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Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

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Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#51

And yet we have articles that say iOS is similar if not worse and people pile in to “both sides” it (1). Why is it I feel it’s clear that fundamentally iOS favors privacy (for profit) and Android eschews it (for profit) yet it’s somehow debatable still? (1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28819318

If iOS were an open-source project, we wouldn't need to spend so long speculating what code is running on the devices that we own.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#52
post #26

Android takes snapshots (screenshots) of apps as soon as you switch to another app. When you view the app list, it already has the last view of each app. But the Xiaomi/MIUI Android sends over those screenshots back to the company is new information.

I had a Pixel. That it took a screenshot when I switched apps makes sense. It allows the task switcher to open immediately and show the most recent state of all my apps. A screenshot of some sort is mandatory for the OCR functionality that allowed me to select text from these tiles in the task switcher (super handy!). I’m now on iOS 15 on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I think I’ve seen movement on the tiles in its task switc…

> I think I’ve seen movement on the tiles in its task switcher, so I’m not clear if it takes screenshots.

In my experience, it seems like only the app you were in when you brought up the task switcher continues to update the screen. If you go somewhere else, like just back to the home screen, it goes static like all the rest.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#53
post #26

Android takes snapshots (screenshots) of apps as soon as you switch to another app. When you view the app list, it already has the last view of each app. But the Xiaomi/MIUI Android sends over those screenshots back to the company is new information.

I had a Pixel. That it took a screenshot when I switched apps makes sense. It allows the task switcher to open immediately and show the most recent state of all my apps. A screenshot of some sort is mandatory for the OCR functionality that allowed me to select text from these tiles in the task switcher (super handy!). I’m now on iOS 15 on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I think I’ve seen movement on the tiles in its task switc…

As I understand it, each iOS application is sort of like its own 3D plane within a larger environment, hence why the launcher shows up without any lag.

I hope someone can do the work of pasting the original Aqua framework overview that’s probably still hiding somewhere on the Apple website. The manner in which the combination of OpenGL (Metal?) and PDF work to render UI and elements on OS X and iOS is really quite remarkable. I think even now, 20 years later, there isn’t anything comparable being done by Android/Linux or Windows. I would love to be proven wrong, however (I haven’t followed this closely for the past few years).

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#54
post #26

Android takes snapshots (screenshots) of apps as soon as you switch to another app. When you view the app list, it already has the last view of each app. But the Xiaomi/MIUI Android sends over those screenshots back to the company is new information.

I had a Pixel. That it took a screenshot when I switched apps makes sense. It allows the task switcher to open immediately and show the most recent state of all my apps. A screenshot of some sort is mandatory for the OCR functionality that allowed me to select text from these tiles in the task switcher (super handy!). I’m now on iOS 15 on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. I think I’ve seen movement on the tiles in its task switc…

How have you found the transition to iOS? For me, the task switcher OCR feature is absolutely killer, one of the main things still keeping me on Android. Does iOS have anything similar?

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#55

can i see this "exfiltration" out of an android using a pi-hole? i have multiple androids at home and a etwork wide pi-hole so i would love to see if there is something i can see and maybe block

Not unless you have a lot of free time to pour through thousands of log lines manually.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#56

And yet we have articles that say iOS is similar if not worse and people pile in to “both sides” it (1). Why is it I feel it’s clear that fundamentally iOS favors privacy (for profit) and Android eschews it (for profit) yet it’s somehow debatable still? (1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28819318

iOS is just as bad, if not worse. See https://gist.github.com/iosecure/357e724811fe04167332ef54e73...

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#57

And yet we have articles that say iOS is similar if not worse and people pile in to “both sides” it (1). Why is it I feel it’s clear that fundamentally iOS favors privacy (for profit) and Android eschews it (for profit) yet it’s somehow debatable still? (1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28819318

Is it possible the feeling is at least in part the result of marketing? Not trying to be inflammatory, but apple does spend a lot of money running excellent ads about how iPhones are private.

Re: Android phones are sending significant amount of user data with no opt-out [pdf]

#58

And yet we have articles that say iOS is similar if not worse and people pile in to “both sides” it (1). Why is it I feel it’s clear that fundamentally iOS favors privacy (for profit) and Android eschews it (for profit) yet it’s somehow debatable still? (1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28819318

Do you have any evidence the iOS operating system is better in any significant way? The article you linked focused on the apps available in the store, not the phone OS itself (which is what this article is about).
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