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Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

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Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#261

Post by dont__panic »

withinboredom wrote: post #199
thealistra wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At work you have the same IP. Your coworker may have googled what he was taking about. This is a much easier explaination than a constant mic monitoring for arbitrary phrases

Don’t people have data caps where they’d notice if a ridiculous amount of audio was sent to a server?

If you did all of the analysis on device, even quite cheaply, you could just transcribe key words and phrases into a text file and upload that. That would only be a few kilobytes of data tops per day of unique words and phrases, I should think. And if you've ever tried to monitor data usage on an Android phone, you'll know that the monolith of Google Play Services phones home all the time with all kinds of pings and datapoints, so it wouldn't be hard at all to upload that data.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#262

Post by 0x000000001 »

howinteresting wrote: post #7
28194608 wrote: post #2

Main reason I'm using apple devices is for their quick security updates. I don't trust Samsung phone because they even run ads on $1500 phone. I am thinking to go with Pixel phone.

Apple also runs ads everywhere on its really expensive phones, mind. They're ads for other Apple products. https://mjtsai.com/blog/2020/02/17/the-paywalled-garden-ios-... A Google Pixel has far fewer ads than an iPhone these days.

I have never seen the iOS show me an ad. I've seen some third party apps, but not the OS or core apps.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#263

Post by rhn_mk1 »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #95
rhn_mk1 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I can get my photos scanned against a CSAM database... or I can have Google tracking my location constantly That's a false dichotomy. There are competitors offering various levels of maturity and functionality. Jolla exists, PinePhone, Xiaomi, Librem 5, dumb phones, POTS landline, no phone... And yes, Linux on the desktop is also a valid choice . It most likely won't track you either.

There's a reason why that's 98%+ of the market. There is a dichotomy between the two camps in the smartphone market, everyone else is fringe. On the fringe, good luck using banking apps, transit apps, vehicle rental apps, or other apps increasingly necessary and useful. I don't think you know what you are talking about when you mentioned Xiaomi as an option. That would be among the dumbest options you could possibly…

> That would be among the dumbest options you could possibly choose.

You don't get to dismiss others' concerns by saying "it's a choice", and at the same time dismiss choices others present...

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#264

Post by mylons »

alangibson wrote: post #173
mylons wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

android is no where near competitive with apple’s user XP. i was a long term android user until 3ish years ago. i’ll never go back to a fragmented device ecosystem again if i can help it.

It's like QWERTY vs Dvorak. The best one is the one you're used to. I personally find Windows and iOS frustrating, but I know it's because I'm used to Linux and Android.

that’s not true. i just gave an example of switching from what i was used to, to something new that i thought was superior.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#265

Post by mullingitover »

istingray wrote: post #233
mullingitover wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a pretty flimsy analogy because we're not talking about criticism, we're talking about taking pretty onerous, inconvenient steps to avoid having CSAM detected on your devices. You might not have it on your devices, but if you tell someone you're doing all this the average knee-jerk reaction is going to be suspicion.

I don't refer to it as CSAM. I say I'm switching because of Apple's surveillance of my files so they can find stuff to report to the police. People get it.

This thing is pretty well publicized, people do get it but not in the way you're implying.

If you have children and you explain to the other parents that you're just really passionate about privacy and are dumping all your iDevices for...reasons...your kids are probably not going to have friends come over to visit much after that.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#266

Post by grae_QED »

Good lord. Why is everyone so upset by this CSAM scanning? Google scans every email you send, Facebook tracks every gesture and post you click. What makes you think that apple hasn't been scanning, or at least had access to, all your stuff in the cloud anyways? The instant you trust your data with a third party, you forfeited your privacy. The whole CSAM thing isn't a revelation.

If you're upset by the thought of a third party entity looking at your stuff then stop using products by these companies. Use FOSS for your computer programs and OS's. Use a phone OS like graphene, /e/, or something else privacy oriented.

The only way to stop being a commodity is by sacrificing convenience and the only way to gain that convenience back is to build your own tools. Talk to the old timers here that have been using minimal OS's and building custom scripts for the past 20 years. They'll tell you that you get a level of speed, efficiency and customizability you can't get with name brand OS's.

The learning curve is worth it considering you build knowledge and skills not a lot of people today have. Not to mention you gain technological independence, which is worth its weight in gold.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#267

Post by jdlyga »

To be honest, I don't care that much. Google, Facebook, Microsoft, they all do the same thing or worse. I started using an iPhone because it had the best tech at the time and it was the most convenient. The privacy stuff is nice to have, but it's not a big deal to me.

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#268

Post by nicce »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #176
fartcannon wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lineage and Linux exist and they're incredible. You've simply give up.

Lineage requires the Play Store to have paid apps or things I now pretty-much need for everyday life, at which point you've lost and it doesn't really matter whether it's Lineage or stock Android. Linux is incredible... and still unusable for many everyday apps and workflows, and simply not an option for many people including myself. I've tried Linux distributions since 2011, they aren't there yet.

> Linux is incredible... and still unusable for many everyday apps and workflows, and simply not an option for many people including myself. I've tried Linux distributions since 2011, they aren't there yet.

I have actually totally dumped Windows recently (I have tried it past 5 years), because now Linux is getting very close for everything I need, and this same applies for many people. Can you give some examples which aren't there yet?

Re: Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

#269

Post by KaiserPro »

dont__panic wrote: post #261
withinboredom wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t people have data caps where they’d notice if a ridiculous amount of audio was sent to a server?

If you did all of the analysis on device, even quite cheaply, you could just transcribe key words and phrases into a text file and upload that. That would only be a few kilobytes of data tops per day of unique words and phrases, I should think. And if you've ever tried to monitor data usage on an Android phone, you'll know that the monolith of Google Play Services phones home all the time with all kinds of pings and…

and you'd have no battery inside an hour.

watch words are simple to listen for, generalised transcription is far harder.

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