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When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

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Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#241
post #225
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We're reviewing your app, not theirs, so what they can do is irrelevant rules for thee but not for me Apple has never been fair with its review, sadly. > I would expect Apple's response to be "change it back". Companies should not have to bend over to apple's whims just to get their software in end user hands. Hopefully upcoming EU regulation will reign apple's overreach in a bit.

You’re celebrating the possibility that EU regulation will remove Apple’s ability to enforce good user experience?

Yes. Of course. Apple do not enforce anything like a good user experience. They enforce a good Apple experience.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#242

I am surprised no top comment mentions this — on iOS, you cannot distinguish if you were granted a permission or not. As an example, if an app asks you for access to your photos, it will always get an array. The trick is that when you deny this permission, the array will be empty, so you cannot know if the user simply has an empty library or if he denied you access. I like it, simple and elegant. Naturally, in the ca…

> on iOS, you cannot distinguish if you were granted a permission or not.

This isn’t correct. For instance, accessing location services provides CLAuthorizationStatus:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corelocation/claut...

…and push notifications have UNAuthorizationStatus:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/usernotifications/...

…and health data has HKAuthorizationStatus:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/healthkit/hkauthor...

…and contacts has CNAuthorizationStatus:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/contacts/cnauthori...

…and photos has PHAuthorizationStatus:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/photokit/phauthori...

Photos is a special case because the user has the option of denying access, giving limited access, or giving full access. You can determine if the user has denied access, but you cannot distinguish between limited access and full access.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#243
post #225
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We're reviewing your app, not theirs, so what they can do is irrelevant rules for thee but not for me Apple has never been fair with its review, sadly. > I would expect Apple's response to be "change it back". Companies should not have to bend over to apple's whims just to get their software in end user hands. Hopefully upcoming EU regulation will reign apple's overreach in a bit.

You’re celebrating the possibility that EU regulation will remove Apple’s ability to enforce good user experience?

Is the user experience on Mac bad? Macs let you install non-store apps, and somehow it works out fine.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#244
post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re celebrating the possibility that EU regulation will remove Apple’s ability to enforce good user experience?

Apple doesn't get to dictate what constitutes a good user experience. Especially for me - that is my prerogative and mine alone. So yes, I will be extremely happy with it. This opens doors to all kinds of software that can compete with one another, and if I don't like it, I can simply uninstall it myself.

Just one more bit of anecdotal evidence to support your view.

Our app was rejected after review until we updated an external support doc to which the app linked. The doc contained system requirements for both iOS and Android devices, and we were specifically rejected for even having mentioned the competing operating system.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#245

I am surprised no top comment mentions this — on iOS, you cannot distinguish if you were granted a permission or not. As an example, if an app asks you for access to your photos, it will always get an array. The trick is that when you deny this permission, the array will be empty, so you cannot know if the user simply has an empty library or if he denied you access. I like it, simple and elegant. Naturally, in the ca…

What about other permissions where you can't realistically send an empty object? For example, if the user grants permission to view location, the location object passed to the app will obviously have the pertinent information. Would the OS simply pass an empty location object and wouldn't that make it obvious that permission was denied? Or is it hidden behind some kind of error

They are wrong; you can determine whether you have permission in iOS. For location, you have CLAuthorizationStatus:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/corelocation/claut...

In any case, the iOS location services don’t work that way. You can’t call them and get a location back due to the way the system works. It simply doesn’t have location data at times and needs to wait for it to become available. You tell the operating system you want to receive location updates and then it delivers zero or more when that information becomes available and when it becomes more accurate or changes. So if iOS needed to withhold information, it wouldn’t have to give an empty object back, it would just not deliver any location updates at all.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#246
post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We're reviewing your app, not theirs, so what they can do is irrelevant rules for thee but not for me Apple has never been fair with its review, sadly. > I would expect Apple's response to be "change it back". Companies should not have to bend over to apple's whims just to get their software in end user hands. Hopefully upcoming EU regulation will reign apple's overreach in a bit.

Or (1) is: it’s impossible to create codified rules that have no false negatives and no false positives and we’re smart enough not to act like it’s possible. You know, this is how almost every rule system on the planet operates. Ultimately there’s an arbiter whose job is to look at the totality of the case.

This has a nice demonstration at the following link (which was on hn recently):

https://novehiclesinthepark.com/

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#247
post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you and me have both worlds to choose from (not gonna reiterate pros/cons hundredth time). You are living in yours, but I have to lose mine. By me I mean all those people who chose Apple for what it is and ignore Android for what it is, with regards to what we’re talking about. You have no real problem, only intrusive ideology. Please relax and leave us alone. We’ll speak for ourselves when we feel wronged.

As an app developer, I do have a very real problem. I don't want Apple to impose their agenda on me and act like they own the relationship between me and my users. In particular, Apple should have no opinion on what kind of UGC my app contains if it's rated 18+. Apple should also stop protecting their own products by rejecting apps that cut into their market. But of course, Apple would do none of these things volunta…

No, you can't choose to only install apps exclusively from the app store on macOS because the macOS app store is a barren wasteland. The MAS makes it very clear that the only reason app developers put up with the iOS app store restrictions is because they have no choice.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that work for location? Also, an empty folder with photos is almost certainly implying lack of permissions. Very few people never took a picture.

I think they're just full-on mistaken, and it is possible for the app to distinguish between access levels: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/photokit/phauthori...

If nothing else, no photos is likely blocked permissions, but if there are no photos, contacts, location, health data, etc the sum of those parts is a very strong signal.

Re: When an app asks for permissions, it should have a “feed fake data” option

#250
post #86
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it was Apple’s policy that apps cannot punish users or exit() the app in retaliation for them denying a permission. Meanwhile, WhatsApp still "punishes" users for denying contacts access by hiding everyone's names (only the phone numbers are shown), including for contacts that have their own names set in their own profiles. Facebook^W Meta is scum.

Worse, you can't even initiate conversations; if you've denied contacts access, the other user has to message you first. At least for me on Android, which is wild.

That's not true for me on iOS. I denied it access to my contacts, and I can still start a new conversation by entering a recipient's phone number.
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