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Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

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21–30 of 469 posts

Re: Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

#21
post #10

I still remember the LinkedIn app ripping all my contacts, so no apps for me. I just use the sites.

> use the sites.

Which are increasingly user hostile, if not down right impossible to view on mobile. Go try using Reddit or Twitter on your Mobile browser.

Re: Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

#23
post #4

Isn't this the main reason why social media pushes their apps over their (once) perfectly functional websites? Better analytics = better product*. * for the true customers, i.e. marketing & communication firms, governments, etc.

Why do you say “true customers”? Is anyone under the impression that they are a customer of a service they don’t pay for? People would readily identify as a “Twitter user” instead of a “Twitter customer”

I would agree that a lot of people who use these things do not consider themselves to be a product to be sold to marketing firms.

Re: Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

#24
post #19

i don't understand why apple allows in-app browsers.

You mean custom ones, right? WebViews are incredibly useful, but it definitely seems like implementing your own browser gives people a false sense of security, like they've been sandboxed when they haven't.

What would be nice here is a permission requirement if you're injecting code into a browser view.

Re: Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

#25

No wonder. I recently opened a link on Instagram and the website's responsive elements were completely broken. Then I opened the link in Safari and it worked fine. Does this script injection break Apple's ToS? I thought Apple required Safari/Webkit for all in-app browsers? Zuckerberg has no shame. PS. I hate in-app browsers. They don't sync with my main browser states such as authenticated sessions.

> They don't sync with my main browser states such as authenticated sessions. Under what circums do you want this?

I’ve had to log into google/fb/etc so many times through in-app browsers when I’m already logged in in my main safari browser.

Re: Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

#26
post #4

Isn't this the main reason why social media pushes their apps over their (once) perfectly functional websites? Better analytics = better product*. * for the true customers, i.e. marketing & communication firms, governments, etc.

Why do you say “true customers”? Is anyone under the impression that they are a customer of a service they don’t pay for? People would readily identify as a “Twitter user” instead of a “Twitter customer”

> Is anyone under the impression that they are a customer of a service they don’t pay for?

Maybe not on a technical forum like this, but I think the distinction between a "customer" and a "user" is sufficiently fuzzy among non-technical people.

Re: Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

#29
Awful stuff. I shudder to think what a Meta-run App Store or "metaverse" would look like from a tracking perspective. Meanwhile, the "dumb fucks" quote[1] remains evergreen.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/well-these-new-zuckerberg-im...

Re: Instagram can track anything you do on any website in their in-app browser

#30
post #10

I still remember the LinkedIn app ripping all my contacts, so no apps for me. I just use the sites.

> use the sites. Which are increasingly user hostile, if not down right impossible to view on mobile. Go try using Reddit or Twitter on your Mobile browser.

My solution to this for past year: only use the laptop for most things. No more distractions in the pocket, feels pretty good!
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