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

Ask HN: What Apple alternatives are you switching to?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 493 posts

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

#421

Post by anonuser123456 »

novok wrote: post #415
anonuser123456 wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The direction of not letting people store child porn on their servers? That's pretty much what everyone in the cloud space is doing already. This service exists so Apple can E2EE your data while still placating DOJ.

Totally missed the point. The direction of scanning everyone's phone for 'prohibited content', pushed on them by various governments. Be it political, fine in one country but not in another (adult homosexual), etc. And a future where the content scanning applies AI and reports you for doing such things such as taking pictures of police or protests. It's a cop in your phone.

If that's your position, you cannot own a closed source device with binary updates. Because the device provider _could_ always do anything.

What they actually do is what is important. And what they actually do is publicly disclosed so you can make your choice appropriately.

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

#422

Post by sphinxcdi »

lettergram wrote: post #18

I’ve been working on my pinephone. But it’s really underpowered imo. I’m considering a Librem 5. Which has more cpu power and battery. The appeal to me is really getting off any major tech platform. Further, you can disconnect the components via switches — iE unplug the microphone. That being said, I can’t even use Signal on them without some major configurations. https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?tid=13728 I h…

> I have also considered the “freedom phone”. But my understand is it’s just Graphene + process isolation on a slightly modified hardware.

No, it's not. You may be confusing it with another company with a similar name selling devices with GrapheneOS and various apps installed. Both are not associated with GrapheneOS, by the way.

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

#423

Post by 411111111111111 »

whoknowswhat11 wrote: post #162
crossroadsguy wrote: post #103

I don’t care anymore. Actually I do, but I’m exhausted. However if I buy a new laptop, with or without CSAM, it won’t be a Mac. I would wish for a Framework kinda thing here (with local service), but since that’s not gonna happen - ASUS it would be most probably, with ElementaryOS on it (or some distro like that - non ugly and kinda simple looking). It feels like WhatsApp —> Signal brouhaha all over again. After tryi…

Another challenge is the track record of some of the chinese phone maker competitors that ship for example without google play services is not long or its not good. My instinct. This is an insane amount of noise on HN. But of all the privacy issues folks have, CSAM scanning by Apple is not going to "destory apple's brand" and for most users the safety features (kids accounts flag up on nude photos etc) is actually wh…

It's not going to destroy the brand, it only put a dent into the privacy rhetoric. There is no chance in hell that apple will stop with their privacy marketing over this and once enough time has passed people will start to think that they're the only torchbearers wrt privacy again.

Their interest in privacy was never real, but their marketing is top notch as always... It's just a question of time when everything is back to how it was before

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

#424

Post by benhurmarcel »

dont__panic wrote: post #207
zepto wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> iCloud is not end-to-end encrypted Yet. Have you considered that this might be a necessary precursor to making iCloud e2e?

If the goal was to make iCloud e2e, why not release both features at the same time so people can see that they're codependent (in Apple's eyes)? Without any kind of announcment or promise of e2e iCloud, we're just speculating for possible reasons why this might be OK. Might as well guess that this is going to allow Apple to give us free iCloud storage, too, while we're coming up with wishlist features.

Then doesn't that seem hypocritical to you to defend dropping Apple right now for the imagined future possibility that all local photos could be scanned (instead of just the uploads)?

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

#426

Post by zepto »

IncRnd wrote: post #417
zepto wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Scanning people's on-phone photos clearly has nothing to do with being a precursor to e2e encryption This is what you were arguing. It is false.

Followed by this, "The photos get transferred either way, so one has nothing to do with the other." It was clearly a technical statement not a privacy statement, so only superficial reading might lead one to believe it meant something that it did not. That is why I replied that the person who replied to my comment, where I said I had argued something different, but that what he wrote was an excellent point. So, what…

> "The photos get transferred either way, so one has nothing to do with the other."

That doesn’t change anything. It may be a pre-requisite from the perspective of their business. You replied to me and I didn’t constrain my point to just technicalities.

> So, what on earth are you so invested in that you feel the need to argue minutiae that don't apply?

It does apply. I’m simply pointing out that what you said is not correct.

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

#427

Post by aborsy »

Linux is already, in my view, by far the best operating system! Complete freedom to do what you want, with high quality software.

So I continue to enjoy various wonderful Linux flavors!

I hope my iPhone deprecates faster than usual so that I can soon ditch it for a de-googled phone! (Or possibly a Linux/Pinephone, once batteries get good enough).

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

#428

Post by istingray »

floatingatoll wrote: post #403
istingray wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Lying by omission isn't a good choice, because you're using a classic tactic of overstatement-by-framing that has been weaponized into standard police procedure to sway people into believing you. The truth is more precise: "I'm switching because of Apple's surveillance of my files so they can find child porn to report to the police" But that's also much less likely to win you converts to your cause, which is why we n…

good perspective, thanks!

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

#429

Post by istingray »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #256
istingray wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, an issue for MacOS "These features are coming later this year in updates to iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and macOS Monterey." https://www.apple.com/child-safety/

In the same article, earlier in it, they say that the scanning is just iPadOS and iOS. macOS is just getting a generic nudity detection AI model for protecting children from new content that doesn't require contacting Apple about anything. "Next, iOS and iPadOS will use new applications of cryptography to help limit the spread of CSAM online, while designing for user privacy."

got it, thanks for the clarification. Any speculation as to why the CSAM scanning isn't added to MacOS already?

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

#430

Post by mylons »

rcMgD2BwE72F wrote: post #322
mylons wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Why would fragmentation be a problem as an Android user?

google doesn't control for device screen sizes, software that other vendors load on, or the CPU/ram/storage on the phone, watch, or tablet. they also allow 3rd party app stores. this creates an experience that is out of google's control and in a lot of cases is sub optimal for the user. it's not as stream lined or polished as it could be.
Post reply on HN