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NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

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Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#201

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

jasonfarnon wrote: post #192
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #158

I wanted to try to understand more context behind the "'Why would anyone have one [an Android phone]?' Mayor Adams responded." quote. Here is the relevant video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuw72THyXsQ&t=949s So, I get that he's making a joke, but given that everyone just laughs and there is no follow up, it's clear to me it's one of those "The reason this joke is funny is because I actually think it's true" joke…

"owning an Android actually makes it more difficult to interact with friends" I'd get new friends before switching to an apple product. Actually if my friends switched to apple products, I might get new friends.

Your attitude exactly highlights why I'm considering switching. I'm pissed at Apple, but it's not like I have any particularly affinity to Google. In the end, life is short. So I can stomp my feet and say "this sucks" and live alone in my basement (yes, I'm exaggerating), or, if I go on vacation with a group of friends and I want to share in their experiences, photos, etc., then I can get an iPhone.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#202

Post by scarface74 »

kevviiinn wrote: post #159
npsomaratna wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Might be luck of the draw, but my experience with Android has been similar to OP. Each of my (at the time top of the line) Samsung phones stopped working due to various reasons after a time period ranging from just under an year, to a couple of years. In comparison, my secondhand iPhone 3G worked for several years—until I left it in a plane by mistake. My iPhone 7plus I used for ~7 years; in fact I still use it, alon…

You used Samsung products, that was your problem. Every Samsung I've had or used has been absolute trash

So the largest Android phone manufacturer is “trash”? Who do you recommend?

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#203

Post by tetragramaton »

Philosopher ( me ) urges corporation known as United States of America, and it’s sworn so called “peace officers”, to implement the following pilot program for car thieves and catalytic converter thieves: When apprehended and proven guilty, drop them off 20 miles out in the ocean with an ankle gps bracelet, food rations, $100 usd, a raft, and life-jacket. IMO this would have a profound impact on the criminal, and would be an effective deterrent.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#204

Post by hackernewds »

angarg12 wrote: post #197

I find it a bit sad that most comments here focus on the Apple/Android war rather than the boring dystopia fact that the police department of the most populous city in the US idea to fight increase in crime is to encourage people to use surveillance devices. Must be the same people that say "just don't go out at night" when you point out the streets full of drug addicts and petty crime, as if it was a normal thing to…

Why are AirPods "surveillance devices"? Without being cynical or anecdotal I haven't seen any mention of how govt surveils citizens using them.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#205

Post by RoyGBivCap »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #157
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can send all their rounding errors to me then, I'll happily take them.

Okay. Note that half of them will be negative. Have fun.

I always mess up some mundane detail...

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#206

Post by MisterTea »

HDThoreaun wrote: post #89
jtbayly wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t recommend going and confronting a car thief. And I doubt the police will be there in half an hour. You’ll be lucky to convince them you have the location sometime the next day, when it’s far too late.

Eric adams does recommend confronting a car thief I guess. Really it just depends on the situation, plenty of New Yorkers would be game. Might even prefer it to hoping the cops deal with it. Personally if my only choice was ask cops for help I'd consider the car gone. I can round up a few of the boys and confront the thief given an hour or two, and at least I'd get my car back. No idea if NYPD is as worthless as my p…

> Really it just depends on the situation, plenty of New Yorkers would be game.

You kiddin me? Hell no. There are a lot of guns out there and we know it.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#207

Post by scarface74 »

Arch-TK wrote: post #92
catiopatio wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure someone running a custom Android image with an unlocked bootloader can figure out an Android-compatible alternative to AirTag.

There is no alternative to AirTags which doesn't take up additional space or come with major downsides. The way AirTags work is by using low power ultra wideband communications to respond to what are effectively ping packets which get sent out by apple devices in the area. The devices get the AirTag's ID and the distance and submit it to Apple for processing. Apple uses the distance information to trilaterate the Air…

So Apple is abusing their control over devices by making devices that work well together?

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#208

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

hn_throwawa_100 wrote: post #195
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #158

I wanted to try to understand more context behind the "'Why would anyone have one [an Android phone]?' Mayor Adams responded." quote. Here is the relevant video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vuw72THyXsQ&t=949s So, I get that he's making a joke, but given that everyone just laughs and there is no follow up, it's clear to me it's one of those "The reason this joke is funny is because I actually think it's true" joke…

As a US Android user, I don't feel very disadvantaged. I have an iPad, an M1 Mac, and a couple Airtags. If I lose something I probably won't be able to locate it until I get back home. I haven't had much trouble with getting group messages on android but maybe my use-case isn't representative. I think the Android perks still outweigh the cost. Not that any of this isn't possible on iPhone but it's a smoother Android…

By far the biggest barrier is group chats with others who are on iphone. Not only is the experience pretty broken for you, it essentially ends up breaking the experience for everyone else. This AirTags example just highlights that to a large portion of the US populace, Android is essentially a joke.

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#209

Post by scarface74 »

Zircom wrote: post #67
catiopatio wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would I choose an Android phone? Apple does not spy on me, and does not sell my information to advertisers. An iPhone SE is $429, or can be financed at the same price , with zero interest, at $17.87 for 24 months. Why would I want to join Google’s advertiser-driven ecosystem, and voluntarily make myself into Google’s product?

At least for me a lot of automation and workflow stuff I have just doesn't exist on iPhones. I make heavy use of buzzkill, taskr and iftt, and the first two have no equivalent on iOS and probably never will. Pretty sure home screen widgets are next to non-existent as well on iOS.

So I’m sure you came to that conclusion after using Workflow on iOS (built into the system) and using a modern version of iOS that does have Home Screen widgets?

Re: NYPD urges citizens to buy AirTags to fight surge in car thefts

#210

Post by post_break »

Here's a pro tip. Get the chipolo version of the airtag, it doesn't have the ultrawide band part so you can't easily locate it on whatever you're trying to track. Remove the speaker as well, guides on youtube. The thief will still get alerted due to anti stalking crap, but they can't easily find the airtag and remove it.
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