so bananas inappropriate.

One single bug is why their process is bananas inappropriate? I really hope all of your code is perfect every single time to be acting so high and mighty.

This isn't exactly the first time Facebook has been called out for poor engineering practices:

https://www.darkcoding.net/software/facebooks-code-quality-p...

https://blog.timac.org/2017/0410-analysis-of-the-facebook-ap...

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#99

Post by lucasar »

surferbayarea wrote: post #28
MCKapur wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i'm by a longshot no facebook fan but... are you sure the SDK can actually siphon out what songs you listen or your location from the app it's sandboxed in (which, BTW, is in its own sandbox from an iOS system POV, and also has its own set of permissions)?

Well the reason FB/Foursquare/Google etc add these to 3rd party apps is so they can get data. Example if you visit a website which has a Facebook like button, your browser fetches the js files/which maybe even makes an API call to let FB know your IP (and hence location). All this data is fed to the giant system that feeds you ads. Adding their SDK to other apps/sites (even if there is no user facing need) is a commo…

You have no idea what you're talking about. Apps use the Facebook library because a good portion of end-users want to be able to login with a Facebook button --or Google, or whatever that doesn't require them to create a user/password account. It's just that simple.

Re: Facebook iOS SDK Remotely Crashing Spotify, TikTok, Pinterest, Winno and More

#100

Post by baddox »

Nicksil wrote: post #52
yllus wrote: post #36

For those wondering why the Facebook SDK is so widely used in popular mobile apps: Facebook Login is actually in the minority of reasons to add the Facebook SDK to your mobile app. The vast majority of apps will add the Facebook SDK because it contains Facebook App Ads; a library that "completes the circle" in terms of finding out how effectively the ads you ran on Facebook were at getting people to download, install…

>Is that "spyware"? Yes, absolutely. It uses energy and bandwidth I paid for to surreptitiously transmit my information for use which will solely benefit Facebook and the software developer.

It's difficult to argue about whether it's "surreptitious." It's certainly no secret. I think this is why you need organizations (perhaps government or otherwise) to establish standards for what is and isn't acceptable, so we don't have to quibble over words like "surreptitiously."
Post reply on HN