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Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

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Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess what people want when they say they want a "Linux phone" is a phone that allows them to hack, mix and match their system the way they can on a desktop Linux system.

They can do that with many Android phones it’s not hard to find ones with a boot loader you can open including the Google Pixel. I used Android from day one till the LG Nexus and I switched to an iPhone after having to spend yet another weekend compiling a kernel to update my phone. Most people want a device that “just works”. Overall I would be good money on the fact that the percentage of people that say they want…

Well, you're right, Android does offer more extensibility than people give it credit for: If you're okay with its heavyweight development tools you can (for example) write a custom launcher to change some of the UI and you can extend/intercept some system functionality with apps. There's also Termux which offers a Linux shell environment based on the underlying kernel combined with APIs for Android-specific functionality. It's actually quite powerful, you can run scripts or daemons in the background without a problem.

But what I mean is most of the system isn't really open like that. Configuration, application data and stuff like that is mostly managed by the system and you can't access or change that data without major hacks. Termux feels like a second-class citizen because most of the ecosystem isn't built with something like it in mind (in contrast to the "CLI-by-default" experience on other Linux systems). There's also a few (non-embedded) system components like the backup system (which, if I'm not mistaken, is provided by the Google Services Framework) which you can't easily replace.

Of course, when it comes to security this is not something you should give to anyone who doesn't know to protect themselves using it. And I assume it wouldn't be a financial success either, I just guessed this is what people mean when they say they don't like Android because it's too restrictive.

Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#203
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about LineageOS with a non-Google app store?

I'm currently using LineageOS and I'm not going to use it in the future. The issue I have is that unlocking my phone creates a security trade off that doesn't seem better than the privacy gains. I'm more afraid of losing my phone and someone replaces the bootloader than I am of telemetry. I really have enjoyed the LineageOS and it's been great to have a phone that isn't as dumb as a flip phone but doesn't have all th…

How about GrapheneOS instead? https://grapheneos.org/

Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#204

Android is garbage. do yourself a favor and buy an iPhone.

Iphones are so locked down. You can't access the file system. If you plug it into a computer it doesn't appear as a device you can just copy files to. You have to install some garbage software to transfer the files for you. It can't even play webm videos.

Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No not really, but if there is a 1 hr delay because of onerous terms and conditions then perhaps a person would think twice about what they are getting in to. Or if there was a 5 minute delay to read a single paragraph perhaps people may actually read it.

> 1 hr delay > 5 minute delay I honestly feel that’s even more user hostile than the “onerous terms” in the first place. I stand behind my point, if one has such “onerous terms” that something is warranted like you suggested, then the company failed and the app/service shouldn’t exist.

I agree with your sentiment, but I think you've arrived at the wrong place. People are not going to read and understand a T&C, in most cases. Tactics like delays, or even forced scrolls to "ensure" they do are farcical and ritualistic. This is obvious to everyone.

Actual "commercial relations" are based in custom, and law... not just contracts. Adam Smith talked a lot about custom, rarely about contracts.

The T&C ritual is a bureaucratic farce, our version of medieval catholic indulgences. It can only be understood anthropologically.

Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#206

Android is garbage. do yourself a favor and buy an iPhone.

In this literal same article they talk about how iPhones send this kind of telemetry too. A different kind of MB amount, but they still do this. They're also horribly locked down and their owner thinks you should pay 30% tax on every single payment transaction you do in life.

So I'm not entirely sure what your iPhone advertisement is supposed to support here.

Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#207
post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You city people with your public transit. :D Doesn't really work when half the people I know live more than an hour's drive away.

Not just that. I’m a miserable sod who likes my own company :)

Then why are you in the city? Isolated country living is where it's at. :)

Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#208
post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just that. I’m a miserable sod who likes my own company :)

Then why are you in the city? Isolated country living is where it's at. :)

I tried that one. I am also a fan of convenience :)

Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#209

They are really going to shit themselves when they learn the technical details of what is being uploaded. Hint: Google Location Services's "telemetry" is just that: extremely detailed logs of location information that though "anonymized" absolutely obliterates privacy and will in itself be a major scandal.

If it is properly anonymized, how does it obliterate privacy? What data specifically would do that which is not anonymized?

Re: Google sued: Idle Android eats mobile data to send telemetry and preload ads

#210

I recently got a new phone and the battery life doubled once I disabled all the default permissions on google apps. I knew they were consuming battery but that's a lot.

The pixel devices last at least 28 days on battery when all default services are enabled, the phone is connected to 4g and WiFi, and is otherwise idle (including no emails received).

To achieve this, you need a mobile network supporting the standards allowing it to sleep for X number of beacon frames. There are also some things the mobile network needs to support.

The minute you install any apps, or start syncing any changing data, that 28 days goes down to 1 or 2 days...

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