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Find My Device on Android

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Re: Find My Device on Android

#141

Post by MBCook »

kelnos wrote: post #127
MBCook wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems odd. Unless that was going to require hardware changes I don’t see why you’d need to delay. That still leaves 2 years past Apple’s long rumored debut.

Anti-competitive behavior is why. Apple had no need to update their unknown tracker alert software on any particular timescale. And if Google was willing to wait until Apple made that update, Apple could certainly drag their feet and delay Google's launch for a while. Presumably Google would have, eventually, said "ok, enough is enough, we're releasing on X date whether or not you've updated yet". And maybe that's in…

Apple not updating Apple software is why Google couldn’t release a Google product for Google phones?

Re: Find My Device on Android

#143

Post by fsflover »

nolist_policy wrote: post #112
encom wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was considering a Pixel 8a when it's released, now I'm not so sure. Not really keen on a mobile botnet.

IMHO if you cary around anything that contains a cellular modem you're fair game anyways.

On my phone, the modem can be killed with a hardware kill switch.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#144

Post by kelnos »

someplaceguy wrote: post #38
otachack wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One way is to support orgs like EFF that push for policy change to force Google and other powers-that-be to give you fine grain control.

So you're saying that it's not possible to do what I asked, currently. And judging by the other comments in this thread ATM (with one possible exception), nobody seems to care...

> And judging by the other comments in this thread ATM (with one possible exception), nobody seems to care...

I know this sounds defeatist, but I've gotten to the point where I don't think it's possible in modern technological life in a developed country these days to avoid being tracked to some extent. At least not without dropping most (if not all) of the conveniences I care about too much in day-to-day life. And yeah, that's on me for becoming so accustomed to those things that I'd feel worse not having them.

It's a sad state of affairs, really. But I don't think this will change without some heavy-duty privacy-focused legislation (with massive, tightly-enforced penalties for non-compliance) that forces companies to prioritize user privacy. Part of me would like to believe that sort of thing is coming within the next decade. But the more cynical part of me thinks it won't come, because governments benefit from companies tracking their users, as they can buy that tracking data even when their own laws say they cannot collect it themselves.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#145

Post by DaSHacka »

fsflover wrote: post #138
kelnos wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm all for assuming bad intent when it comes to Google and, but this doesn't really make sense. Google owns the OS; if they want your location, they don't need to care about per-app location permissions.

> Google owns the OS Unless you install something else.

At which point how does what GP said matter? If you install something else, it doesn't matter what toggles exist in stock android....

Re: Find My Device on Android

#146

Post by MBCook »

kelnos wrote: post #128
nikeee wrote: post #56

This is not compatible with AirTags in any way, no? Wouldn't this be a great opportunity for a common standard? Or is there one?

Oh sure, it would be a great opportunity, but the idea of Apple voluntarily interoperating with anyone else on most things is just funny to think about. Google isn't significantly better on that metric, of course, but I feel like it's often in Google's business interests to interoperate more often than it is in Apple's.

Yep. They never adopted or pushed USB-C (it was on laptops for years), Thunderbolt, SCSI, USB, Ethernet, HDMI, WiFi, Bluetooth, FireWire…

Re: Find My Device on Android

#148

Post by fsflover »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #93
add-sub-mul-div wrote: post #54

I've never needed this feature before but if a chance of losing my phone once per decade is the price to pay for not having my phone tracked at all times, then I'm cool with it.

Being connected to a mobile network tracks your phone at all times.

Unless you disconnect from it.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#149

Post by kelnos »

someplaceguy wrote: post #82
mcsniff wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How you read "X is an option to try and stop this" as "it's not possible" is about as ridiculous as wanting other people to spoon-feed you a solution. Stop using Google services if you don't want to be tracked by Google tracking services.

First of all, I said it's not possible currently . Which is what I'm interested in. Not that it might not be possible in the future if enough pressure is applied (that might be interesting for activists, which I am not and have no interest in being). Second, it's not mine or EFF's responsibility to police what Google does. Let's make it very clear that the current situation is Google's responsibility and nobody else'…

> Second, it's not mine or EFF's responsibility to police what Google does. Let's make it very clear that the current situation is Google's responsibility and nobody else's.

That's not how society works, though. There's no such thing as "natural human rights". If you want rights -- like privacy, or the requirement that you can control all aspects of your devices -- you have to fight for them sometimes. Millennia of human history is littered with examples, and plenty of people in power would prefer you didn't have any rights.

Companies are in some ways sorta just agnostic: they often don't care if you have rights or not, but if you don't, they're going to exploit that situation for their own financial gain. It's lame, but that's the system and society we live in. Ignoring that doesn't make it go away. Organizations like the EFF exist precisely because this sort of thing is our collective responsibility.

So I 100% reject your assertion here. We are all responsible for our collective situation, even if often it feels like we are powerless to change things. Ultimately we aren't actually powerless, but it's hard (and sometimes risky, depending on the issue at hand) to work to band together to form a large enough power base to change things, collectively.

If you don't want to be an activist, that's fine. But complaining about your rights then feels a little hollow and lazy.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#150

Post by MBCook »

bityard wrote: post #133
shp0ngle wrote: post #99

AirTags/Find My is THE reason why me and my whole family is on iOS. This is great. I wanted my next phone to be Z Flip since Apple stopped making small iPhones (and no foldables in sight), but reliance on Find My stopped me. This is great

You may want to watch some videos on the longevity of foldable screens, consensus is that they still don't hold up over time and become especially brittle after being exposed to cooler temperatures.

I can’t imagine anyone, even Apple, solving the issues of the screen being perfectly flat at the hinge. I don’t think it can be made to feel the same as the rest of the screen or have no visual difference either.

And I like my iPhone. If it was twice as thick and half as tall when folded, I just don’t see that as “better”.

If it was the same thickness as today when folded and half as thick when unfolded I’m not sure that’s better either (and would be harder to make anyway).

Folding phones seem like one of those neat things that can be made but don’t solve any problem most people have. It seems like it would be most useful to make something the size of a lipstick case that unfolds into something a bit wider. That would’ve been cool 20 years ago. But I don’t wanna phone that tiny these days.

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