This is a bit like accessing the internet from chm (help) files when the browser was blocked.
Damn. I revealed my age!
Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
51–60 of 327 posts
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#52Is this different than any other embedded webview? Doesn't nearly every app somewhere have an embedded webview somewhere for things like "view privacy policy", where it is often much easier to display html than sending the whole privacy policy to your app developer?
Can you visit arbitrary websites using such webviews? I never managed to. And IIRC it's rather difficult to set up a webview that allows multiple domains or URLs (but I'm no android dev, and the last time I had to fiddle with this, was years ago)
It's possible. I remember one app that opened a webview to their terms of use page, which somewhere had a link to a Google page, which I could use to go to Google search. So, no direct URL input, but you could go to any website indexed.
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#53Google's increasingly cavalier attitude towards security is concerning: 1) Kids WILL use this to bypass parental / school controls as soon as they learn about it 2) In some contexts (especially as high-stakes test settings, but also some military/prison/finance/medical/legal/etc. settings) this IS a direct security risk 3) Given the embedded browser is not secure, if a lot of kids do this, it WILL lead to someone exp…
> Google's increasingly cavalier attitude towards security is concerning: > [3 bullet points unrelated to security] Security is a field related to protecting device-users from malicious actors. Your 3 examples all fall broadly under parental-controls, which are about controlling & monitoring a user's use & access of their device - a scenario within whichc the user is the adversary, not external actors. That may be an…
> which are about controlling & monitoring a user's use & access of their device - a scenario within whichc the user is the adversary, not external actors
Access control falls squarely under security. Also, the user should be considered the adversary, because they or programs that run on their behalf might be malicious, either knowingly or unknowingly. Not accounting for this is one of UNIX's biggest blunders.
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#54Earlier quoted context omitted.
It should be noted that once this technique makes it to the playground, every kid will learn about the magic taps that make the web available, including kids that aren't ready yet. Obviously, parents using parental control will have questions what their kids are doing for hours in the Google Settings app every day, but every kid will probably get that day or week of free browsing until their parents get suspicious. T…
I suspect my kid found a way to use Spotify to browse the web, because he seems to use it all day and when I ask him what he listens to he just says "stuff".
On the other hand, what kid wants to talk to their parents about what music they listen to?
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
It should be noted that once this technique makes it to the playground, every kid will learn about the magic taps that make the web available, including kids that aren't ready yet. Obviously, parents using parental control will have questions what their kids are doing for hours in the Google Settings app every day, but every kid will probably get that day or week of free browsing until their parents get suspicious. T…
I suspect my kid found a way to use Spotify to browse the web, because he seems to use it all day and when I ask him what he listens to he just says "stuff".
I checked that, and it's actually possible : Spotify → your plan → see available plans →click on some plan → click "advertising" → find "reCAPTCHA" and click on "Google Privacy Policy"→scroll down until "google" → you get it :)
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#56Google's increasingly cavalier attitude towards security is concerning: 1) Kids WILL use this to bypass parental / school controls as soon as they learn about it 2) In some contexts (especially as high-stakes test settings, but also some military/prison/finance/medical/legal/etc. settings) this IS a direct security risk 3) Given the embedded browser is not secure, if a lot of kids do this, it WILL lead to someone exp…
Google outsourced work to low cost bidders and now they get low quality results.
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#57My brother uses a similar trick to get to a browser to bypass login on locked Android devices. It blows my mind that they can't see the security implications of this.
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#58If your kid can figure out how to access banned websites by discovering this hack, I think they deserve it.
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#59Google's increasingly cavalier attitude towards security is concerning: 1) Kids WILL use this to bypass parental / school controls as soon as they learn about it 2) In some contexts (especially as high-stakes test settings, but also some military/prison/finance/medical/legal/etc. settings) this IS a direct security risk 3) Given the embedded browser is not secure, if a lot of kids do this, it WILL lead to someone exp…
As someone who remembers being a child, I'm glad there are still ways around parental controls. Kids are going to break rules, and that's fine. Making arbitrary rules unbreakable has always seemed iffy to me...
> Making arbitrary rules unbreakable has always seemed iffy to me...
It creates better hackers.
Re: Google has a secret browser hidden inside the settings
#60Google's increasingly cavalier attitude towards security is concerning: 1) Kids WILL use this to bypass parental / school controls as soon as they learn about it 2) In some contexts (especially as high-stakes test settings, but also some military/prison/finance/medical/legal/etc. settings) this IS a direct security risk 3) Given the embedded browser is not secure, if a lot of kids do this, it WILL lead to someone exp…
As someone who remembers being a child, I'm glad there are still ways around parental controls. Kids are going to break rules, and that's fine. Making arbitrary rules unbreakable has always seemed iffy to me...
How else will your kids learn to be l33t hackers without motivation?